Rejection and looking on the bright side. Also, pie.

See this? It's a rejection:

A rejection, in the writing life, is a thing that happens when you put yourself out there, take a chance, ask for something. Like I did: I asked a number of publishers to recommend my YA fantasy project (which has been in progress for about - gulp! - ten years now) for an Ontario Arts Council Writers' Reserve Grant. 

As you can see, I didn't get a recommendation from this publisher, so no grant. But...

Writers' Reserve is an excellent granting program, because it's relatively easy to prepare the application, and it's available to writers who might not be widely (or even) published. And, as the amazing Marsha Skrypuch pointed out at an eye-opening workshop during CANSCAIP's Packaging Your Imagination conference years ago, so what about the money? No, Writers' Reserve is all about getting a writing sample from your project seen by the various publishers who take part in the granting process. 

Like the publisher in the photo, above, who didn't recommend me for a grant, but who took the time to add a personal, encouraging note.

Think about it: an encouraging note from a publisher who accepts submissions of YA fantasy.

So instead of beating myself up over yet another rejection, I'm looking forward to connecting with this publisher again in the future - a publisher who took the time to encourage me.

However, rejection is still rejection, so I'm also doing this:

Hot chocolate and lemon pie. Yup. That should do it.

Visit the Ontario Arts Council's site to find out more about the Writers' Reserve granting program, here: Writers' Reserve