Writer Shoshana von Blanckensee Answers the Rejection Questionnaire
A series on how artists cope with rejection
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I devoured Shoshana’s debut novel, Girls Girls Girls, in a rapid frenzy, feeling deeply nostalgic for my own youth in the late ‘90s (the ways in which we all have to find ourselves, in spite of how difficult it is) and envious of life in a super cool San Francisco that no longer exists. How would I have been more myself, sooner, if I’d done what the protagonist in her novel did: drive across the country with her first love, to an unknown land which promised a queer haven.
The story of how Shoshana wrote the novel is as inspiring as the book itself. Having worked on it for more than a decade, she told me she finally felt a desperate urgency to finish it when she was confronted with the prospect of death, as a nurse working during the Covid 19 Pandemic.
I hope you are inspired by Shoshana’s answers below and that you get to put yourself and your work out there knowing that you are not alone in your accomplishments or “failures.”
What is your creative practice and for how long have you been engaged with this practice?
I’ve been writing in one way or another since I was a teenager. Writing has always been the way I’ve processed my life and the world around me. It forces my monkey brain to slow down, and helps my thoughts take shape. I wasn’t actively seeking publication until I was in my forties when I finally had the strength to push through my imposter feelings and my fear of rejection.
When was the last time your work was rejected?
The first iteration of my second novel was rejected by the editors of my first novel about six months ago. In many ways, this was one of the easiest rejections because I knew they were unlikely to say yes to a sequel, and I’d already created a plan of action I’d take if I got a big-fat-no. The big-fat-no still stung, but only for a couple of days this time!
Which was the hardest rejection in your career?
The hardest were the initial rejections from agents. It took everything in me to query agents because I didn’t fully believe in my own work yet, I had just made an intellectual decision to push through the process anyway. I was sending out about five queries a week, and after a month or so, I was getting back 2-3 rejections a week. This went on forever! I actually received a rejection from an agent a few months after my book sold.
What is your response to rejection and has it changed over time? If so, how?
Receiving buckets of rejections is a skin-thickener. Over time, they become easier and easier. It helped me to reframe the rejections as stepping stones in the direction of a yes. I was told it would take over one hundred queries to get a yes from an agent, so I busied myself with getting there.
How many rejections do you think you’ve gotten over the course of your career?
My debut novel received about 110 rejections from agents and editors combined before it was published.
Has rejection ever been beneficial to your practice?
I don’t know if it’s been beneficial for my practice, but it’s been beneficial for my career. When my book was on submission with editors, it went out to Big Five publishers first, and when it didn’t sell it was sent out to smaller and smaller and smaller presses. It was hard to receive rejections from presses so small I’d never heard of them. Then I received a rejection from a Big Five editor in Canada that said, “If she revises it, you can send it back to me.” I mined the mountain of rejection letters for useful feedback and dove into the biggest overhaul of a revision I’ve ever done. That editor ended up buying Canadian rights to it, and when we submitted again in the U.S., I had a pre-empt from Putnam within weeks. I’m so grateful I didn’t get a yes before that big revision.
Do you have any advice for artists, writers and filmmakers who are afraid of rejection?
Welcome it. Open up your arms. Expect them to come in by the hundreds. Imagine they are bricks on the road to the biggest yes ever.
Where can we find you/your work? Anything you want to highlight?
My Debut Novel, Girls Girls Girls, is out now. If you love the ‘90’s and the queers, I think you’ll like it.
If you love the Rejection Questionnaire, please send it along to your friends so that they, too, can feel less alone in trying. And, if you enjoy this series or my other essays, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support my work. Thanks!