Rejection Letters

So, I know rejection letters are suppose to be helpful. I’ve heard of writers keeping every rejection letter and using them for encouragement. Publishers don’t send out rejection letters often like they use to. And those that do don’t give tips or suggestions. I’ve sent my first book out to 13 publishers and have received about 4 rejection letters. (This is my second time around. The first time I sent it to 4 publishers and didn’t get a letter from any of them.) They’re all nice and encouraging. (As encouraging as a rejection letter can be.) I know they’re all being nice, politically correct. I figure I probably won’t hear from the other 9 publishers. I have to keep telling myself that I did get a $1000 scholarship to a Highlights Writing Seminar. I wasn’t able to use it, but I did get it. That says I’m not a total lost cause, right? I sent the book to some family members and friends. Most had very helpful suggestions and pointed out some errors. Some didn’t say anything at all. I take that as a way for them not to hurt my feelings. I did have one who recently gave me some very hard but useful advice. She suggested I change the title and rework the first few chapters to help the story interest the reader better. One of my goals is to write books that the reader can’t put down once they read the first sentence. So this is very important for me to realize I need to revise. It’s my first book. I hope to be able to attend some writer’s conferences in the future. I’ve always wanted to go back to college and finish my degree. Maybe I should take some classes in writing. I need all the help I can get with my spelling and grammar.