Not for Naught: Conquering Second Book Syndrome by Vicki Essex

The day I sold my first book, I immediately started writing a second book because I knew my editor would want more. So I plotted, I planned, I pounded out a whole book in 5 months, and submitted my latest masterpiece.

I got rejected.

I couldn’t believe it. How could I have failed to sell a second book?

I admit, I wallowed. It was painful to turn away from the work I’d already completed, now sitting despondently on my hard drive. I could hear it silently accusing me: all that time and effort you wasted on me, all for nothing!

No, I told myself firmly after a few stiff drinks, not nothing. Every rejection is a learning experience. And I learned some very important things.

Don’t rest on your laurels. Treat every book like it’s your first, your darling, the one that’s going to sell, that has to sell. Learn from your rejection, and figure out why it didn’t work.

And just as I had with my first rejections, don’t give up and keep moving forward!