The Not Good Enough Pile

Learning from kidlit publishing "No's"

In the book world, there are two categories of things: Published and Unpublished.¹

For every manuscript and book dummy sent, only a portion grow up to become books. A black and white fate with not a lot of wiggle room. Knowing that only a small portion of our work will wind its way into a library is a small consolation when rejection roars. It’s completely normal and 100% not fun.

Recently, I had a few projects I loved and had high hopes for end up in the “not good enough” pile. It sucked. I wallowed a bit, got frustrated, griped to my loved ones over dinner, and ultimately came around to a point of view that I actually enjoy and find helpful. There’s wisdom there if you’re keen to look:

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