The Bazant Blog

This morning I picked sweet peas from my garden—brilliant red; the heavenly scent of my grandmother’s kitchen in summer. I baked an angel food cake—a sweet, frothy treat for my family on Canada Day. While it was baking and cooling I re-watched the movie Eat Pray Love. All three activities provided nourishment for my soul.

In the last three months I have been experiencing rejection—lots of it. Everyone tells me that is what happens when you submit to publishers and agents after writing a book but, nevertheless, it’s not easy. It took me more than a month just to prepare all the documents needed for submission—book synopses, marketing strategies, chapter summaries and more. Each agency and publisher has a different set of submission guidelines which must be followed meticulously.

So far I have made more than 12 submissions and received three rejections and mostly no responses whatsoever. One smaller publisher agreed to accept my manuscript and then decided to reject it. That one felt like a punch to the solar plexus. I came pretty close to just giving up on my book.

But I have some great support from my editor who keeps reminding me that I have written an excellent memoir and it just has to find the right publisher. That has helped tremendously.

And this morning I decided to help myself, look inside and remember what is important—fragrant flowers, good food, love of family… Watching Eat Pray Love reminded me of my meditation retreat in Thailand all those years ago. It reminded me to look inside, find my strength and carry on.

One scene in an Indian shop also reminded me that I have my own Ganesh (the elephantine headed Hindu idol that is a symbol of strength and power—a remover of obstacles). Life will continue to confront me with limitations, obstacles, rejection but I don’t have to let that deter me from finding my place in the publishing world.