Rejections, Reviews, and Mean People

By Linda Mercury

Everyone in the world has had an encounter with a person who said something nasty about a project. Desolate, we wander, asking, "How do I get a thicker skin?"

 

I'm here to say that you don't need a thicker skin. Your thin skin is a gift. Thin skin is why we have a five day work week, why we have child labor laws, and the Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals. Thin skin means you see something wrong and you go fix it. It is what allows us to live with passion and the power to change the world. Our thin skin is what gives our dreams power, emotion, and importance. Our concern for the state of the world and each other is the greatest motivator and the foundation of all we do.

 

But. Rejections still hurt. Life is hard and it comes at you fast. This booklet has real-world, concrete steps you can use to cope with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda Mercury
• Release date: Jul 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393054214

Linda Mercury

Linda Mercury ia a writer and creator of really unusual fictional worlds. More than anything, she cares about compassion, connection, and intimacy. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and has a redwood tree in her backyard.

Book preview

Dedication:

To Dale Spender, who taught the Nuclear Option

and

to all the people who have put themselves out there.

You are amazing.

Join my email list at

[e-mail]

Visit me at

www.LindaMercury.com

www.LindaMercury.blogspot.com

Me, after getting a bad comment.

HELLO, FABULOUS PEOPLE.

Welcome to this book. I’m going to assume that you have dealt with some kind of rejection, bad review, or someone saying an awful thing. This is pretty good assumption on my part because every single human on this planet has had to deal with carelessness at the best and active hostility at the worst.

Why would a fiction writer create a non-fiction book on dealing with rejection? This is my story.

The very first review I got on my very first book was on GoodReads. Someone called my innovative, unusual vampire romance, Nazi Snuff Porn.

OUCH. Nazi Snuff Porn?? For a redemption story with Fallen Angels, Dracula, political commentary, AND a pretty fabulous (by my thoughts, at least) love story?

The second review I ever got on my book was on Amazon, where a woman claimed that it was the worst book she had read that year. DOUBLE OUCH. That was quite the one-two punch, delivered within less than an hour of each other. People hated my writing, my characters, and weren’t even too thrilled with me.

Fortunately, I bounced back immediately. I kept writing, having fun, and connecting with readers. My friends who received bad reviews asked me how I did it. How could I still work with such horrible words in my life?

Bad reviews and rejection kill hope, strike in the heart of us. Their nasty insinuations ring in our minds, poisoning our confidence, cutting our dreams off at their knees.

How do I get a thicker skin? they asked.

I’m here to say that you don’t need a thicker skin. Your thin skin is a gift. Thin skin is why we have a five day work week, why we have child labor laws, and the Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals. Thin skin means you see something wrong and you go fix it. It is what allows us to live with passion and the power to change the world. Our thin skin is what