"If every editor turns you down, maybe you should take a second look at your text, however, just in case"
About this Quote
Rejection, in Piers Anthony's formulation, isn’t tragedy or conspiracy; it’s data. The line aims to puncture the romantic myth that editors are blind gatekeepers who routinely miss brilliance. Anthony’s “If every editor turns you down” sets a high bar: not one cranky reader, not one market mismatch, but a full chorus of no. At that point, he suggests, the most rational response isn’t righteous fury but a “second look” at the work itself.
The subtext is part craft lesson, part ego check. Anthony is speaking from inside the factory: publishing isn’t a pure meritocracy, but it’s also not a lottery where talent is endlessly unlucky. “Maybe” and “just in case” are doing quiet rhetorical work. He doesn’t claim editors are infallible; he leaves room for bad timing, genre fads, or a manuscript that’s simply ahead of its moment. Yet the sentence still nudges writers toward humility and revision, the unglamorous engine of getting published.
Context matters: Anthony came up through mid-century genre publishing, where editors were often practical curators of readable product, not academic tastemakers. In that environment, repeated rejection typically signals something concrete: pacing, clarity, voice, stakes, or a mismatch between promise and execution. The intent isn’t to shame writers; it’s to redirect their energy from grievance to leverage. You can’t control the gatekeepers, but you can control the pages. That’s the bracing comfort hidden inside his caution.
The subtext is part craft lesson, part ego check. Anthony is speaking from inside the factory: publishing isn’t a pure meritocracy, but it’s also not a lottery where talent is endlessly unlucky. “Maybe” and “just in case” are doing quiet rhetorical work. He doesn’t claim editors are infallible; he leaves room for bad timing, genre fads, or a manuscript that’s simply ahead of its moment. Yet the sentence still nudges writers toward humility and revision, the unglamorous engine of getting published.
Context matters: Anthony came up through mid-century genre publishing, where editors were often practical curators of readable product, not academic tastemakers. In that environment, repeated rejection typically signals something concrete: pacing, clarity, voice, stakes, or a mismatch between promise and execution. The intent isn’t to shame writers; it’s to redirect their energy from grievance to leverage. You can’t control the gatekeepers, but you can control the pages. That’s the bracing comfort hidden inside his caution.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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