Creating is a very personal experience, we see our ideas as our children, born in our imagination to be proudly shared with the world. The stark reality is that not every idea will see the light of day, no matter how much we nurture and grow them. Market resistance is inevitable, not everyone is going to see what you see in your IP. Publishers will be following trends, be constrained by budgets and have to balance what their audience wants versus what they believe will succeed.

I have phases of self-doubt when I find my ideas aren’t gaining publisher traction, I take it very personally and become self-critical of my work. The truth is, there’s probably nothing wrong with my idea, it’s just not the right time for it to shine. 

I’ve had to be very disciplined when faced with rejection. That doesn’t mean that I simply abandon the idea altogether, more that I park it and head in a new direction. It’s about saying to your idea ‘I’ll see you again’ rather than ‘farewell’. Learn from your rejection as to what your market wants, try to find out from a publisher what they are looking for and write ahead of the next curve. 

We’ve all heard stories about successful writers who champion their idea through hundreds of rejection letters before finding fame. Yes, that is wholly possible and some of you will persevere to the end. For those that stay the course and find El Dorado, I applaud your tenacity and never-say-die attitude. However, for every single recorded success there will be a thousands of those that fail, only you will know when you’ve exhausted every possibility. All I’m saying is don’t despair, your IP’s time could still come.

Often these trends go in cycles, rotating on an axis of popularity which will go through a gamut of genres before returning again. Maybe on the next trending wave you can catch a break and see your IP ride off to glory. But while you wait, you should be writing in a new direction, pushing boundaries and trends that are going to get you noticed. Breakaway from your old IP and develop a new angle for yourself. It will, in the very least, show you to be a versatile writer.

As ever, you can find me on Twitter @AndiEwington