Rejection Roundup: March
No joke!
This Rejection Roundup is coming at you a little later than normal for the one simple fact that March was a mess.
I don’t know what I did to make a month hate me so bad, but I’m sorry, I swear I won’t do it again. If I had the power of rejection within me, I would use it to reject March entirely. I hearby move that we go straight from February to April. Let’s skip it.
All in favor?
I am, of course, being the slightest bit dramatic – March did suck but everyone in my family is thankfully healthy and there were a lot of lovely highlights, too – MERCUTIO LOVES ROMEO LOVES JULIET LOVES being announced as a Lammy Finalist in LGBTQ+ Drama just one of them. There were just a lot of moving pieces to take care of and while I am normally not bad at juggling, keeping all the balls in the air that needed to be in the air proved to be tiring.
April not only brings the allergens, rain and the (hopefully!) much more consistently warmer weather (though it’s supposed to be 48 degrees in NYC tomorrow lol), it also brings that special time of year for playwrights who partook in Submission Season:
Rejection Season.
It is upon us!
It may have already begun for folks in March, depending on the opportunities they applied for, and how many. As of now, I’ve only been notified by one of the summer conferences that I applied for and am waiting for about five more, so I anticipate this month and next being brutal.
I, of course, have my fingers crossed for at least one yes. But, as the title of this Substack suggests, the norm for a writer is to receive more No’s than Yes’s.
And that is what it is – a norm. We lose sight of that fact often, especially when we are so hopeful for those Yes’s. We build them up in our mind so high that if we get that No, we feel like we’re falling down a mountain. And sometimes when we’re at the base of the mountain, we can tell ourselves an untrue story about our talent.
So as we enter into our Rejection Season, I want to offer some empathetic words of advice, some reminders for us all.
A No does not mean the play you have written is ‘bad’. In fact, there is no such thing as bad art – just as there is no such thing as good art. Art is what it is. When we present it to the world, the world has their own opinions on it. And sure, they may use terminology like ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but that’s because those words are placeholders – they’re easy descriptors, ones we can grasp in passing. But if we look deeper, we see that the opinions are more complex.
Perhaps the piece you’ve put forth still needs some work – that doesn’t make it bad. That just means it needs more work – and if you know me, you know I think the Work is the Point. Especially when it comes to creating theater. Theater is collaborative at its core. It needs other voices and minds in order to be an art that thrives. One of my favorite things about writing a play is that it is Never done. The same can be said of any piece of art, of course, but with Theater, even after a production, even after publication, as long as the playwright is breathing, we can still be in process with the piece.
As I’ve written before, I think it’s important for the artist to center themselves in their art – so the question is never Is this piece Good or Bad, it’s Is this piece successfully telling the story that I am trying to tell?
When we receive a No, it is not an indication of our talent. It is simply a No. And there are many, many reasons why a play might be rejected from cast size to stories and themes. Opportunities curating a season will often want to make sure there is a diversity of stories reflected in their offering. I’ve heard of a time where two plays made it to a final round of consideration, both of them adaptations of the same source material. Everyone agreed that only one of those plays should be included in the season, but they couldn’t easily decide on which. The folks who were deciding for that opportunity thought both were exceptional and the decision-makers were split down the center, each advocating for the one they were most passionate about.
So be kind to yourself when you get your No’s. Do something nice for yourself, whether that be giving yourself permission to watch your favorite show, to take a walk, get a snack – whatever it is, create a small ritual for yourself. And thank yourself for doing the hard work of putting your art into the world. That alone is a priceless act.
Now, onto the roundup!
A pretty light month, all things considering.
And pretty different from the March of last year! Last year I received 7 rejections in March, all of them from playwriting opportunities. This year’s rejections consist of two rejections from specific novel writing opportunities. I’m not querying my novel at this time, the rejections are from two opportunities that would have provided some support towards the goal of refining my YA novel and finishing my adult novel – a bummer to not receive support, but onwards I go! Don’t worry, when I do begin the querying process there will be so many rejections, our eyes will blur! Working towards that day.
A pretty light month for submissions, too, especially compared to January and February – only 6. It seems like March is a light submission month for me in general – only 4 in 2025 and 3 in 2024!
I didn’t have a Most Submitted play – I submitted 6 different plays for 6 different opportunities. And they were:
I Hate Shakespeare (solo show)
lisa; a fantasia (full-length play)
To Heather (10-minute play)
meet you at the Galaxy Diner. (full-length play)
THIS HAPPENED ONCE AT THE ROMANCE DEPOT OFF THE I-87 IN WESTCHESTER (full-length play)
We’re Okay, We’re Okay, We’re All Gonna Be Okay (full-length play)
I’m really trying to get that production for Galaxy Diner! And to continue to put lisa and romance depot out into the world. Will anything happen with any of those plays?!
Only time will tell.
A few announcements before we go -
One-on-one dramaturgy is back for April - and for a limited time. May is shaping up to be crazy and so April is the last opening I have for one-on-ones until the summer. Do you wanna get started on the next play? I’d love to be that outside set of eyes for you. E-mail ginafemiasecondemail@gmail.com to get the process rolling.
MERCUTIO LOVES ROMEO LOVES JULIET LOVES is a Finalist for the Lammy Awards in LGBTQ+ Drama! Consider buying a copy of the play and making it a part of your theatrical season today.
Thanks for reading another Rejection Roundup! I’ll see you all later this month. Until then, protect your art - and your heart.
Love this - I will always marvel at how fierce it is for you to post these rejections, you are badass.