Any writer trying to make it into the publishing world will tell you that rejection is all part of the process. There is absolutely no possibility you can be "that writer that hooked an agent on the first try."

I've been writing since I was a child, and worked on my first "novel" in the sixth grade. Of course, it's hidden from all humanity where it will never ever be read. Since then, I've been working on other novels and naturally have become interested in the publishing industry.

By ninth grade, I'd done my research and knew that if I was going to ever get published, I'd have to do one thing: I'd have to get rejected.

It was one of my biggest fears, and I knew that it was inevitable, so if I was going to get rejected, I was going to do it on my terms. Kind of counterproductive, right?

I wanted to show myself that rejection was all part of the process and that each rejection letter would bring me one step closing to hooking an agent. So I sent out an unedited manuscript to an agent. At least this way, I figured there would be no anticipation of whether I would hook them or not, no what-ifs. I was going to get rejected, no question about that.

So I sent out my manuscript, expecting to hear back within six months or not at all. Surprisingly, I heard back from the agent's assistant within the week, and no surprise, I was rejected. I felt relieved. I'd gotten my first rejection out of the way, and from then on, whenever I sent out a piece of work that I actually cherished, I tried my best to remember how I felt with my first rejection, and that there are plenty more literary agents to submit to.

A rejection isn't the end of the world. Rejection is just one step closer to finding the right agent who will represent your work.