John Ling on Rejection.

John Ling gives his take on rejection. "It's all in the context," he says. "If there's anything I have learned, there are good rejections and bad rejections. A good rejection is constructive and does not attack you personally. A bad rejection, on the other hand, can be spiteful and snobbish."

He even shows us a rejection letter he once got from an editor who encouraged him to improve his writing:

In spite of this, I knew early in my reading that I would not publish the book—and still kept reading, something editors rarely do. Because you have such potential, I am going to explain my decision in some detail in the hope it will set you on the right path to a successful career.

Read the rest on his blog.

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HOWTO: Get Rid of Silverfish

The bane of every book collecting person: the Silverfish. DUN DUN DUNNNNN!!! How to get rid of them? If one book has been infected, place it inside an air-tight plastic bag along with some silica gel desiccant. The silica gel is important to get rid of moisture, because you will now place the sealed plastic bag with the book in it inside the freezer. Leave it in there for a couple of days so that those bugs catch their death of cold. If you're feeling particularly paranoid, (like I usually am) feel free to leave the plastic bag in there for a week. If they're not dead, then you might likely have an infestation of zombie silverfish , which is out of the scope of this blogpost. But what if a whole colony of silverfish decided to invade your whole bookcase? Then you have to make sure you're ready for war. Place a generous amount of silica gel (or if you can find it, diatomaceous earth) behind your books at the back of the shelves so that moisture levels remain low.

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Ted Mahsun

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