​While the media uproar is so often about the debate over the second amendment, I’m more concerned with the first—after all, words are my business.  And this week, Banned Books Week, is the platform that brings the issue to light.  It is our opportunity to open a dialog about free speech and how the suppression of words and ideas is perhaps one of the most insidious acts that can be perpetrated on a society.

As the Assryian teacher, Ahiqar, said more than 2,000 years ago,” The word is mightier than the sword.”  Indeed, words have shaped the world, for better and worse, more than any weapon ever has.  We fight wars over religious writings; revolutions have begun with clandestine publications; coups have succeeded through words.  Ray Bradbury said in his seminal book-burning novel, Fahrenheit 451, “A book is a loaded gun in the house next door...Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?”  (GoodReads). 

But unlike weapons, words, books, are used to teach, sooth, create, and delight.  They expand our understanding of the world, people, and nature.  At a moment’s notice, they have the ability to transport us to fantastic worlds, to the past, and to the center of the heart and soul. 

Because words are such dangerous weapons, because they have the distinction of changing us so deeply, they are the target of government, schools, and religious suppression.  While the transgressions worldwide can’t be ignored, book banning in the United States, the country that values freedom more than anything else, is alive and thriving.

Although books that we now consider pretty tame (Canterbury Tales, Moll Flanders, Arabian Nights, and more) were banned under the Comstock (obscenity) Law of 1873, the list of current banned and challenged books is growing and the reasons are increasingly personal and restrictive (Library Research Service).  The most recent list includes Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian (anti-family), Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, for political viewpoint, And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell (“promotes the homosexual agenda”), and Nobel prize winner Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye for containing controversial issues (Banned Books Week).

So who is doing the banning and where?  According the American Library Association (ALA), the majority of challenges come from parents of school-age children who would like to see books taken from library shelves.  Other initiators include clergy, board members, and schools—see more statistics at http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/statistics. The ALA stands by their doctrine of supporting free speech, and “condemns censorship and works to ensure free access to information” (ALA).

Fighting the battle against book banning is easy: simply read.  Read books that you love; read books that make you angry; read books that challenge you.  Read to your children, buy books, check out books, go to libraries and bookstores.  But most of all, read banned books.  As the Russian poet Joseph Brodsky said, “There are worse crimes than burning books.  One of them is not reading them.” 


American Library Association: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/about 
Banned Books Week: http://bannedbooksweek.org/about 
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1272463-fahrenheit-451 
Library Research Service: http://www.lrs.org/2007/10/08/who_knew____banned_books_and_book_burning_fun_facts/

​

You've poured yourself into writing a book. You've spent hours, days, weeks, months, maybe even years working on it, so you decide to send a query to a publisher. You hope to have your book published. Then you receive the crushing blow that they aren't interested for one reason or another. Where do you go from there?

So your submission has been turned down by a publisher. Your first response is probably going to be disappointment, probably followed by anger. Your emotions are going to be all over the map in the first hours, days, or weeks after receiving a rejection. Keep in mind that this is not a personal rejection of your writing. There are several reasons that your manuscript may have been rejected. Think of this as a chance to tidy up your writing, work on your manuscript a bit more, polish it and make it shine. A book is never truly finished. A writer is never truly done with their work, they will go back to it time and time again and fine tune it like a machine. This doesn't mean to sit down as soon as you get it and fix everything they tell you needs "fixed". In fact, you shouldn't act right away at all. Give yourself time to think it through, a few days at least, then go back to it. You won't be as emotionally high strung as when you first receive the rejection. This also does not mean you should use every suggestion given to you or maybe you don't want to use any at all. This is your book, your work of art, so it's completely up to you.

Follow professional etiquette after you receive your rejection. Don't show up at the publisher's office demanding to see the person who rejected your manuscript. That really won't get you anywhere in publishing. In fact, you can pretty much guarantee that they are going to share that kind of experience with other publishers and they won't want to work with you either. If you decide to resubmit to the same publisher, wait at least a year to do so.

Use this experience as a learning tool. What did you learn? Did you learn that your book has structural problems, plot issues, slow points, moves too fast, has too many characters? Really think about it and use that to your benefit.

Whatever you do, do not give up because of a rejection. Whether it's one or several, it doesn't matter. Keep working at it. You never know if the next submission is going to be the one that accepts your manuscript.

Shauna Lynn, a talented writer, founder of Pickles and Peppers, and chronic illness advocate covers a wide variety of topics that she is passionate about. In her free time, she loves creating crafts with her family or creating a new and delicious recipe that she shares throughout the blogosphere. She loves animals and curling up with a good book too. Contact her at shauna@pickles-n-peppers.com to see what unique and engaging content she can create for you. Be sure to stop by her blog Pickles and Peppers for food, family, and fun with a side of reviews and giveaways.

Pickles & Peppers: www.pickles-n-peppers.com