Why I don't get depressed by a three-year rejection

I got a rejection on Monday that is three years since submission. I'm fine with it. In fact I'm happy. Why?
The rejection is for a novel, so okay they can take a while to read. It was from a major publisher - a major publisher, and by and large they liked it. I got the idea they'd been thinking about it. There was advice on how to fix the few problems they had found, and from this it was obvious that somebody had read through to at least the three-quarter mark, if not the end. For a slush reader to get beyond page one is, I think, a really big deal. They didn't have to read so much of it, so there might be something of a hook in there? They also said they didn't like British humour (it was a US publisher) and yet they read most of it and told me some of the bits they thought were especially funny.

So what do I take from this is:

• The novel must have some merit.
• They cared enough to give me more than a form rejection.
• They gave me enough of a crit to fix the creaky stuff.

So before rolling out Plan B I now have the tools, for free, to make it a better read. And I have validation. Plan B involves getting it professionally edited then publishing it on Kindle.

So watch out for Elton D Philpotts: Deep Space Accountant at an e-reader near you. Coming soon (ish)