Ghorgath:
Writing a novel and not getting picked hurts more than creating a character and not bonding with it. Which I find rare anyway, most of my characters I will eventually find a way to connect to it.
I can imagine it's not great when a character you've put a lot of time and effort into doesn't get picked, sure. On the flipside, I'm fairly certain that every game I've applied for and put some effort into, I've been accepted into. The games I've looked at, said to myself "that looks interesting, but I'll just do a quickie RTJ", are the ones that I don't get chosen for. Coincidence, perhaps, but that's my experience.