Wednesday, January 25, 2012

One down...

Well, it took less than 24 hours to hear back from Agent 1. The response: a form rejection letter. Here, I'll share it with you all:
Thank you for your query. Unfortunately, your manuscript doesn't sound like something that’s right for us. We wish you the best of success in placing your work elsewhere.

Pretty standard, actually. I have like 70 of these for my short stories.

So, before everyone says it: I know that there will be a lot of rejections. That's kind of a given right? We can move on from that. .....wait that might have seemed a little harsh or snappy..... Don't get me wrong, I know the intention behind the sentiment is 100% sincere, but sometimes I wonder if some people say it because they think my publishing expectations are unrealistic. To be fair, I do have big dreams. HUGE DREAMS. I've been putting "I'm going to be a published writer" vibes into the universe since I was nine. But deep down I know what the deal is. Did I want to be the first ever writer who was accepted by the first agent they ever submitted to? Sure. I mean, can you imagine how awesome that would have been?!?!? But did I really think that was going to happen: No.

So I hope that whoever reads this (and who might have mentioned something about how hard it is to make it) isn't offended or anything. I've heard this from so many people throughout the entire time I've been submitting (not just this latest submission, but back with short stories as well) and now I'm like AHHHH! For example, I called my mom to tell her about the rejection and she was like "Okay...." and then "Well, you know that....." And I was like "NO, STOP! DON'T SAY IT! I KNOW!"

Thank you for letting me vent for a moment (and this could be the sting of rejection talking).

I've already sent out the second query letter and I may send a third later tonight. I thought submitting right away would help with the sting of the first rejection and I think it has... at least for the moment. In my experience it usually takes a day or so for it to really sink in (and then usually I feel pretty crappy). I know that I'll keep moving on from this point and if no one wants to represent my novel, I guess it'll make a good e-book. I just want to give traditional publishing 100% effort before I look into self publishing. I just hope that eventually I'll get more feedback than just a form rejection letter.

So, moving on to something more positive. I started brainstorming book 2 today. Tomorrow's goal: to actually start writing. I think moving forward that way will really help me with the submission process because even as the rejections come in, I'll still be moving forward. Hopefully in the end I'll have a solid trilogy. 

3 comments:

  1. Less than 24 hours... Either they're really efficient or... Well something very not nice.

    Wouldn't it be easier to send all the letters out at once? Or are you still changing it to suit each company?

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  2. Well, technically it was a little over 24 hours. 36 hours. I guess you could say that it was good they didn't make me wait around forever. Still, form letters make me think that they didn't even bother reading it. But some agents get hundreds of emails a day, so I understand.

    It would be easier to send all the letters out at once, but I am trying to make each email suit the agent. They say that's what you should do.... I don't know.

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  3. Makes sense, but i suppose everybody does that.

    Maybe add a small bag of chocolates. XP that's one of the many snacks i eat when reading.

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