Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Two thin letters
Received: two thin letters, both SASEs, both rejections*. I have a third query floating out there in query-space, but it’s addressed to a Big Name. Fat chance.
On the other hand, I made it into a Big Name med school after getting rejected by nine others. To be more precise, Big Name School of Medicine wait-listed me for a few months, then tapped me late in the summer of ’90.
I nearly missed out on a future full of boogery.
Question to my author-readers: do your agents represent science fiction? And, if they do, how would you feel about putting in a kind word for me?
Figure on me being a total noodge for a while.
D.
*Neither were form letters, and both were kind. But one of ’em, it was clear this fellow hadn’t even looked at the chapters — not with any care, anyway, since he got the manuscript title wrong.
That’s unfortunate. Keep trying.
I got rejected by Abyss & Apex. Their major complaint was that “there’s plenty of material here for a full story”. I suppose that’s true, but it came out under 1,000 words, the way I wrote it.
That’s ok, the FM challenge is generating some more flash-length fiction, some of which is even pretty good, IIDSSM.
Guess I’d better send it to the next one in the list…
Just emailed you, hon. 🙂
I got 17 rejections. You’re doing FINE!
{hugg}
Thanks, folks. It’s just I’m SO DAMNED SURE THIS NOVEL IS FREAKING AWESOME! I sent out three queries, and I was afraid I’d have more than one of ’em interested in me. Then what would I do?
Have I mentioned my self-esteem problem lately? No, I don’t understand me either.
An egomaniac with low self-esteem? Nice – kindred spirit.
Have you tried sending a query through Evil Editor He has a blog dedicated towards helping writers get noticed. It’s quite hysterical really, and I’m banned from reading his pages while the news is on, because my laughing is distracting to the Husband.
Personally, I think that 3 queries are not enough to make a decision on. Going on what I’ve read at Miss Snark’s place, if you didn’t get a nibble, a murmur of interest by 20, well, maybe you’d need to look at the query letter.
After that, Miss Snark says not to worry till you hit 100 rejections.
As for the guy who evidently didn’t read the MS closely, well, that’s going to happen. A lot. It’s nothing personal.
Doug, three rejections aren’t enough to start questioning yourself. Keep querying. If you need some inspiration, go to Sherrilyn Kenyon’s website http://www.dark-hunter.com. Click on Message Board and find Acheron’s journal. Last month sometime, Sherri posted snippets of actual rejections she received. Now look at her.
Lyvvie, thanks for the link. I hear ya, folks. And, given my experiences trying to publish short fiction, I should know better than to get discouraged this soon.
It might be difficult finding folks I like. I’m trying to be a good li’l author-wannabe, doing my research, making sure the agent is someone who represents fiction similar to mine, someone who also seems like a good human being (author endorsements count for a lot). Some of the blurbs in Guide to Agents (or whatever that book is called) are arrogant. I’m staying away from those.
In any case, I’m a long way away from giving up.
Doug,
Every author I’ve talked to, published or not, has stacks & stacks of rejections. The best way I’ve heard of looking at it is that you just haven’t found the right match yet.
Persistence seems to be the key. Good luck.
(and yes, it is a damn good book! :D)
Thanks, Darla. See everyone? Darla agrees this book rocks 😉
And I’m damn picky, too. *smooches*