Oh Bother

wickeddj · May 13, 2008

Ask me how my morning is going. Do it. Dare ya....well? I'll tell you anyway, even though I'm not usually one of those people.
I was up until almost 5:00 this morning removing over 150 porcupine quills from my darling retarded dog's face, mouth, ear, and chest. Was woken up (at 7:30, natch) by my children and checked my e-mail to find my--you guessed it--very first rejection letter. A form letter. From the guy I queried *inhales sharply* YESTERDAY. :Headbang:

Okay. It's better now. Mostly. At least I feel like a real writer now that I have a rejection letter tacked to the wall.
:e2bike2:

DWSTXS · May 13, 2008

poor puppy! Is he okay now?

Your rejection letter? Laugh it off! You'll show him/her/them one of these days!

dawinsor · May 13, 2008

Ouch. The poor dog. Some of them have a hard time learning, but then we don't dogs to do higher math for us.

Sorry about the rejection. You're right that it makes you a real writer, though.

xiaotien · May 13, 2008

congrats on the quick R!
(believe me, when you send out 100 queries,
you appreciate the quick R response.)

sorry about the dog. =(

i hope he doesn't do it again.

best way to get over a fast R?
send out 5 more queries. =)

good luck!

wickeddj · May 13, 2008

Thank you...and pup (his name is Winchester, he is a German shorthaired pointer) is going to be okay. He's tough, if not brainy. He is an avid hunter, but I hope he doesn't do this again--highly unpleasant.

As for the rejection...I do have one question. It was an e-query, responded to with a form letter e-mail--do I send a 'thank you for your time' note to be polite, or would that actually be a rude waste of said agent's time (or just plain silly)? And has anyone else noticed how hard it is to look cool when you're so damn new at something?

DWSTXS · May 13, 2008

do you have a 'thank you for what miniscule-amount-of-time-you-actually-spent-on-it' e-mail you could send?

sheadakota · May 13, 2008

OoOO Sorry about the pup- I have had the experience as well, not fun for either of us

Sorry about the rejection as well, but a thank you for a for a form rejection? I don't think so

wickeddj · May 13, 2008

Err..good point. Screw 'em.

gettingby · May 13, 2008

DWSTXS said:
do you have a 'thank you for what miniscule-amount-of-time-you-actually-spent-on-it' e-mail you could send?

I would not send something like that! It doesn't take too long to read a query. Some agents do go through them quickly. Sorry to hear about your rejection. I hope the day gets better for you, but I really would avoid responding at all back to an agent that sent you a form rejection. It is best to just let it go and move on.

clara bow · May 13, 2008

I hope Winchester appreciates your level of dedication. Clearly this agent didn't, lol!

Don't worry about sending a thank you. The only time you might want to do that is if an agent gave you personalized feedback on a partial or full.

Fingers crossed that the next rejection is not preceded by so much drama. Better yet, that it's not a rejection at all.

wickeddj · May 13, 2008

Ironically, I just received rejection #2. I am a superstitious Irish girl and now that bad luck has arrived in its cliched form of "threes" maybe I am off the hook. Looks like I have more query letters to write.

Dum de dum doo doo. *brushes imaginary ickies off shoulder, pulls up bootstraps (or slipper straps, as the case may be), moves on*

Saundra Julian · May 13, 2008

Sorry on both counts...hang tough, sweetie!

Phaeal · May 13, 2008

I only send thank yous for personal rejections, and then, if possible, I send them snail-mail on my best stationery.

MsJudy · May 13, 2008

It puts it all in perspective. One little old e-rejection doesn't hurt at all--compared to 150 porcupine quills!

BigRed · May 14, 2008

Just to cheer yourself up a smidge...use that imaginative writers mind of yours and imagine those quills sticking out of the butts of the two who rejected you. (And save some for the next, just in case there is one.) There now, I bet you feel better! I know I do! :roll:

Keep the faith!

Just Me 2021 · May 14, 2008

The best way to counter those rejections is to send out more queries! Go for it!

soleary · May 14, 2008

Sorry about the doggie and the rejection. I imagine he's shaken it off by now. Follow his lead. You're a real writer now

!

wickeddj · May 15, 2008

Thanks, everyone, for the encouragement. (Big Red, I like your style!)
On a happy note, I just got a personal rejection (I find that encouraging, at least) from Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger...she was very kind--just said that my opening pages didn't grab her as much as she had hoped they would. At least that's a start.

Margaritas, anyone? I'm buying! :e2drunk:

Dee Carney · May 18, 2008

wickeddj said:
Thank you...and pup (his name is Winchester, he is a German shorthaired pointer) is going to be okay. He's tough, if not brainy. He is an avid hunter, but I hope he doesn't do this again--highly unpleasant.

Totally off topic here, but I have a German shorthaired pointer too and mine is as dumb as a brick. Is it the breed? Eesh.

Anyway, sorry about the rejection. Just not the right place/time. Keep on writing.

smallthunder · May 23, 2008

Going to the dogs

JudScotKev said:
It puts it all in perspective. One little old e-rejection doesn't hurt at all--compared to 150 porcupine quills!

Funny you should say that ...

I was just sitting here at my computer, feeling all crappy that the second agent who had requested a full has -- like the first -- just e-mailed me a rejection --

when my beloved dachshund barfed all over the chair and carpet by my side.

"Ah, yes!" I thought, as I comforted the dog and began to clean up the mess. "There's always your dog to put things in perspective."

In other words, there is abstract unpleasantness, and then there's concrete (if runny, and puky-phlemghy) unpleasantness. And you'll survive both.

LimeyDawg · May 23, 2008

wickeddj said:
Ask me how my morning is going. Do it. Dare ya....well? I'll tell you anyway, even though I'm not usually one of those people.
I was up until almost 5:00 this morning removing over 150 porcupine quills from my darling retarded dog's face, mouth, ear, and chest. Was woken up (at 7:30, natch) by my children and checked my e-mail to find my--you guessed it--very first rejection letter. A form letter. From the guy I queried *inhales sharply* YESTERDAY.

Okay. It's better now. Mostly. At least I feel like a real writer now that I have a rejection letter tacked to the wall.

They waited an entire day???? Wow. I dream of rejection letters that take more than a day, lol. Hang in there, keep querying, and remember, like the soon-to-be-famous Limeydawg sometimes says Illegitimae non carborundum est. (don't let the bastards wear you down)

Haggis · May 23, 2008

Two rejections? Congrats. You are a real writer now. Be sure you send those queries right out again. Just like you did before.

As for your dog? He probably shouldn't do what he did before.

wickeddj · May 24, 2008

Dee-- I think it must be the breed, or we're uniquely blessed with morondogs. He is all better now. I hope Mr. Porcupine gives our place wide berth from now on, because I guarantee the dog did not learn his lesson. If he were a kid, he would eat paste and run with scissors.
Smallthunder--Yup--perspective is priceless, ain't it?
Limeydawg--Thanks.
Haggis--He shouldn't but...see above.

And on the WOOP WOOP front:

Jessica Faust at Bookends Inc requested sample chapters and a proposal package this morning!!!!!!

:snoopy:

Karen Duvall · May 24, 2008

That's awesome, Wicked! Jessica is first rate. She rejected my partial, but I don't hold that against her. Ha! :tongue

wickeddj · May 24, 2008

Thanks, Karen--I was just reading some other posts about her, she sounds tough. I better go work on that proposal!

*still doing a happy dance*

Oh Bother

Wicked is as wicked does

Mr Mojo Risin...

Dorothy A. Winsor

bedazzled /bootay shaker!!

Wicked is as wicked does

Mr Mojo Risin...

part of the human equation

Wicked is as wicked does

Li'l Rug Bug

Wicked is as wicked does

A work in progress

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

Write to live; live to write!

practical experience, FTW

Wicked is as wicked does

Bringing sexy back

Ruled by Dachshunds

Scars are poems too

Evil, undead Chihuahua

Wicked is as wicked does

Chalice the Hatchet Knight

Wicked is as wicked does