The Daily Rejection

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Hathor

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OK, I stand corrected about the nature of the Arizona inferno. Still nasty :(

When I paste into gmail from Word I get extra spaces. Ick. Of course, this is from the file with bewitched formatting that spontaneously mutates. Sometimes I think I should just retype the sucker from scratch.

As long as there is no standard out there for equeries (use this font and size, do/don't have extra spaces between paragraphs), I'll simply do what looks good to me.

Unless someone tells me I'm wrong. (I like to obsess on details like this because it diverts me from worrying about the quality of my work.)
 

Carleree

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Carleree--How strange! I wonder if that UK agent is an exception rather than the rule...they should really state on their web site if they have such US representation requirements. Good luck with the others!

It is stated on their website--for AMERICANS-- Perhaps they think Canada is just another state.:Shrug:
 

Quickbread

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It is stated on their website--for AMERICANS-- Perhaps they think Canada is just another state.:Shrug:

Ha. That could be.

Hathor, have you tried saving the sample pages as a different type of file first, like a .txt file? That will erase any formatting so it doesn't transfer into an email.

Just got a rejection on a full. "Well-written but I didn't connect." It's not too disappointing because the agent asks for lots of fulls, but still, it's a bit nerve-wracking to lose one of the fulls I had floating out there. Somehow, having three up in the air was much more comforting than two.
 

Hathor

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It is stated on their website--for AMERICANS-- Perhaps they think Canada is just another state.:Shrug:

Well, you are a North American. But the rule doesn't make sense applied to you.

Geographic illiteracy is rampant. Maybe this person thinks Vancouver is in the US?

Reading what they said makes it seem they thought you were trying to market the foreign rights for your work, rather than get it published to begin with. In any event, it's peculiar.
 

Hathor

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Hathor, have you tried saving the sample pages as a different type of file first, like a .txt file? That will erase any formatting so it doesn't transfer into an email.

Just got a rejection on a full. "Well-written but I didn't connect." It's not too disappointing because the agent asks for lots of fulls, but still, it's a bit nerve-wracking to lose one of the fulls I had floating out there. Somehow, having three up in the air was much more comforting than two.

Thanks, I'll try the .txt trick. Right now, I have a sample where I removed the extra spaces. If it's just five pages or so, that's not bad. But the first agent I'm targeting with my new spiffy query asks for the first 25 pages. It didn't take that long to eliminate the spaces, but I don't want to have to do this for every query. Maybe paste the appropriate amount from my sample? At least pasting from gmail doesn't make the font look weird when it's received (a problem I had with yahoo).

Yes, I've apparently been cursed by the formatting god. :Hammer:

Sorry about the R.
 

Hathor

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What's the earliest I can nudge on partial/full requests? Is it 3 months or 6 months? (or some other time frame?)

The "rule" I've seen is three months on a partial, six months on a full.

Tri, sorry about your R, too. Have I missed anyone? If so, I'm sorry for you as well.
 

comped

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Got this today.

Dear -my name-

Thank you for considering Heuer Publishing for editorial review and publication of Facts of Romance. After careful deliberation, we have decided that this play is not going to work for us at this time.


Our current needs include full length plays for high schools and community theatres and compelling short plays for competitive thespian festivals. We are also interested in large-cast farces for family audiences and previously-produced Christmas comedies.

Thank you for thinking of us, and good luck!

Sincerely,

Kami Zbanek


Play publishing's a bitch.

comped
 

qdsb

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:Hammer: for all the Rs today! Ugh! Brownies for everyone!
 

Hathor

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:Hammer: for all the Rs today! Ugh! Brownies for everyone!

Or chocolate martinis. I don't have an R today. But the manager of the Nats didn't listen to the advice I carefully yelled at my TV. I could not have been clearer.
 

Carleree

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Is that when you hear from dream agent or are you referring to the beginning of the NHL season?
NHL. I tend not to scream at the TV when I'm watching football because my team is awesome.

Dream agent said she'd get back to me on the pitch and the revised chapter outline "as soon as possible." Which means, apparently...never.
 

Hathor

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NHL. I tend not to scream at the TV when I'm watching football because my team is awesome.

Dream agent said she'd get back to me on the pitch and the revised chapter outline "as soon as possible." Which means, apparently...never.

I'm sure I'll be screaming double-time in October, a time when two sports I follow overlap. Or I hope they'll overlap, meaning one made the playoffs. I suppose I'll scream for the Redskins for a while, too, until I can't stand to watch anymore.

My baseball team is awesome (for once -- we sucked for years), but for a tendency to put in a relief pitcher who has no control 70% of the time. The manager keeps giving him chances to prove himself. He's blown or endangered more games than I can remember. He reminds me of the Nuke LaLoosh character in Bull Durham, the one who throws 100 mph but only occasionally near the strike zone. I tried to express my displeasure on the team's discussion board, but it crashed when our Henry was put in. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. (Unfortunately, he can't be sent down to the minors. The 30% of the time he's unhittable keeps him around. At least, the hook is coming quickly when it's clear that it's a bad-Henry day.)

Sorry about the wait on your D.A. I've ate up all my chocolate. Want to share my popcorn?
 

Carleree

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I'm sure I'll be screaming double-time in October, a time when two sports I follow overlap. Or I hope they'll overlap, meaning one made the playoffs. I suppose I'll scream for the Redskins for a while, too, until I can't stand to watch anymore.

My baseball team is awesome (for once -- we sucked for years), but for a tendency to put in a relief pitcher who has no control 70% of the time. The manager keeps giving him chances to prove himself. He's blown or endangered more games than I can remember. He reminds me of the Nuke LaLoosh character in Bull Durham, the one who throws 100 mph but only occasionally near the strike zone. I tried to express my displeasure on the team's discussion board, but it crashed when our Henry was put in. Apparently, I wasn't the only one. (Unfortunately, he can't be sent down to the minors. The 30% of the time he's unhittable keeps him around. At least, the hook is coming quickly when it's clear that it's a bad-Henry day.)

Sorry about the wait on your D.A. I've ate up all my chocolate. Want to share my popcorn?
The fact that I got that Bull Durham reference tells my age.

I have chocolate. *shares* And thanks for the popcorn.
icon12.gif
 

Hathor

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The fact that I referred to Bull Durham without considering if folks would get it shows my age even more.

Thanks for the chocolate :Hug2:
 

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Got a request for the first 10 pages from a query letter without sample pages. Good to know the letter's working :) Since my initial--no sample queries, I decided to add the first 5 pages. I read somewhere that the queries should always have at least that many to give the agent an idea of the writing style. Still, my story's premise is stirring interest.
 

Hathor

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Good for you, K. Fingers crossed.

Well, guys, I finally did it. First new queries are now out on my rewritten NF (not counting the "I took your advice and rewrote" letters which are at 2 "go away now" and 2 "yet to respond"). Only five out today, since I was researching agents as well. I forgot how anxiety-provoking that was. (This site says to include this, and that says to include something else. Plus, I have the whole "do you query memoir like fiction or nonfiction" thing going on.)

I hope gmail hasn't messed up. It kept insisting on putting a clickable link on my phone number and I kept changing it back. I suppose that isn't as bad as my egregious misspelling when I queried the original NF. *cringe*

I'm thinking I'll get a few more researched and drafted tomorrow (I've read it's best not to query on Mondays or Fridays). Then next week I can deal with my fiction and get some queries out on that. I think my mind will cope better with alternating weeks of fiction/nonfiction querying. Maybe after a bit, I can insert a week of new work. That's more fun.

Or do you all do a little querying each day, then work on your new stuff? Maybe my old brain can be flexible enough for that.
 

Carleree

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Good for you, K. Fingers crossed.

Well, guys, I finally did it. First new queries are now out on my rewritten NF (not counting the "I took your advice and rewrote" letters which are at 2 "go away now" and 2 "yet to respond"). Only five out today, since I was researching agents as well. I forgot how anxiety-provoking that was. (This site says to include this, and that says to include something else. Plus, I have the whole "do you query memoir like fiction or nonfiction" thing going on.)

I hope gmail hasn't messed up. It kept insisting on putting a clickable link on my phone number and I kept changing it back. I suppose that isn't as bad as my egregious misspelling when I queried the original NF. *cringe*

I'm thinking I'll get a few more researched and drafted tomorrow (I've read it's best not to query on Mondays or Fridays). Then next week I can deal with my fiction and get some queries out on that. I think my mind will cope better with alternating weeks of fiction/nonfiction querying. Maybe after a bit, I can insert a week of new work. That's more fun.

Or do you all do a little querying each day, then work on your new stuff? Maybe my old brain can be flexible enough for that.
Good luck! I do batches of twenty a month, or so. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but I like to keep it at about twenty out at a time.
 
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