The Daily Rejection

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buz

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Wow. That query gestitated for nine months and spawned little queries of its own.

I should've spayed it before sending it out. :(

Got an R today after half an hour. That place is on top of their shit.

Prompt! :D
 

A.C. Thomas

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Hey everyone! It's been a little bit, but I'm back with a clearer head and ready to get back out there. Going to try some contests out and focus on networking more. Oh and blogging, definitely more blogging. I want to thank all of you again for your encouragement. Pffft, 20 rejections? Nothing to fret about. Gonna keep pushin ;-).
 

triceretops

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Got a big R on an article for my favorite magazine. When I proposed it over four months ago they said they would use it because it sounded so good. They lost it three times, and I finally sent it again two days ago. Apparently they forgot what they said about it 'cause it was a general dismissal. I knew the writing and topic was dead on. I've facilitated back and forth about sending them their original (positive) e-mail, but realized they might have just changed their mind about it.

tri
 

mayqueen

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Ouch, tri. I'm sorry!

I got a form R on a query after seven months today. I had forgotten completely about it. I also got a form R on a recent query. Oh, well. I have a new project to focus on getting ready to query.
 

mrsmig

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Got such a HAPPY little email today in response to a Writers Digest contest I'd entered, thanking me for participating and telling me that over 7,000 entries were received and that the winners had all been notified and the prize packages sent out.

As part of my general sour-pussery, I couldn't help but do the math:

The entry fee for this contest was $20. 7,000 entries at $20 a pop equals $140,000 for Writers Digest. Cash prizes to the winners totaled less than $6,000. Administrative expenses and stipends for the judges aside, this sounds like it was a nice little money-maker for WD.

No wonder their email was happy.

:p
 

triceretops

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Got such a HAPPY little email today in response to a Writers Digest contest I'd entered, thanking me for participating and telling me that over 7,000 entries were received and that the winners had all been notified and the prize packages sent out.

As part of my general sour-pussery, I couldn't help but do the math:

The entry fee for this contest was $20. 7,000 entries at $20 a pop equals $140,000 for Writers Digest. Cash prizes to the winners totaled less than $6,000. Administrative expenses and stipends for the judges aside, this sounds like it was a nice little money-maker for WD.

No wonder their email was happy.

:p

Yeah, they were typing with one hand and had a bottle of Crystal in the other. I can hear the rubber bands snapping on the party hats from here. Sheech.
 

amschilling

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A big week of nothing. Nada. Distracted myself by finishing edits off the revision suggestions on my full. Just wish one of my betas was free to look it over again (they're not. boo). I feel like I hit it out of the park, but it may be I'm having an up day. *sigh* Is it wrong to just want someone to read this and have the same, "OMG, I love this" reaction I have? Okay, the part I love is my anti-hero; I've got a bad crush. But still. I want someone to love the little devil as much as me. :D

Good news is I did have an email thing w/ an agent that's got pages. I sent him a revised synopsis based on the changes (the last scene is completely different, and changes the whole feel of the ending), and apologized like heck for doing it. He was really nice about it, and thanked me for being patient while he thought about things. I'm now encouraged that maybe I can do it for the folks with fulls, too. They're the ones the edits would impact the most, but I was freaked out that they'd really hate me doing it.

Hope everyone else is having better (or any) news.
 

merlot143

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Good news -- got a partial request a few days ago from Laura Biagi at Jean Naggar agency! Queried a few months ago.
 

krashnburn

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:hooray: for those with requests and good agent interactions.

Since I'm using the little emoticon guys today, this is me :flag: I refused to look at my e-mail most of last week because I was standing on the hair edge of sanity. I had a bad thing happen at work--like, possibly job ending bad. Waiting to hear how it turns out. Then the kiddies came home with lice and I spent 36hrs of cleaning, washing, quarantining on only 1hr sleep. So, I felt a little back together today and checked the e-mail. Yep, a form R from one of my favorites. As Pepe would say, le sigh.
 

Hathor

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Well, I made it to the end of February and all those queries out there seem dead. I put it off as long as I could. This morning I put on my big girl panties and started trying to get my fiction down to a more popular word count.

As I've bitched before, I'd already gone through this sucker and cut a great deal. Before it was a matter of trying to be as concise as possible. Now I'm killing darlings (minor subplots, characters that will be important in later books, etc.). I've gone through all the cuts that came to mind while I was on vacation. But I am distressed to find those moved me only from 103,000 to 100,000. I've started looking at this line by line (again) to see what else I might tighten up.

I'm not enjoying this at all. It would be nice to think that getting below 100,000 will make a difference, but I don't know if it will be enough.

I suppose if this book doesn't fly I can go forward with the prequel I've started. It should be shorter.
 

Hathor

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Yes, I have, QB. The only remaining complaint was that my book seemed too long for a first novel in the genre I claimed. That's also the only substantive comment I've gotten back from an agent so far (still he requested the full after seeing two chapters).

Janet Reid looked over my query. Her only comment was that it looked like I had a romance, not the mystery I said I had. That's when I started calling this a "romantic mystery."

Word count would be better under 90,000 but I don't see how that's doable. I already sweated blood before today, taking 15,000 words out to get it down to 103,000.

Maybe I'll do another round in QLH once I pare this thing as much as I can.

Ams, I developed a crush on my bad boy character, too. When I started writing he was the culprit, but I changed my mind. I suppose if I'd kept to my original plot, my book would be considerably shorter.
 

amschilling

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LOL, Hathor. Good to know I'm not the only one. Problem is, I kept him a little devil that does very bad things even after my crush--he's got a reason for the stuff he does, and that's why I like him. He's messed up and knows it, and kind of enjoys it. Plus he's very, very clever. *shrug*

100k for a mystery or romance does seem pretty long, but I know what you mean about only being able to cut so far. That might not be something you can do much about. Sadly, the romance leanings might be what's hurting. They have pretty strict length guidelines, don't they? They all seem to be the exact same size, anyway. Maybe if JR said it seemed like a romance off the query, there's a way to rework the query so the mystery angle comes through more? You might get more folks taking a look, and then what genre it is won't matter as much (you'll have sucked them in with the writing at that point).
 

Hathor

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That is a thought. Bad boy is a part of the mystery (and the stakes for protag). I'll have to play around with it and see if the mystery can sound interesting without bringing up the hottie. Maybe it would be enough not to mention in the query that he is one. That can be a little surprise in chapter two.

The wise agent who's seen fit to request my full said maybe we should consider this a "romantic crime thriller." Then presumably my word count would be just dandy.

It's a strange industry at times.
 

A.P.M.

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Man, seven fulls are now down to 4. Three rejections, two of which were form. I got two of them today.

Today was not a good day. :(
 

Hathor

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Gee, that's tough, APM. Have some chocolate, wine, cookie dough, mac & cheese, etc., on me.
 

krashnburn

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Sorry APM.
We need a chocolate and wine emoticon.
 

A.P.M.

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Yeah, chocolate would be great.

At least one of the R's turned into a revise and resubmit, but I don't want to revise and resubmit until the other agents get back to me. It was a very helpful rejection, at least, and left a door open. I have to think positive!
 

Manuel Royal

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Just got a short story rejection from an online magazine for which I proofread. Now, I've had dozens of rejections before, but this one irks a little.

I knew the editors had taste that differs significantly from my own -- but this is more than a matter of taste. By every way I know to judge a story, being as objective as I can, they've published numerous stories -- some of which I've proofread -- that were weaker than the one I sent them. Really wanted to crack this market. (For one thing, they pay remarkably well. Not for proofreading -- I've been doing that for free. But for stories.)

Every story I've finished in the last three years has eventually been published by somebody. I'll find a home for this one. If I still had a Duotrope membership, I'd head over there right now and find another suitable market.
 

merlot143

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Got turned down by Jessica Sinsheimer. That's okay.

Meanwhile, can anyone tell me the value of subscribing to Publisher's Lunch? I've heard it's valuable.
 

Hathor

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I've found Publishers Marketplace (the entity one pays) to be useful. Some examples:

Many agents list genres they represent--but you run a search and find they haven't reported any sales in certain genres.

You can look at the top dealmakers in each genre (unfortunately it gives you the last six months--I'd rather see the ranking over a longer period, but it gives you a start).

You can read blurbs of each sale reported to see if they're similar to your own.

You can look up who represents certain authors.

One caveat is that all sales aren't reported. But more information is always better.

You can always try a trial membership. If it isn't worth it to you, just cancel.
 
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