The Daily Rejection, Vol. 2

RaggedEdge said:

These German words are great. When I read Cannelle asking above for a long German word, I could only think of "schadenfreude" (and didn't spell it right at first) and I didn't know what it meant, either. Turns out to be depressing also! From vocabulary.com:

Schadenfreude. When another person's bad luck secretly makes you feel good, that's Schadenfreude. In German, Schadenfreude literally means "damage-joy," and it's always spelled with a capital S.

I had my name mentioned in RWA's national magazine this month for winning the contest back in July. Makes things feel a little more real - and almost verging on professional.

Click to expand...

Schadenfreude is such an amazingly useful word! One of my favorites. It comes in handy sometimes.

Congrats on the mention, and the win! That's fantastic!!!!!

Noranne, that's an awful feeling, isn't it? There have been quite a few times that I've sat back, blinking at the book in front of me and going, "...really?" And yet all we can do is keep writing and keep trying.

So I sorta finished the bulk of the revision/R&R for MS6 today. I say sorta because one thing the R&R agent pointed out was that I needed to flesh it out more and she mentioned 100k as a target, and I've only got it up to 90k and am struggling to do more bulking. I'm not sure I really hit her notes, but I'll probably send it back to her as I did make an honest effort and I think the book is improved. I still need to do a couple more passes but they'll be more on nailing down the different POV voices and any line editing, I think I am done adding new scenes.

I also wrote a short story today. That was unexpected. I was sitting there about to leave and was like, man, I've been editing forever, I miss writing something new. So I opened up a Word doc and 100% pantsed a 1200 word story. I kinda like it too! I'll let it sit for awhile before I go back with more objective eyes to see how it sucks.

Cheers to everyone working hard out there! I know we have some NaNoers amongst us, hope the words are flowing!

Another rejection of a query sent 41 days ago. Just wondering, long time means thinking about it? Probably not, just huge amount of queries on the pipeline.

Obi-Wan Nobody said:

Another rejection of a query sent 41 days ago. Just wondering, long time means thinking about it? Probably not, just huge amount of queries on the pipeline.

Click to expand...

Hard to say. This really does vary from agent to agent. I've had agents send out form rejections literally years after querying, so it's easy to see that those queries probably just got lost in the shuffle. On the other hand, I've had agents actually reply to a query saying they "hemmed and hawed" about it for a while before ultimately deciding not to ask for more, so it could very well be that an agent put your query on the "maybe" pile for a while, or that you were just one more in a huge backlog that finally got addressed.

Thank you, Shoeless. I am just curious, anyone had a full manuscript request for a query older than a month?

I had a partial request after 50 days once.

Obi-Wan Nobody said:

Thank you, Shoeless. I am just curious, anyone had a full manuscript request for a query older than a month?

Click to expand...

The full I have out now, I queried June 26th. I received the request for the full October 27th. (Agency guidelines said 8-12 weeks, I had written that one off as a no.)

Obi-Wan Nobody said:

Thank you, Shoeless. I am just curious, anyone had a full manuscript request for a query older than a month?

Click to expand...

My query process took me over half of 2017. The agent I eventually signed with, I first queried on January 9th. Didn't get a partial request till February 27th, and didn't get a request for a full until May 29th. When the offer came, it was in the first week of July, so there was nothing fast about my particular process.

Obi-Wan Nobody said:

Thank you, Shoeless. I am just curious, anyone had a full manuscript request for a query older than a month?

Click to expand...

Yes, I have a full out now that was requested seven months after the query.

Check their response-time stats on QueryTracker. But 41 days doesn't seem particularly unusual.

Thank you all! Quite refreshing to find out that the success doesn't drive on highways.

Got my first rejection today. A form rejection. I feel awful to be honest. My skin is not as thick as I thought. lol

Welcome to the submissions club, LittleSimon! That first ever rejection is awful since it really feels like a personal rejection. The best thing to do is send it immediately back out to another market and get working on a new thing. It really helps to be in places like this and see that you are far from alone in getting rejections. Hopefully it will find the right home with an editor that loves it.

Welcome, LittleSimon! Developing a thick skin takes a while, and sometimes, just when you think your feet are firmly planted in Rhino Hide Territory, another big fat R comes along and stings. I'll throw out what's been getting me through lately. It's okay to be sad about it (especially the big ones). But don't let that stop you. A rejection means you're trying. A rejection means you've at least created something, you finished it. That's amazing and that's further than a lot of people get. And now that you've done that once, that means you can do it again! (Chanting that after I finished my first -terrible!- novel got me through my second. And now that I'm querying #2, I'm starting on #3, because dammit, I did it once, I can do it again. Maybe #2 will be shelved forever, but that doesn't mean I can't go on to create something even better. And the same goes for you. We can do this!

LittleSimon said:

Got my first rejection today. A form rejection. I feel awful to be honest. My skin is not as thick as I thought. lol

Click to expand...

I got rejected yesterday and it was in the 70th-80th range (kinda lost count) but it was from an agent I'd been watching for some time. She'd been on maternity leave for a while, she'd said on her web site she was looking for material like mine, she's newer in the field than others and might be more open to someone who's not established like me, and she finally came open for submissions again, and.... rejection. It was a form rejection, but at least her assistant had the decency to paste the name of the manuscript in to the e-mail. Sigh.

LittleSimon said:

Got my first rejection today. A form rejection. I feel awful to be honest. My skin is not as thick as I thought. lol

Click to expand...

Well, "pseudo-congratulations" on this. It's your first battle scar, and it's unlikely to be your last. However, as your first, it's bound to make a big impression. Take care of yourself, do what you can to get over this hump, but keep in mind somewhere in the back of your head, unless you're a combination of exceptionally talented AND lucky with hitting the right agent at just the right time, this is likely just the first step on a long road. For most of us, the road to publication is paved with form rejections.

So even if you feel like this one "tripped" you quite a bit, step on it, or over it, and keep stepping on the next and the next. Getting published is often a bit like learning to play the guitar; the first time you really try hard and get nowhere, you bleed a bit. But as you practice and get better, you develop calluses, and eventually the things that used to stop you dead in your tracks, you just brush off and keep going.

LittleSimon said:

Got my first rejection today. A form rejection. I feel awful to be honest. My skin is not as thick as I thought. lol

Click to expand...

Proud of you. Keep going, you're doing great.

Added two more form letter rejections to my collection today, both and for queries I'd already marked as CNR so no surprises. A bit of a meh day as my writing in nano has dropped off as I struggle with the end of this project. It'll get get there but I'm definitely in a slogging spot rather than a words-are-magic spot.

Slogging today, too. Which is a pity, because last night I got some great ideas about strengthening a part of the novel I'm trying to whip into shape for submission. Finally giving up and playing the "let's see if I can cut 25 words from each chapter and shorten the MS by 500 words!" game instead. I mean, right after I check Twitter, Facebook, and AW again...

Another short story rejection last night, too. Need to get my rejects back out there, but not today.

Sorry about the recent rejections, Obi-Wan, Collie, eruthford, and LittleSimon. It's part of the process, but it still sucks.

I've been a little better about sending out queries and submitting short stories lately, which means rejections are rolling in for both. Whee.

Hathor said:

Torschlusspanik: the fear, usually as one gets older, that time is running out and important opportunities are slipping away

Click to expand...

I think that's pretty much my life, right there.

RaggedEdge said:

I had my name mentioned in RWA's national magazine this month for winning the contest back in July. Makes things feel a little more real - and almost verging on professional.

Click to expand...

Ooh, you're famous now!

noranne - I so hear you about the obvious trash that gets published while our superior prose languishes. I mean, really, what are they thinking?

Also, yippee on the short story! New writing is of the good.

Obi-Wan Nobody, eruthford, Collie, Marlys - Have some R cookies.

LittleSimon - Yep, welcome to the trenches, and what Cameron said. Have a cookie, too.

NaNoers (and everybody else), keep on slogging!

-passes chips to all those with rejections- Keep at it! You'll get there.

Congrats to all who had requests and received good news!

I've been experiencing rejections of a different nature. So for the past few months, I've been reaching out trying to find long-term CPs on the internet. I've used AbsoluteWrite, Twitter, etc. The people are at first enthusiastic, but as soon as I send my first chapter, crickets. Not even a, "I don't think I'm the right match for this." My document has been sent out to voids in cyberspace.

I had also entered online mentor contests, where you submit the first chapter, and the interested mentors / CPs contact you. Zero requests from all. These same chapters had gotten multiple fulls from agents, so I don't think my writing or concept is TERRIBLE.

For now, I'm sticking with the critique partners I know in real life. At least with people you know in real life, you can follow up without overstepping boundaries. My experience with reaching out to strangers has been less than stellar, unfortunately... Wish they could at least just reply with a "I'm not interested"? Is that so hard to ask?

Received a rejection on the full that was hanging out with an agent for three weeks. I'm okay with that. It frees me up to send it out to others. Can't reach the one who is perfect for me if I never send it to them. The good news is, the perfect agent is always the one at the end of the list.

Meanwhile, it's hanging out with an editor for a new set of eyes.

So instead of counting rejections, I'll count the good stuff. One request for full, two nice pieces of feedback from agents (who also said no but whatever), and one beta reader who said it was the best beta read he'd ever had. Chin up!

Good times Felix!

I've sent off my final two (agent!) queries ever for Origin. Then onwards to collect my rejections from Angry Robot, Daw, Pyr, and Tor, before trunking.

Rejection cookies - or perhaps wine to Ob-Wan-Nobody, Little Simon, eruthford, Marlys, Liz-V, Felix

Crossed two more CNRs off the query list, and added a partial rejection to the pile. She included some detailed feedback and seemed lovely, but I don't think I can use her suggestions without basically gutting the book so that was a bit frustrating.

I'm basically trunking this one. I'll let the rest of the rejections roll in but I'm letting it go in my head. It had quite a few agents ask for partials/fullls (and a few are still out) but I think my querying skill exceeded my novel.

I'm lurking around here because I've had a handful of rejections lately and it doesn't feel good. I know the only thing to do is keep on pushing, but man it gets tough, right?

laserkey - That's pretty much been my experience even with RL critiquers. They're all "Sure, I'd be happy to read it!" at the beginning, then... crickets and more crickets. Then, after multiple nudges, it's "Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry, I'll get on that right away!", followed by, you guessed it, more crickets. One eventually just stops asking.

I'm pretty sure the work's not crap. It's just that people are flaky.

A writer I know sent out his novel to multiple people who'd said they'd look at it, mostly RL contacts, and got responses (any repsonse at all) from about half. Everybody in the conversation seemed to think that was a really good response rate. (And his stuff definitely wasn't crap.)

There seems to be something about basic human nature that makes "I'm sorry, I don't have time/energy/whatever to do that" almost impossible to pry out of most people's mouths. Which is really unfortunate, as it would simplify a lot of interactions.

Felix, that's the spirit!

Harlequin & Collie, sympathies on the impending trunkings. (I may be there myself soon.) Hopefully that one right agent is lurking at the ends of your lists!

gbhike - Absolutely it gets tough. If writing is the process of throwing yourself against a brick wall until one of you falls down, querying is flinging the loose bricks straight up in the air and waiting for one of them to not fall on your head. This is why writers must fortify their skulls with alcohol, chocolate, and good company.