The Daily Rejection, Vol. 2

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noranne

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Huh, got a very unexpected response today from a query I sent back in February. It was my 3rd time querying this agent and she'd never responded previously so it's been CNR for a while. Anyway, she sent a rather detailed rejection. I know she must have liked it a little bit to have read all the sample pages (10) and write so much back, but damn it kinda hurt. "the craft elements are missing" and "it needs lots of revision". Basically the only thing that she liked was the premise. Other than that, she pinged my characters, my setting, my names, my POV structure, and even my choice of genre. Based on her comments, I think it's mostly just a basic incompatibility of taste, but that can't account for *all* of that. Good thing I'm done querying MS6, I guess.
 

Hathor

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That seem downright peculiar, noranne. Methinks it reflects less about your work than the day this agent was having or some other issue. Why take all that time to reject a query when you can ignore it or send a form R? In the rare instances when one gets a personalized rejection, my impression is that it is nearly always to say something positive.
 

NotForUsThanks

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Noranne, I'd have to agree with Hathor. Sounds to me a sort of "if I had that idea I'd have done it this way" sort of response, which screams Frustrated Writer to me.
 

NotForUsThanks

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It doesn't seem too much to ask that people go to the mentors' sites and actually read what they're willing to take on. They got more than 3,000 total entries. Even aside from reading entries, this is no small amount of work the mentors are doing.

Never said anything about it being too much to ask to go to the mentor's sites and read their blogs. My point was that it would have been more productive for the mentors to put links up to their blogs and social media sites rather than putting out irritable tweets.
 

JJ Litke

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Never said anything about it being too much to ask to go to the mentor's sites and read their blogs. My point was that it would have been more productive for the mentors to put links up to their blogs and social media sites rather than putting out irritable tweets.

They did do that, and Brenda Drake had a complete list of all the mentors with links on her site. And as Jeneral pointed out, that cheat sheet list was inaccurate, so it caused a lot of trouble.

I guess I'm a little defensive on their behalf because a lot of these people put in a ton of work without pay, and the suggestion that they aren't doing enough really bothers me. I'm not sure what more they could be reasonably expected to do.
 

goddessofgliese

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Just checking in to see how you guys have been doing. It seems that you are still hanging in there! ;) I've decided to take a break after 25 rejections. So far the process has been very detrimental to my mental health, thus the need for a break.

But hope you all will receive good news soon!
 

pinkbowvintage

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noranne - Ahh that's hard! Sounds like a complete difference of taste/opinion, and maybe a bit of "If I Had Written This" as NotForUsThanks said. Please don't let it get you down!!

I'm hopelessly confused about Pitch Wars. I hope everything sorts itself out.
 

noranne

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Thanks everyone. :Hug2: I believe that this agent is also a writer (she has a mystery novel out, I think?) so maybe that was it. The most charitable explanation I can give is that she got really excited about the query and was let down by the pages and was trying to be helpful without realizing that she was just coming across as, um, kinda mean? Definitely one of the stranger rejections I've gotten. Filing that away in the "Stories from the Query Trenches"!

Working on some revisions. Amazing how easy it is to scribble on a piece of paper "add a scene where protag is more active ch 8" and then how haaard it is to do!
 

RLGreenleaf

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Question on Submissions:

Is it appropriate to include a Table of Contents in a full ms that you are submitting?

I have not read anything regarding this, in any of my research.

I am thinking of including one from now on, but am not sure if it is an acceptable practice.

Any thoughts, ideas, or opinions?
 

noranne

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I have never included one. I don't think it's generally considered part of the standard format. If you're using Word, you can use headings so that a reader can pull up the chapter outline if needed.
 

RLGreenleaf

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noranne:

Thanks for the response.

Actually, I suppose that that is yet another question: are headings acceptable in a submission?

I generally use them (headings) when writing a novel, as it helps keep me on course, and have a template file created specifically for that.

However, I remove the headers, and replace them with plain text, before submitting, as I know that that is the general standard.
 

Hathor

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I agree with noranne. When I first started writing, I was paranoid about standard manuscript format (which drove me crazy when the self-proclaimed experts disagreed with each other :)). Anywho, I remember someone specifically saying NOT to include a table of contents and nobody ever saying you should.

Yep, plain text when you submit.
 

sockycat

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Feeling a tad stuck. I was reading through my MS, and I realized how drastically writing short fiction like a crazy person has changed my writing (for the better) over the past six months. I'm looking at my MS through new eyes and I can't help but feel like the entire thing needs to be rewritten. Like, read out loud, cutting entire characters and arcs, rewriting entire chapters rewritten. It's been a work in progress for about four years now, and I'm wondering if forcing myself to do a complete overhaul over a few weeks is the best solution. I feel like the alternative (making tiny baby tweaks every few weeks like I've been over the past few years) will mean I just nitpick it until I die and never actually send it out. It's like I finally just need to write this thing the best I can, and send it out there, and if it fails oh well. I need to get myself in a place where I am comfortable moving on to a different project.
 

Atlantic12

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Socky, maybe the perfectionist bug has bit you? No harm in another revision, but if you accept you'll never be 100% satisfied with the book, maybe you'll allow yourself to submit it and move on. You can apply your awesome new skills to a fresh project.
 

goddessofgliese

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I've spent a lot of time, energy and money perfecting my book, but I really don't think there's a market for it . I think it's time to give up, instead of getting stressed over it and wasting more time and money on it.

Somehow the thought makes me feel a little better.

When do you guys decide that it's time to let go?
 

RLGreenleaf

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goddessofgliese:

In my case, I know that my books will not sell well, and I am comfortable with that.

Not because they are poorly written, or because they are not interesting -- but because there is a particular "market" out there, and my work does not fit well into what is popular.

However, I write, and re-write, as well as I can for the stage of writing that I am in, and then I move on. I do, however, look at it again later, and with a fresh perspective.

Your choices might be different.
 
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sockycat

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Socky, maybe the perfectionist bug has bit you? No harm in another revision, but if you accept you'll never be 100% satisfied with the book, maybe you'll allow yourself to submit it and move on. You can apply your awesome new skills to a fresh project.

I think that's what the plan will be. Do one more big revision and then send it out there. The tiny tweaks are going to be the death of me.

In happier news--I've received three rejections this week (womp womp, the normal amount) BUT an hour ago I just received an email from an anthology I've been dying to be a part of accepting my story!! It's my first semi-pro sale (everything has been token so far) so I'm suuuuper geeked. And it's such a wonderfully validating feeling to get an acceptance after the routine of a few rejections a week lol
 

CJSimone

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Congrats, sockycat!

noranne, hang in there! It's tough and we all get discouraged, but you never know...

goddessofgliese - maybe readjust the goals and methods, but if this particular book means a lot to you, I wouldn't give up on it yet.

Good luck to all who've entered Pitch Wars! We've been discussing it over here too if anyone's interested and missed it: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?326602-Pitch-Wars-2017/page13
 

noranne

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Nice personalized rejection today from a good short story market. On the one hand, it's nice to know they actually read (and enjoyed!) my story, but on the other, gah, it's still a rejection! Normally I'd send it right back out again, but I did like the comment they made so now I made need to make a small edit. Sigh.

Not making any progress on MS6, need to clear out some mental headspace to really get into it again.
 

underpope

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I think that's what the plan will be. Do one more big revision and then send it out there. The tiny tweaks are going to be the death of me.

In happier news--I've received three rejections this week (womp womp, the normal amount) BUT an hour ago I just received an email from an anthology I've been dying to be a part of accepting my story!! It's my first semi-pro sale (everything has been token so far) so I'm suuuuper geeked. And it's such a wonderfully validating feeling to get an acceptance after the routine of a few rejections a week lol

That's fantastic news!!! Congratulations!
 

CJSimone

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Nice personalized rejection today from a good short story market. On the one hand, it's nice to know they actually read (and enjoyed!) my story, but on the other, gah, it's still a rejection! Normally I'd send it right back out again, but I did like the comment they made so now I made need to make a small edit.

That's encouraging. :)
 

RLGreenleaf

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Received a rejection to a query, and I was wondering how best to move forward.

The agent said that the idea behind the story is really wonderful, but that she did not love the writing as much as she hoped she would. I suppose that is a well-used (and somewhat vague) rejection, but I was wondering how best to pursue this.

The story takes place in the 1700's, and is about a young boy and a young girl, both around ten years old. I wanted to make them sound like children from that era, and not like modern kids, so I had them use dialect that approximated the English used at that time; and I suspect that it was this dialect that the agent did not like.

Perhaps a different agent might appreciate that effort at realism a little bit more, but I am left wondering how much I should "modernize" their speech.

Anyone else ever run into this issue?
 
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