The Daily Rejection, Vol. 2

Hathor - Congratulations again and again and again. Your good news has put me in an uncharacteristically good mood--I think even Mr. Moon is wondering what the hell is going on with me because I've been so gloom and doom over the past few weeks. Anyway, it's so awesome that your new, shiny agent not only a good agent, but that it's a good agent from a kick-ass, big-shot agency! (Also, you fixed The Big-shot Agency's contract! How cool is that?) So, so happy for you. Also, such a sense of relief and vindication at being able to withdraw your current subs like that! BTW, the terse--and immediate--response from the agent with the partial made me laugh. Oh, oh, and good on you for doing a 'spring cleaning' of your Twitter account. You must feel so weightless doing it!

Jeneral - Happy that you're clicking so wonderfully with the agent's edit suggestions and the ideas they have inspired! Here's hoping the revisions go smoothly.

tri - sorry about the publishing woes. I hope things start to look up for you soon.

JJ - yay on the short story acceptance and boo on the novel R! Have a cookie and a hug. Also, saw your email last night. Will get right on that later on today.... I'm almost DONE with Draft Zero!!!! YAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!! Sooooo close.....



Crickets for me today. Then again, what else is new? Have a great Tuesday guys!

PS: Where's Wendy???

Moonchild said:

Also, you fixed The Big-shot Agency's contract! How cool is that?

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I had to highlight this because, damn. That is pretty badass.

Moonchild said:

I'm almost DONE with Draft Zero!!!! YAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!! Sooooo close.....

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Congratulations on signing the contract Hathor!!

And congratulations JJ on the acceptance!

JJ: I like badass, as opposed to anal. But really, this wasn't a subtle thing. I was told on the phone the commission rate for certain sales was 15% but the contract said 20%. I'm surprised no one has said a peep about this before. Do folks not read their contracts at all?

Well, time to go back to withdrawing queries. I've had some gracious congratulations. As opposed to the terse response from the agent who's had my partial for 4-1/2 months, the one that others on QT keep asking about. I wonder if she is one of those agents who don't read until informed someone else has made an offer?

Congratulations on SIGNING, Hathor! Great agency! What does your husband think if this new step? Does he get the significance?

JJ - Congrats on selling another short story! Wow!

Jeneral - I can see how that small press opportunity would mess with your resolve for a bit. I hope I would do the same thing and stick with the rewrite if it were me.

I've gotten myself on a schedule of sorts for the summer finally, so I'm making progress again on my revision. I write in the mornings now, and my kids are learning to live with that, but I'm free for them in the afternoons.

Well. From the "Huh. Files:" I just got a full request from an agent I queried on a whim (not a lot of info on him out there, beyond him being legit, with a well-established agency and having actual clients). He was one of my 'why not?' last shots as I finished up my list last week. In the meantime, agents I researched and targeted specifically have either rejected or ignored me. I swear, the longer I'm in this game, the less I understand it. But, hey, a request is a request! So yay!

Ragged - Glad to hear your new schedule is working and that the kidlets are learning to deal with it!

yay Moonchild!

Good for you, Hathor. Donald Mass? Well, when you make a splash it's a cannon ball, wot? Really a nice accomplishment. I'm agented and on sub, but I love to visit all these threads that highlight submissions, rejections, acceptances and such. I guess, technically, I belong in the Next Circle of Hell. But I just like being everywhere 'cause I'm curious and nosey.

Congrats again, Hathor. That's a brilliant agent and now you'll become rich and famous!!!!!

Yay, Moonchild!

RaggedEdge said:

Congratulations on SIGNING, Hathor! Great agency! What does your husband think if this new step? Does he get the significance?

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He claims he does. And he probably does at some level. I've certainly been bitching about the process for long enough, and I've always shared my assorted news with him.

Maybe if this book gets a deal, he will actually read it

Moonchild said:

Well. From the "Huh. Files:" I just got a full request from an agent I queried on a whim (not a lot of info on him out there, beyond him being legit, with a well-established agency and having actual clients). He was one of my 'why not?' last shots as I finished up my list last week. In the meantime, agents I researched and targeted specifically have either rejected or ignored me. I swear, the longer I'm in this game, the less I understand it. But, hey, a request is a request! So yay!

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Congrats! Here you go

triceretops said:

Good for you, Hathor. Donald Mass? Well, when you make a splash it's a cannon ball, wot? Really a nice accomplishment. I'm agented and on sub, but I love to visit all these threads that highlight submissions, rejections, acceptances and such. I guess, technically, I belong in the Next Circle of Hell. But I just like being everywhere 'cause I'm curious and nosey.

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Thanks. I'm waiting for my copy of the contract with The Donald's signature on it.

Well, isn't this thread technically for rejections? We all get those. I can't imagine leaving you all at this point.

ChocolateChipCookie said:

Congrats again, Hathor. That's a brilliant agent and now you'll become rich and famous!!!!!

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From your mouth to Ganesha's big elephant ears

Congrats on signing, Hathor!

Congrats to Moonchild for the full (YAY!) and to JJ for the short story acceptance.

The agents have been stopping by TWV coaches' blogs today, and I'm slightly shocked to be able to report three agents commented on my entry (I was totally gearing myself up for no requests).

Congratulations, Hathor! Seeing others' success stories puts a little faith back in my bucket. I just got a rejection letter myself:

"Thank you for considering XXX in your search for representation. I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to review your work. Unfortunately, it is not right for my list. Urban fantasy is very difficult to sell right now. However, I wish you the best luck in your search for the right agent (and hope to see you in print soon)."

I'm not entirely sure how to take that, but hey, it's better than a no-response. Keep on keepin' on!

Moonchild said:

Well. From the "Huh. Files:" I just got a full request from an agent I queried on a whim (not a lot of info on him out there, beyond him being legit, with a well-established agency and having actual clients). He was one of my 'why not?' last shots as I finished up my list last week. In the meantime, agents I researched and targeted specifically have either rejected or ignored me. I swear, the longer I'm in this game, the less I understand it. But, hey, a request is a request! So yay!

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YAY indeed! Congrats on the full request, that's awesome! Don't question, just go with it.

Maxymmckay - Sorry for the R. Though I admit I'm a little "Whut?" on UF being a hard sell, it seems to be pretty big. Oh well, what do I know.

I had planned to take this Friday off before all this R&R stuff happened, and I'm so glad I did, because that means a whole extra day in the batcave. Scenes are percolating in my head, and this day job makes it hard to have time to get them down on paper. Add to that an elderly puppy that decided to play a rousing game of "Guess Why I'm Whimpering At 4 a.m.?" (Answer: I want a belly rub), my sleep was crap last night, so the writing I wanted to do tonight is most likely not happening. Meh. I'm trying to keep my eye on that long weekend on the horizon.

Netz said:

Congrats on signing, Hathor!

Congrats to Moonchild for the full (YAY!) and to JJ for the short story acceptance.

The agents have been stopping by TWV coaches' blogs today, and I'm slightly shocked to be able to report three agents commented on my entry (I was totally gearing myself up for no requests).

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Thanks. And it's great you're getting noticed!

maxymmckay said:

Congratulations, Hathor! Seeing others' success stories puts a little faith back in my bucket. I just got a rejection letter myself:

"Thank you for considering XXX in your search for representation. I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to review your work. Unfortunately, it is not right for my list. Urban fantasy is very difficult to sell right now. However, I wish you the best luck in your search for the right agent (and hope to see you in print soon)."

I'm not entirely sure how to take that, but hey, it's better than a no-response. Keep on keepin' on!

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Thanks.

I'm not quite sure how to interpret that R. Maybe this agent doesn't want to sell the subgenre or doesn't have the contacts to do so.

I had an agent tell me that there's no place for new writers about Greek mythology, too. You can't believe everything you're told. That will drive you nuts because they often disagree with one another.

Thanks for the nanners and Snoopys (or is it Snoopies?) guys!

maxymmckay - and sorry about the R. Sounds like one of the nicer form Rs I've gotten, with the bit about urban fantasy thrown in. Hathor is right, it might just be that the agent in question doesn't have the right contacts or something. I wouldn't read too much into it though: the subjectivity in this biz is seriously crazy-making. Have a cookie, a glass of wine and a hug. You're in good company here.

Jeneral - sorry about the crappy sleep, but glad all pup wanted was a belly rub. Sooo frustrating that they're not able to verbalize why they're whimpering, leaving us to wonder if they're in pain, uncomfortable, lonely, sad, or just plain being spoiled brats.

Netz - hooray on your TWV journey! I hope something wonderful will come out of it for ya!

Hathor said:

Thanks. And it's great you're getting noticed!



Thanks.

I'm not quite sure how to interpret that R. Maybe this agent doesn't want to sell the subgenre or doesn't have the contacts to do so.

I had an agent tell me that there's no place for new writers about Greek mythology, too. You can't believe everything you're told. That will drive you nuts because they often disagree with one another.

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I guess that's true - thanks for the encouraging words. I'll just have to keep my chin up and move on to the next one!

Hathor said:

Agents who've had interesting posts about writing or anything else, I've continued to follow. Book announcements by or personal trivia about folks who haven't followed me or been interested in my work--why would I want to continue to see that? My Twitter feed needed pruning anyway. I took out a couple folks who engage in massive retweeting of stuff I'm not interested in, too.

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that makes sense.

Moonchild said:

Well. From the "Huh. Files:" I just got a full request from an agent I queried on a whim (not a lot of info on him out there, beyond him being legit, with a well-established agency and having actual clients). He was one of my 'why not?' last shots as I finished up my list last week. In the meantime, agents I researched and targeted specifically have either rejected or ignored me. I swear, the longer I'm in this game, the less I understand it. But, hey, a request is a request! So yay!

Ragged - Glad to hear your new schedule is working and that the kidlets are learning to deal with it!

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more good news!

triceretops said:

Good for you, Hathor. Donald Mass? Well, when you make a splash it's a cannon ball, wot? Really a nice accomplishment. I'm agented and on sub, but I love to visit all these threads that highlight submissions, rejections, acceptances and such. I guess, technically, I belong in the Next Circle of Hell. But I just like being everywhere 'cause I'm curious and nosey.

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and this is where the cool folks hang out too, despite our name. don't forget that!

Jeneral said:

YAY indeed! Congrats on the full request, that's awesome! Don't question, just go with it.

Maxymmckay - Sorry for the R. Though I admit I'm a little "Whut?" on UF being a hard sell, it seems to be pretty big. Oh well, what do I know.

I had planned to take this Friday off before all this R&R stuff happened, and I'm so glad I did, because that means a whole extra day in the batcave. Scenes are percolating in my head, and this day job makes it hard to have time to get them down on paper. Add to that an elderly puppy that decided to play a rousing game of "Guess Why I'm Whimpering At 4 a.m.?" (Answer: I want a belly rub), my sleep was crap last night, so the writing I wanted to do tonight is most likely not happening. Meh. I'm trying to keep my eye on that long weekend on the horizon.

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bad sleep is the enemy of good writing for me. I wish you lots of uninterrupted

JJ-

Netz said:

The agents have been stopping by TWV coaches' blogs today, and I'm slightly shocked to be able to report three agents commented on my entry (I was totally gearing myself up for no requests).

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Yay!

Netz said:

The agents have been stopping by TWV coaches' blogs today, and I'm slightly shocked to be able to report three agents commented on my entry (I was totally gearing myself up for no requests).

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Whoops, I missed this earlier! That's awesome, Netz! I'm so glad you're getting some love! I bet if I tried, I could use more exclamation points! !!!

Don't worry, guys. I'm alive and well As JJ suspected, I was just out being awesome elsewhere. We took a roadtrip and decided at the last minute not to bring my laptop. We had a fabulous time - driving, sightseeing, spending some quality family time.


Glad you guys missed me, even if it was just for my mad google skills. BTW, how's this one -->


Hathor - YAY! Glad to hear The Call went well and congrats on officially securing representation! Onward! (Or, you know, Release the Kraken!)


JJ - WOOOOO on the short story acceptance!


Moonchild - for you, too!!

Moonchild said:

He was one of my 'why not?' last shots as I finished up my list last week. In the meantime, agents I researched and targeted specifically have either rejected or ignored me. I swear, the longer I'm in this game, the less I understand it. But, hey, a request is a request! So yay!

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Congrats! I sure as heck don't get it either. Just got a very impersonal "Dear Author" reject from an "assistant" for a query where I thought the agent might be a good match, since she reps an author I really like.

Catch-22 in fantasyland.

If agent doesn't rep any authors who write the kind of stuff you write, it's probably because they don't like the kind of stuff you write.

If agent does rep someone who writes something similar to the kind of stuff you write, they won't want you, because they already rep someone who writes this kind of stuff.

Woohoo, Hathor!! I saw your news on Twitter and couldn't help but grin in the middle of a meeting. What a great agency and agent! I have two very nice form Rs from her.

Also for Netz and Moonchild and Jeneral and anyone else I may have missed! You guys go so fast, I had to read like six damn pages.

I was going to write about how things are going for me, but I think all of my recent posts have been exactly the same, so why bother? MS6 still sucks, MS5 is still a big pile of NO, and I'm pretty sure I am never ever (ever ever ever) going to achieve any of my goals. So. There's that.

Dropping in; I'm a bit behind, but cookies for those who need to be cheered up and for those who have had good news.

We got new windows in our apartment yesterday, so it's been three days of moving furniture (little old sub-five-foot-tall me, shoving around beds and dressers!), smelling fumes, and cleaning everything (I'm not quite done with that yet). Eesh. And it stormed last night, and the cable went out, and I had been really looking forward to watching more Daredevil (Netflix) but obviously couldn't do that since the wifi was out. So I--gasp--read a book. A good book. But I really just wanted to zone out in front of the boob tube. First world problems, y'all.

I feel a little bad because I've done almost no writing or editing since I finished beta'ing for Wendy (holler). Oh well. I have some ideas for my current WIP; I just need to get back in the swing of things!

Moonchild

Netz

Honestly, I've become too lazy to click "more" and search for the banana. Consider these bananas. At least they're yellow.

I'm going to take a giant, donkey-sized helping of waffles, please. Waffles for the MS on sub. Waffles for the other MS with agent. Waffles for closing on my house. Waffles for living with my in-laws. Waffles for finding anywhere we can live and not shell out an extra 10k to be allowed to friggin live someplace temporarily. I'm just sitting here...waffling.