The Daily Rejection, Vol. 2

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angeliz2k

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So sorry for the r's, Wendy and lenore and noranne!! (I hope I didn't forget anyone.) Cookies all around. :)

Wendy, you get congratulations for that acceptance. Also, I've begun on the beta'ing and am enjoying it thus far.

Reaching the end of my current round of revision--I don't think anything needs work between where I am (ch 46) and the end, so I'll just glide through, try to enjoy, and catch any typos. I'm kinda itching to get back to the WIP I was working on when I got the offer of rep, but I don't wanna dive back into that until I get Channing out on submission, i.e. until I'm pretty sure I'm done working on Channing for a while.
 

Jeneral

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Ugh, sorry for all the Rs that seem to be rolling in. An agent this morning was doing a quick Twitter pitch thingy. I pitched to her, and she asked for the synopsis and first three chapters, so if nothing else it'll be another R to add to the pile! I really do try to see them as badges of honor, because it's been 10 long years since I had a book ready for this stage, and that's a victory in and of itself, but mostly I just want to eat ice cream by the pint.

WendyN: Sorry about the R. The RWA meeting I'm going to is local (well, local-ish, about an hour away, close enough), and I hope I like the folks enough to join. You get to go twice before you have to actually shell out the cash to become a member. So we'll see...
 

ChocolateChipCookie

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Sorry about the R, Wendy, but congrats on the short story acceptance.

I called my "new" agent. He hasn't read my material yet. It's been eight weeks. He's been too busy with other, more important writers. (I added that last.)

Bummer. He said he'll read it soon and apologized. It's hard not to be a tidge resentful.
 

HoldinHolden

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If it makes you feel better, CCC, I got my author packet from my editor about two weeks ago and quickly sent over the confirmation of receipt along with a few questions. Only... I didn't. For some reason, it got plunked into my "drafts" box and I had NO idea. I was about to send her a follow-up today when I randomly decided to check the drafts folder and there it was. Now I look like a slacking jack-ass. Ugh. Ugh ugh. UGH.
 

Moonchild

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Crickets in the morning, crickets in the evening and all night looong! Sigh. Gotta find me that cricket smiley again... Aaand just as I was typing that, another R on query rolled in. :( Serves me well for complaining about cricket-ness. :Shrug:

Anyhoo...

noranne - sorry about the R (and rum cake for you!:Hug2:), but yay on being able to complete at least 10 minutes of writing. It may not seem like much to you, but it's something! :)

Wendy - congrats on the short story acceptance!:snoopy: and consolation rum cake for the R on your MS! :Hug2:

re: roller coaster of querying - for me, it's more of a soul-crushing, exhausting waiting game, with the occasional kick right in the gut and the very odd perk that convinces you it's not pointless to keep trying. I violently dislike the whole thing. :cry:Thanks for listening.

So you reckon it's ok to have an 18 year old first year? The MC is doing a medical degree and lectures are important to the story (dissection, pickled bodies ect :p)

My initial reaction was, "Yeah, why not?" But then I read lenore_x's post and she's right: it might make for a tough sell--at least until you've got another couple of published books under your belt, I think. Is it possible to go the summer-prep-school-for-high-schoolers route? They could have intro courses on those things...

ETA: CCC - OMG, so sorry about your new agent not reading your MS yet! How friggin' frustrating! I'm sure he's super busy and everything, but still... Kinda depressing for those of us still in the query trenches to be reminded constantly that the waiting doesn't end after an offer of representation finally rolls in. No sir. It's just graduating to a different level of Waiting. Hugs and rum cake for you! And rum.
 
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Hathor

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I'll try this again. My computer hiccupped or something and I lost all my tabs. Where was I?

Oh yeah. Sorry for the Rs noranne, Wendy, and MC. And sorry, CCC, for the agent's lack of reading (how frustrating). :e2grouphu Brandy pumpkin bread pudding all round to go with the cookies and rum cake.

My first post attempt had a complaint about inbox crickets. But, you know, how original :tongue Maybe my internet seizure is a good thing. If I have Gmail open, I keep refreshing.
 

ChocolateChipCookie

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Thanks, you guys. It's annoying, aggravating and frustrating. I'll take all the rum cake with extra rum and the brandy bread pudding with extra brandy.

Umm, brandy.
 

triceretops

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Happy news. Got two contract offers on two different books, the YA fantasy (actually got 10 here but we burned most of them down) and the adult thriller. I won't say anything until the dust settles--they're in agent's hands. We're going to have to get some breathing room on these acceptance deadlines--they all seem to be different.

tri
 

Hathor

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Double fudge. 2nd R of the day. C'mon, Tuesday, why do you have to be like that?

Such language. Shocking. Sorry, hon :Hug2:

Happy news. Got two contract offers on two different books, the YA fantasy (actually got 10 here but we burned most of them down) and the adult thriller. I won't say anything until the dust settles--they're in agent's hands. We're going to have to get some breathing room on these acceptance deadlines--they all seem to be different.

tri

Oooooh, that's more like it! :banana::banana:
 

Funaek

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Congrats tricertops! :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

Sorry for the Rs noranne, Wendy, and MC. I just got a form R this afternoon. Sigh.
 

bertrigby

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well done tri! and hugs to everyone else. cruel tuesday.
 

Moonchild

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bertrigby is right: cruel Tuesday! :(

Rejection Rum Cake and hugs for Wendy and Funaek and special Frustration Rum Cake (with extra rum) for CCC. Man, what a week! :Shrug: And it's only Tuesday! :chair

At least tri had some awesome news to balance out everything else! Yay, tri! :snoopy::snoopy::snoopy::TheWave::PartySmil:TheWave:
 

Liz_V

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Man, what is it with pets this past week? Sympathies, Krash & Fuchsia.

We had to have one of our cats put to sleep this weekend; the cancer that was diagnosed three months ago had finally hit that point. We were able to take a day to just spend with him, so at least he went out knowing he was loved. But damn, I wish he was here, curled up on my lap and making me type with one hand so I could keep him from sliding off with the other.



Congrats or cookies to folks as appropriate. Too exhausted to catch up properly....
 

Fuchsia Groan

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Liz, I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. Know exactly what you mean. My little (yet somehow plump) tortoiseshell is on my lap right now making it hard to type, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ugh, CCC — waiting sucks! But I'm glad you at least found out what was going on (or not going on) and gave him a nudge.

Yay for offers, tri!

Sending much mojo for everyone else!
 

Australian River

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awww sorry Liz :(

Thanks everyone for the tips re the YA book. I really really want to fit the idea into YA but it's just not possible. You suggested some wonderful options, but it has to be set in Autumn leading to Winter (I need falling leaves and snow, so summer is a no no), and it can't be high school, or a prep course, though actually, I don't know much about pre courses. Are they summer things?
 

Funaek

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So sorry for your loss Liz! :(
 

Roxxsmom

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Crickets Tuesday for me. Though one interesting thing, an agent who skipped my query back in Feb just posted on twitter (after long silence) that she's all caught up on queries through May, so if you didn't get any reply on earlier queries, you were probably snagged by the spam filter.

I can't imagine why mine would have been spammed, since I followed instructions for the subject heading and no attachments and so on, and there are no words commonly associated with spam e-mails in my title or query.

I'm taking this as the green light to re-query. But the question is, better to just treat it like it's fresh and from scratch with no mention of previous missed query, or should I mention that this is a re-query. I'm thinking that sending his as a reply nudge is probably not best at this point, since nudging a spammed e-mail will probably just be spammed too.

I'm also wondering whether I should send it from a different e-mail address. Again, I've got no idea why this query would have been spammed.

Note--just saw the post about Liz's cat. I'm so sorry for your loss. Hugs.
 
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Moonchild

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Crickets Tuesday for me. Though one interesting thing, an agent who skipped my query back in Feb just posted on twitter (after long silence) that she's all caught up on queries through May, so if you didn't get any reply on earlier queries, you were probably snagged by the spam filter.

I can't imagine why mine would have been spammed, since I followed instructions for the subject heading and no attachments and so on, and there are no words commonly associated with spam e-mails in my title or query.

I'm taking this as the green light to re-query. But the question is, better to just treat it like it's fresh and from scratch with no mention of previous missed query, or should I mention that this is a re-query. I'm thinking that sending his as a reply nudge is probably not best at this point, since nudging a spammed e-mail will probably just be spammed too.

I'm also wondering whether I should send it from a different e-mail address. Again, I've got no idea why this query would have been spammed.

Sometimes filters and cyberspace thingies do weird stuff, so I wouldn't sweat it too much. Maybe, just to be safe, do send the nudge/new query from a different email addy, but I'd for sure mention that it's a nudge and that you're re-sending because of what you saw her post on Twitter. That has worked positively for me in the past. Good luck! :hi:
 

Roxxsmom

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There are some small changes in the opening pages since then anyway, so it's probably best to send it as a fresh query and not a nudge. But I guess I'll mention what she said on twitter and tell her I'm sending it from a different e-mail in case my other one upset her spam filter.

Of course, learning to format queries from my gmail account is a bit of a pain, as will having yet a different e-mail to obsessively check every day.
 

Moonchild

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OK, guys, curious question for you:

So, I queried Agent X at this particular agency back in my first batch of queries (mid-November). The agency's guidelines state a response to all within 6 weeks and they say absolutely nothing about it being a "no from one = no from all" model. I didn't hear back, so I nudged after about 10 weeks. Never heard a peep, so I closed the record.

That was back in February (the finally CNRing it). Fast forward to the present: I've been sending revenge queries due to the slew of rejections I've had to deal with lately, so last week I figured I'd query Agent Y from this same agency. Same submissions email, but again, there's nothing on the website to say that you shouldn't query another agent if the first one passes.

A few days later, lo and behold, my email bounces back and the message on the mailer daemon delivery failure notice only lists question marks as the reason for the thing to have bounced back. I figure it's probably a glitch, so I wait a few days and resend. Well, darn if it didn't bounce back again, listing the same question marks as 'reason' for the delivery failure.:Shrug:

So... am I being paranoid, or has my email address been blacklisted by this agency or something? :cry: I swear I wasn't being a pest! I only nudged the one time, and it was several weeks past their stated response time, and it's not like they state anywhere that "no response = no" (I wouldn't have bothered with a nudge then).

Am I over-thinking things? Or has my email been blocked for no good reason? Thoughts? Theories? Recommendations to stop wondering about useless things and go do something productive like, I don't know, write?
 

Roxxsmom

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I don't know. It's hard to imagine that an agency would bother to blacklist someone for a nudge or a re-query via e-mail after six weeks, even if they don't like follow up. It's possible that there's some auto filter that does this if they get repeated e-mails from the same address, but three in six months is hardly spam level. There are one or two agencies I've queried that specifically say that simultaneous submissions or repeat subs within x period of time will result in a bounce, but they were both agencies that had online forms.

It's possible, of course, that none of your e-mails got through their filters, but you're only now getting the bounce messages. I wish more agencies where no reply means no had those auto confirm thingies that let you know they at least got your e-mail. Quite a few do, so it doesn't seem like it would be that complex to set up.

At this point, I might figure that it's best to move on, even if you're sure you haven't violated any of their guidelines, because if their e-mail system is that screwy, it doesn't say much for their professionalism (or eagerness to take on new clients).

But if you've your heart set on querying a different agent at the same agency, it might be a good one to try from a different e-mail and with a different query, though maybe with an explanation that you tried to query previously, but your messages with your other e-mail didn't seem to be getting through their filters.

But that's my thought, and I admit I'm baffled about what agents do and don't like or about whether there are any hard and fast rules of etiquette aside from the obvious--professional queries, don't spam, follow guidelines and so on. I've seen blogs from agents who are bemused at how terrified writers are of offending agents who lost their queries, and I've seen blogs from ones who seem pretty easy to offend and warn us that "agents do talk."
 
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Moonchild

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Thanks for the 2 cents Roxxs! :Hug2:

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. I'll move on. What's one more CNR or R in the grand scheme? (I did try from my Gmail account, but not holding my breath, and given this little episode, I'm not going to bother with a nudge--assuming that email even goes through in the first place.)

Oh well. Onward.

I just can't believe that after such a promising start to the querying process, six months have gone by and all I have to show for them is Rs and eternal crickets. I shouldn't say that. I do have 3 fulls and 2 partials still out there... It's just, some days the whole thing really gets to me, you know? I've been trying to stay optimistic and soldier on, but seriously, this is getting just plain effing disheartening. :Shrug:
 
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