The Daily Rejection

Quickbread · Jul 6, 2012

Narmowen, as long as you feel good about the new direction of the novel, that's great. Then edits can only make it even stronger. Congrats on the feedback.

Ooh Chelsea, sorry about the R on your full. That's always such a letdown. Hang in there and keep the faith.

Hathor, yay for power. Boo for laundry. But at least you get to do it in an air-conditioned house. Six days without power is rough.

Polly, that R&R sounds awesomely promising. A page of editorial notes? Wow.

I've gotten nothing but crickets over the past couple of days. Trying to be patient. I'm bad at that, though.

pollymilton · Jul 6, 2012

I had my reader take a look at the first fifty and while she likes it a lot, much like I do, it does need some work. So I'm including her full notes and thoughts here for your perusal. If you take a look and rewrite, I will happily take another look at it. I do like this and it's exactly what I'm looking to represent for fiction at the moment.

QB, I just saw a tweet from Elise Capron saying it's really quiet this week. I think everyone (many people) are on vacay.

Did you query her? She just re-opened, and is so amazing I can hardly stand it. She was awesome to me.

Quickbread · Jul 6, 2012

Ack, she should answer my query then.

When did she reopen? I queried her a few weeks ago. I didn't realize she had been closed.

pollymilton · Jul 6, 2012

I think just this week. Just re-query today. Tell her you've been following her on twitter, and are pleased she's re-opened. She loves edgy stuff.

Quickbread · Jul 6, 2012

Excellent. Will do, Polly. Should I mention the first query or just start fresh? I thought she'd be a really good match for me. Thanks!

pollymilton · Jul 6, 2012

I'd start fresh.

Quickbread · Jul 6, 2012

Done. This time I got an automated response, and last time I didn't. So that's a good start. Thank you again!

Hathor · Jul 6, 2012

Yeah, our power company is reputed for its unreliability. I don't think we're going to restock the fridge much until after whatever storms result when the front hits us. We can't stay at 100 degrees forever, even if it seems that way right now.

Polly, confused is good. At some point your mind should suddenly tell you the direction to go.

Guys, do you think querying both the NF and F at the same time would be too complicated or otherwise ill-advised? Now they're both about ready to go.

The NF is complicated. Now it's close to straight memoir and folks seem to split in terms of whether you treat it like fiction or nonfiction. Even before, some asked for a proposal and some for pages. Maybe I should throw a few pages in like it was regular fiction? The pages are more entertaining than the chapter summaries and all the rest in the proposal.

Uh, what did I say about confusion being helpful?

I got to go scrub the inside of the fridge.

Hathor · Jul 6, 2012

Drunken texts from famous authors (be sure to read the comments). http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2012/06/18/drunk-texts-from-famous-authors/#comments
I keep waffling on my favorite.

I guess that's what they do at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. I had a roommate one year (shared a kitchen and bathroom) who attended. Those people did like to drink and yell at each other (at least the ones who visited her).

I can't quite figure out how to turn that into a writing credit. "Although never technically enrolled, I couldn't help but listen in on everything a number of students had to say..."

Filigree · Jul 6, 2012

Hilarious texts. I can't settle on a favorite.

Good luck, Quickbread!

Bah, a magazine rejection today. I wan't counting on it, but it still makes me sad.

triceretops · Jul 6, 2012

Cricket-infested inbox. Nothing to see here, move along.

tri

TomGrimm · Jul 6, 2012

Glad to hear you got your power back, Hathor!

Somewhat congratulations, Polly? An R and R is better than nothing?

pollymilton · Jul 8, 2012

Oh yes, I should have said I was "stunned" in a good way. She's very encouraging, and sent all the notes and the reader's marked up PDF. So I'm giving it a go.

qdsb · Jul 9, 2012

polly-That's GREAT, especially from that agent! Best of luck!

Hathor--Thank heavens for electricity! Um, regarding the NF and the F, I would guess it makes sense to query both--but not with the same agents. I would keep separate agent lists for each manuscript.

Still waiting here. I've refrained from more querying but did submit to a couple of writing contests...then realized that one of my submissions included the wrong file. D'oh! Hoping they'll accept the correct file before the contest deadline, but it was my own fault for not being vigilant.

I hope the others playing the waiting game are at least enjoying some diversions!

Hathor · Jul 9, 2012

Thanks, qdsb. I've thought of querying the one I'm more likely to land representation with, but I have no idea which that would be. (Since it's an odd-numbered day, I refuse to accept the answer "neither one.")

I hope they accept the correct file for you. Good luck in the contests!

After 11 days of temps in the upper 90s and above, it was so great that a front went through and we finally have a break. It even yielded a steady, soaking rain so I don't have to go out with a hose for hours and water all my new stuff.

*******************************************
Do folks here think it uppity to include, say, five pages when I approach those who asked for submissions before? Rather than simply saying the work is different now (and how), I thought if some work is attached it might be read. I'm concerned that, but for the one true R & R request, the others might think, "No means no," and never even ask for a sample.

Those who gave me feedback can be told I've revised in lines with their comments. But as for those who gave me form Rs or nothing at all, I have no real handle. "You didn't like it before for some undisclosed reason -- how about this?" probably wouldn't work

Carleree · Jul 9, 2012

Hathor said:
Thanks, qdsb. I've thought of querying the one I'm more likely to land representation with, but I have no idea which that would be. (Since it's an odd-numbered day, I refuse to accept the answer "neither one.")

I hope they accept the correct file for you. Good luck in the contests!

After 11 days of temps in the upper 90s and above, it was so great that a front went through and we finally have a break. It even yielded a steady, soaking rain so I don't have to go out with a hose for hours and water all my new stuff.

*******************************************
Do folks here think it uppity to include, say, five pages when I approach those who asked for submissions before? Rather than simply saying the work is different now (and how), I thought if some work is attached it might be read. I'm concerned that, but for the one true R & R request, the others might think, "No means no," and never even ask for a sample.

Those who gave me feedback can be told I've revised in lines with their comments. But as for those who gave me form Rs or nothing at all, I have no real handle. "You didn't like it before for some undisclosed reason -- how about this?" probably wouldn't work

Hathor, Don't attach the five pages, paste them in directly after your query letter in the body of the email. I do this with EVERY query I send out.

triceretops · Jul 9, 2012

R on a full, and it was a bit confusing. He liked the partial very much and asked for a marketing plan and the full. The rejection on the full today said that they were booked up for pub slots in 2013. Huh? Shouldn't they/he have known that from the beginning?

Oh, well, onward.

tri

Hathor · Jul 9, 2012

Carleree said:
Hathor, Don't attach the five pages, paste them in directly after your query letter in the body of the email. I do this with EVERY query I send out.

Of course, you're right. I assure you that's what I meant, even if it wasn't what I said

I was going to include the five pages. I just needed someone else to tell me I could do it

Thanks for enabling me.

The little wrinkle for me is that NF is usually handled via book proposal. Only for memoir, some say query like it's fiction, and others say follow the NF approach.

Given my druthers, I'd treat this like fiction. The work itself is better than the proposal (at least the proposal I've written). I won't even mention I have a new proposal, even for those who've seen the earlier one. My chapter summaries aren't that entertaining.

Tri, yes, they should have known, I would think. But maybe the slots filled between the time your full was requested and it was read? Or this is their way of nicely saying no?

qdsb · Jul 9, 2012

Hathor--I'd definitely include the 5 pgs to agents who'd provided feedback. Personally, I'd skip the ones who sent form Rs or at least wait several months and just send shiny fresh queries with the 5 pages. Oh, and I would query the memoir like fiction (query letter...sample pages if allowed) focusing on agents who represent memoir.

Tri--my guess, like Hathor's, is that they filled their slots in the interval between your initial query and now. Sorry! Wishing you better luck ahead!

triceretops · Jul 9, 2012

qdsb said:
Hathor--I'd definitely include the 5 pgs to agents who'd provided feedback. Personally, I'd skip the ones who sent form Rs or at least wait several months and just send shiny fresh queries with the 5 pages. Oh, and I would query the memoir like fiction (query letter...sample pages if allowed) focusing on agents who represent memoir.

Tri--my guess, like Hathor's, is that they filled their slots in the interval between your initial query and now. Sorry! Wishing you better luck ahead!

Yes, very possible since three months had elapsed.
tri

Hathor · Jul 9, 2012

qdsb, I don't need to wait a few months. The form rejections came quite some time ago. I was stuck for months trying to figure out what to do. Rewrite (and if so, how), query small presses directly, chuck it all and self-publish? I finally decided to rewrite.

I know I need a new query. I'm not looking forward to that.

I like the memoir-like-fiction approach. Mentioning a proposal for something already written is strange, too -- and, as I said before, the book is better than the proposal (or at least, I think so anyway).

Quickbread · Jul 9, 2012

Hathor, did you give it a new title? If so and the manuscript has changed a lot, as well as your query, I'd just query fresh if it's been a while.

Hathor · Jul 9, 2012

Quickbread said:
Hathor, did you give it a new title? If so and the manuscript has changed a lot, as well as your query, I'd just query fresh if it's been a while.

Yep, new title. However, the book's subject may be memorable. (Or not

) While the basic content is the same, many of the details included have changed, as has the voice and the length. It also is now close to memoir and before I didn't even call it anything but "nonfiction" because it was such an amalgam.

I'm dithering, as I tend to do. Reminded of their earlier interest in the book, agents may be more willing to look at my changed manuscript than if I go in fresh. (Or think, "Oh no, not that again

)

Right now, I'm tempted to mention the history to those who made suggestions I've taken (and thank them, of course) and go in fresh to those who just said no or didn't bother to say anything at all.

Heck, I have enough people here that I could try one approach with some and another approach with the others. :Shrug:

Quickbread · Jul 9, 2012

Oh, yes, I agree you should mention the revision to agents who were interested before. I was thinking for agents who never responded or sent a rejection, it might not hurt to requery fresh. Who knows if they read the whole query or sample pages? I know it's not cool in general to requery a project, but it sounds as if you've made major changes. (Although some others may disagree with that thinking.)

Hathor · Jul 9, 2012

Yes, the category I've been most uncertain about are those who requested submissions, but then sent form rejects or nothing. I doubt the ones who didn't make requests can remember the project, with the possible exception of the few who personalized the rejection.

I do want to avoid anyone thinking, "This isn't that unique a story. I remember someone writing about something similar."

Hey. Maybe either the true R & R person or one of those who explained how I should rewrite the book will offer representation and I won't have to worry about all this!

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