The Daily Rejection

Paul, congratulations on the fulls.

Drachen, sounds like you're off to a great start. Hopefully your search will be short and sweet.

After hearing nothing for almost two weeks on all the queries I have out there, I got two form rejections within an hour of each other. It's like they're colluding.

...and just got a full request!

I guess they're getting back in town.

Yay Quickbread! Banana bread all around.

Banana bread?! You folks be gettin crazy up in here.

Yay for requests and interested agents. I hope I get to join your party again soon. My fulls are still out, silent on all fronts. Fingers crossed for all of us.

Carleree!!!! You will hear good news soooooonnnn!!!! Thiiis isss the voiiiceeee of faaateee!

pollymilton said:

Carleree!!!! You will hear good news soooooonnnn!!!! Thiiis isss the voiiiceeee of faaateee!

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If you keep saying that, I'm going to start to believe you!

Carleree!!!! The Canucks will start winning soooooonnnn!!!! Thiiis isss the voiiiceeee of faaateee!

Drachen Jager said:

Carleree!!!! The Canucks will start winning soooooonnnn!!!! Thiiis isss the voiiiceeee of faaateee!

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From your lips to God's ears. But are you sure? Because Sedin is out of the lineup. And Bieksa looks like he's playing for the opposition.

Here's hoping things start brightening up with tonight's game. Pass the beer.

oooh best to all those fulls out!

Quickbread said:

...and just got a full request!

I guess they're getting back in town.

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see what happens when your nice?

btw, very best wishes on your fulls....



(but seriously, it's weird. big, big silence at the mo. - bit of a run at the start, but now, for the main guys, well, silence. It's...creepy I tells ye.)

Three chapter request from a top agency (I only queried top agencies this time 'round actually).

Feeling better about things.

You're going to sign with your second agent before I get my first, DJ. Congrats.

I think it shows that the system works. Once you hit that level, it's apparent to those who have the eye for it.

At least that's what I'm hoping for. This manuscript is also vastly improved from the iteration that was picked up last summer.

I miss Hathor

Just stopping by with these words of comfort -- this is up on R.J. Ellory's bio, and refers to when he started writing back in the 1980s:

"During this time he completed twenty-two novels, most of them in longhand, and accumulated several hundred polite and complimentary rejection letters from many different and varied publishers. The standard response from the UK publishing trade was that they could not consider the possibility of publishing books based in the United States written by an Englishman.

He was advised to send his work to American publishers, which he duly did, and received from them equally polite and complimentary rejection letters that said it was not possible for American publishers to publish books set in the US written by an Englishman.

One of his agents became an author, another retired from representation and moved abroad, the last one just stopped calling."

He is now a famous and award-winning author (met him in Harrogate in 2010 -- he's also a very nice guy). Chin up, everyone!

Two impersonal rejections and one with some critique advice. I slip into passive voice too often. *Sigh*

Oh, you'd better get on that. Passive voice is easy to fix, but you have to make a habit of not thinking that way.

You're at 50 so you can post to SYW now if you want feedback.

Carleree said:

I miss Hathor

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Ah, I come back from vacation and read this. Coupled with an email that the biopsy of that lump on my palate found nothing bad, it's a good day. The Caps even won. Let's see --

Hello to you new people.
Boo to rejections.
Hurray for requests.
Sorry about your agent situation, DJ.
A special tsk tsk to you Carleree -- didn't I specifically say I wanted no new trauma while I was gone?
polly -- still want feedback on your latest query? If so, shoot me off your latest version.

While I was away, I planned a possible rewrite of book one's ending. I've had betas say it is too abrupt, it drags on, and it's just right. It's tough to make things sound like they're resolved when they really aren't.

I also wrote pages of notes for two other books of the series (I guess they would be book zero and book four), the first book of another series, and a one-shot standalone. I must do my best brainstorming on a hammock, sort of like a personal writers retreat.

Oh, I also had a novella idea. There's this husband that seems to be loving and considerate. But starting with the couple's 25th anniversary trip, he starts taking his wife on wonderful vacations that contain one clear attempt on her life via a hike from hell under the blazing sun. Last chapter (so far) involves a trip to Costa Rica, where he wheedles her into a hike down the coastline to see a waterfall -- "beaches and a few trails between them, nothing you can't handle." The wife's plea that she's seen waterfalls before are to no avail. The husband's response is that: "Its A Destination. Lots of fresh air and good exercise."

Five and one-half hours later, the wife makes it back to the resort dehydrated, with painful feet, limp legs, aching back, cramping abdomen, thumping heart, ragged breathing, watering eyes (sweat causing her sunscreen to run), and running nose (for no apparent reason, just serves to make her more miserable). At this point, the wife finally puts it all together. Her husband must be the reincarnation of a WWII Japanese soldier who told folks to keep moving, that way they'll get "lots of fresh air and good exercise. Bataan is...A Destination."

Hathor! You're back! I didn't want to say it before the trip, but I had a friend who had a very similar trip to Costa Rica w/her husband. Seems to be a king size...umm, experience! Glad you're back. I'm good w/query right now - it's very different than above version.

Hooray for you!

Welcome home, Hathor! Now remind me how I'm supposed to be feeling. It's an even numbered day and I'm confused

Carleree said:

Welcome home, Hathor! Now remind me how I'm supposed to be feeling. It's an even numbered day and I'm confused

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If you want to follow my system, it is doubt on even-numbered days and confidence on odd-numbered days. You can reverse that, of course. You can also add a full day of confusion into the mix, but then you will be on a three-day cycle. That seems too complicated to me. I pepper my confusion into both even- and odd-numbered days.

I nudged that editor who has had my NF chapters for two months, having told me he'd get to them in one or two weeks. He's always been prompt in response to emails, which means he'll contact me on an odd-numbered day. I may get one of those "didn't you get my email, no way, now go away and have a nice life...somewhere away from me" missives, though. Which may put me off-schedule.

Doubt on even-numbered days. Got it. At least I was doing it right while you were gone.

Here's hoping the editor has enough sense to keep you on your schedule. xxoo

DJ, congrats on your partial request. Looks like you won't have any trouble getting a great agent this time around.

Hathor, welcome back. Sounds like you had a really productive trip. Congrats on your test result. That's great news.

A watched Email never Boils.


Time for a cuppa methinks.