The Daily Rejection

Carleree said:

It's a joke. Don't query the animals

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SIGH! I'm not a fan, then.

What did the dog want that you write?

It's not canine erotica, is it?

RaggedEdge said:

<snip>
Netz: Congrats on this ms's first R!
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Why, thank you!

Just submitted the first two queries of my life (at the ripe old age of 34).

Thus...

I will expect to be able to join this thread very soon! har.

Two queries is not a lot. Most of us consider a 'small' batch 8-10 queries.

With only two it could be a long time before you hear back (if ever!)

I highly recommend joining Query Tracker, so you can at least get an approximate timeframe and probability on when/if those agents will respond. It will also help you track your queries in case you ever feel the need to send out more than two.

Oooh, and colorful spreadsheets. You've got to have a colorful spreadsheet. No proper rejectionero is without one.

Hello.

I'm fresh off the turnip truck here. I've gotten a good phonebook sized worth of R's, and now have a full out from a query almost 10 months ago. Trying to not freak out, but for some reason this one's charging my cells with anxiety. I'm full of anxiety electrons.

new folks!

For future reference, no one in their 30s is allowed to call themselves old in my presence.

Okay, I'm going back into my "got to write a good logline" bunker. Somehow, screaming "put some voice into this!" at myself isn't working.

My NoQS mentor wants me to whip up a catchy first line for my MS. Hon, if I could think of one, it would already be there.

I had the best nap today.

.....

And that's all that's going on with me!


I dunno about the Bakers Dozen Contest, mainly due to the $15 fee. Things are a little tight at the moment. If I did I feel like it'd be my last hurrah for querying that MS. Which in and of itself is a good thing.

My thoughts on NaNo: Eh, ya know, if that's your thing. Still waiting on my postcards from my Summer Camp NaNo people... (I even bought the coolest postcards and sent them out).

Hathor said:

new folks!

For future reference, no one in their 30s is allowed to call themselves old in my presence.

Okay, I'm going back into my "got to write a good logline" bunker. Somehow, screaming "put some voice into this!" at myself isn't working.

My NoQS mentor wants me to whip up a catchy first line for my MS. Hon, if I could think of one, it would already be there.

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I searched movie taglines to find mine, if that helps.

Personal favorite: SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER: Catch it.

Antonin said:

I had the best nap today.

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Lucky.

Hathor said:

My NoQS mentor wants me to whip up a catchy first line for my MS. Hon, if I could think of one, it would already be there.

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The NoQS turnaround time is so fast! My mentor's edits are still super useful, but I think after a few weeks of reflection/away time I might think of better changes.

I also wrote my first complete novel through NaNo and I've been 'participating' in it every year since, regardless of whether or not I actually have time to win. If you're rough drafting anything at all it's great for motivation and keeping track, mainly through sprints (I used to actually sprint-write, but now I just commit myself to not take a break for however long and write at my own pace...and am so much slower than everyone else) and write-ins, but I understand if going at your own pace and ending up with a "losing" or incomplete bar would bug you. Also the forums have gotten more and more overwhelming as five bajillion people join. I literally can't keep track of anything except my regional forum, which is small and slow.

But for me, it comes at a perfect time this year to start something new and distract myself from querying! ...well not completely perfect, because I've been too busy with PitchWars/NoQS/obsessing over tweaks to my MS to plan anything, so I'm gonna be off to a rough start. Half my characters don't have names yet.

Carleree said:

I searched movie taglines to find mine, if that helps.

Personal favorite: SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER: Catch it.

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Down for the Count: Unleash the kraken. (Oh, you knew that one was coming.)

Drachen Jager said:

What did the dog want that you write?

It's not canine erotica, is it?

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Har, Har...

The darn doggie Junior Agent said it was fresh from Greece and handles international market, and that's the setting for one of my novels. I could send it as a joke to doggie agent (they might just have generic send away, I just browsed). But it sort of got me upset at the same time! Kind of a laugh in a writer's query face.

And five for five. This one, however, got a short critique and a request to resubmit if I revise according to the issues that were raised.

But still. Well...poopie.

BenPanced said:

And five for five. This one, however, got a short critique and a request to resubmit if I revise according to the issues that were raised.

But still. Well...poopie.

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Whoa whoa whoa... you got an R&R? That's great news!

BenPanced said:

And five for five. This one, however, got a short critique and a request to resubmit if I revise according to the issues that were raised.

But still. Well...poopie.

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An R&R is awesome!

Yeah, it's not an offer, but lots of great writers got their start off R&Rs. Take it, e-mail the agent and thank them. Don't sweat it, as long as you make progress they can R&R several times over, I read one author's story where they had 3 R&Rs over a year and after they asked the agent why he stuck with them that long, he said that it's because she never made the actual changes he suggested, but still managed to fix the problems he'd pointed out.

sent the poke to Ideal Yet Sluggish Agency. Nail biting is commencing. I need to think positive!
if they get back with an update: alllofthe chocolate.
If they don't get back with an update: I can send my MS to the other two lovely agents who had requested it... allofthe chocolate.

I've also told the husband that I'm doing Nano and to expect my writing sprints to overlap into our evening time. I've also tried to convince him to join me in it, just because I think it'd be fun and I really don't think he appreciates how hard finishing a MS is!

Good luck to anyone doing NaNo, or NaNoWriMo, or NERIEFVMNLKVLSLC<KJVLKKL. I can't write like that, but it works for many people.

Getting so close to the end of these contests....*nail-biting*

An old friend called last night and asked hubby how I was. I heard him explaining my writing...for a good 5min...and I was floored. Contrary to the bored expression on his face, he HAD listened to all the stuff I've been telling him! He gets pie tonight.

Howdy.

I think I have an idea set for NaNo and been making good progress on beta-ing (Shandy, you're next!), but still don't know what to take to critique group on Monday.


Eliza - You should check on your local page and see if they have any write-ins in your area if you're looking to meet up with local writers.

Netz - Congrats on the first R for that MS. *raises glass*

Shadow_Ferret - Are you subbing short stories? I always feel so conflicted about those "made it past first readers" emails. Sometimes I think I'd rather not know.

ScottleeSV - Welcome! Pull up a chair, have a cupcake. And yes, DJ is right... colored spreadsheets are the way to go.

introvertedwife - Welcome!

Maramoser - Wait, that means that half of your characters DO have names! That's great! (Or at least way better than me!) I'm still trying to figure out what my MC's name is!

BenPanced - HEY, a R&R is great! Congrats!

krash - Aww, what a good hubby to be interested in your writing.

My husband and I sometimes discuss writing. His job requires him to do quite a bit of it, though in a very different field and towards very different ends, so our processes aren't at all the same, but there's some overlap in the experience of having to get words down on paper and make it something that's going to interest people.

I've moved up in the world (I gotta tell myself this).
An agent (the agency has my full) started following me on twitter.
I'll kid myself and think it's meaningful and not the more likely scenario of recruiting me for a class they teach, or the even more likely, it means nothing.

I had something similar, Nova, but it puts me in a dilemma.

I followed a new agent at a big agency when I sent my query. He followed me back the same day.

Month goes by, he never tweets and I was cleaning house, so I unfollowed him.

Two days later, he asks for my full.

I'm too embarrassed to follow him again. What if he remembers me following him previously and wonders why I quit following him? I know it's probably no big deal, but I'm thinking I'll wait. He has my full. If an R&R or an offer comes of it, I'll follow him then, otherwise, it doesn't matter.

The things we writers obsess over, huh?

Nova Odyssey said:

I've moved up in the world (I gotta tell myself this).
An agent (the agency has my full) started following me on twitter.
I'll kid myself and think it's meaningful and not the more likely scenario of recruiting me for a class they teach, or the even more likely, it means nothing.

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Ooh, Nova that is exciting! I don't have any agent followers (that I know of). If the agency has your full, I would absolutely think it is significant! Eeep; fingers crossed!

ETA: cross-posted with you, DJ! Ha, that is awkward; I'd be obsessing too. I would wait to get a response.

So, nobody else doing the P1 Blitz? They extended the deadline, so you have until tomorrow to get your 350 word snippet in (YA only, but it does not have to be a complete manuscript).

No real prizes, but a bunch of industry pros have promised to go over the submitted work and give critiques. The top pages will be displayed on Freshly Squeezed, which wants to set itself up as a website for aspiring YA authors to get some exposure to a broad YA audience.

Drachen Jager said:

I had something similar, Nova, but it puts me in a dilemma.

I followed a new agent at a big agency when I sent my query. He followed me back the same day.

Month goes by, he never tweets and I was cleaning house, so I unfollowed him.

Two days later, he asks for my full.

I'm too embarrassed to follow him again. What if he remembers me following him previously and wonders why I quit following him? I know it's probably no big deal, but I'm thinking I'll wait. He has my full. If an R&R or an offer comes of it, I'll follow him then, otherwise, it doesn't matter.

The things we writers obsess over, huh?

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Yeah we obsess over such silly stuff. Might not be harm in following them since they are following you, but can understand why you are hesitant! Honestly, I didn't start following agents I queried until recently because I thought it was an intrusion or rude, etc. I'm even afraid to put data in query tracker until I have an outcome. Now I figure it's good for industry tips to follow agents (depending on who they are). In this agent's case I was afraid to follow him because I did have a full out and didn't want to seem desperate. Then I followed him. Perhaps it's courtesy! Ah...

Shandylous said:

Ooh, Nova that is exciting! I don't have any agent followers (that I know of). If the agency has your full, I would absolutely think it is significant! Eeep; fingers crossed!

ETA: cross-posted with you, DJ! Ha, that is awkward; I'd be obsessing too. I would wait to get a response.

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Thanks! It's all I have going now in terms of leads. I'm sure it's really nothing but whatever I still will take it. This is the query that was dirtied from the playground/coffee shop with computer typos, and out of genre for what they were looking for they that still somehow got a full.

Happy Friday everyone! I'm hoping Monday brings agent offers and editors going on book buying sprees.