Hope; cruel mistress or life saving friend?

I know where you are coming from, and sadly, I'm a pessimist and don't know the answer to your question. Good luck in your querying though. I am in the same boat.

I'd say hope is neither. Now, bear with me while I explain: hope has no place in the query process. I know it's tempting, but hoping something comes of a query or a partial is the quickest path to mood swings and insanity.

Instead, fling those queries and partials out there and expect nothing. If someone makes The Call, if someone wants to discuss the possibility of representing you, that's when you put on your party dress and your dancing shoes.

That said, I'm wishing you good luck--and a dance in the near future.

I believe strongly in the power of hope. Sure, I get the wind knocked out of me once in awhile (daily, almost), but it is hope that keeps me motivated and going.

Keep your chin up. I've been rejected 22 times on my YA. Sucks. Keep reading, keep writing, and keep hoping. And above all, work on other projects. It helps to take some of the pressure off the completed manuscript. And study and try to learn from your rejection letters. Is there anything that you are consistantly doing to earn a rejection? Me? It's dialougue tags. Not everybody calls them dialogue tags, but that is what they mean by 'over use of adverbs'

Best of luck.

Epiphany said:

I know where you are coming from, and sadly, I'm a pessimist and don't know the answer to your question. Good luck in your querying though.

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Me too, lol.

I totally hear you even though I haven't gotten as many requests as you have! I have a full out right now that I *really* want to work out, but...it is always such a longshot. I've been here before. I wish I had advice, but I don't. I'll just say good luck to us all!

Philosophically though, I believe in the power of hope. So, here's hoping...

Hope; friend or foe?[/quote]

I'd say friend because it's hard to write without it. I am always looking forward in the hope that the next book will be 'the One'. I'm not sure anyone who is truly pessimistic would ever submit. You have to hope, but keep it in a box so that it doesn't interfere with your capacity to work on other things, then let it out form time to time just to keep you going...

tengraceapples:
Hope; friend or foe?

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I think that realistic hope is a friend, which unrealistic hope can be a foe.

I do know exactly where you're coming from though. I'm doing an MA in Creative Writing at the moment and have had 5 partial requests for my WIP (before anyone shouts at me for sending out partials when it's still a WIP - they all know what the deal is because I've told them and want them anyway).

Each time I get a request, I have to tell myself not to be unrealistic in my hopes. Obviously I want each and every one to ask for the full and then offer representation but I know that statistically at least 90% won't. So I figure that any feedback I get from that 80% will help me make the manuscript stronger for the 10% who might want it.

And then I tell myself that my next project will be s00per awesome and dream that everyone will want that.

tengraceapples:
I've had 21 request for a partial. And out of those, ten have said "no." They all say no for different reasons. At this point I just want them to say "no" faster.

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I think you should be doing the wahoo dance just for getting 21 partial requests because that shows you've nailed your query, which is more than what the majority of writers do.

Have the nos given you anything that can help you in revising the partial?

tengraceapples:
To be perfectly honest, this morning I added another agency to my list of partial request and I did it begrudgingly.
It's like adding to the list of people that will eventually pass on my work.

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If you're really that down about it then I'd actually recommend stopping for a bit - take a break, work on your next project, forget about the application process for the current one and then come back to it when you're feeling a bit more positive. Nothing will send you into a depression faster than a self-fulfilling prophecy cycle of thinking you'll be rejected and being rejected.

MM

If you have no hope of ever publishing anything, give up now, and enjoy your life. Write for fun and share it with your friends and family. I don't say this to be mean, but this business is hard and there are lots of disappointments. If you're not up for that, don't put yourself into a situation that makes you miserable. No one should do anything that makes them unhappy.

Although it's hard, look at what you've learned from this experience. You know you wrote a great query that made a LOT of people want to see your book. Unfortunately, that book isn't quite where it needs to be yet to be published. So take a step back, look at everything as objectively as you can and try to figure out what you can do to fix this.

If it's the writing, take a class, do a workshop, read a book and push yourself to the next level in your craft. If it's the story, read over all your rejections, try to find comments that resonate with you, revise and try again. Find new beta readers. Hire an editor or book doctor to read a few chapters. Do something to find out where the issue lies so you can fix it.

Hope can be both friend and foe. It's a friend when it pushes you on to reach for your dreams and encourages you to do better, a foe when it makes you keep trying the same thing and getting the same result.

tengraceapples said:

Hey!

First, Good luck on the book coming out. I hope it does really well: )
At first your reply sounded a little...mean. But I read more about you and also your blog and I think you weren't really being mean. It was more like ...tough love.

I can't remember ever thinking of writing as a hobby. I write becasue I must and I love it. As I'm sure most people here do. I'm just low on cheer as it were.

I'm also an actress. I have been for years. Like writing I love acting but it is also over flowing with rejection.

But I wouldn't want to make money in anything but the arts. That, however in no way takes away from the sting of rejection or the love/hate relationship with that long legged temptress called Hope.

But these postings have made me feel better so thanks guys: )

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It was not intended to be mean and I apologize if it came across that way. It was indeed tough love It was meant more as a "yes this is hard, but try to take something from it to get closer to what you want. That even when it seems bleak, we can find something positive in it to get us through."

Ten,

I certainly feel your pain, and it is hard keeping hope and for me faith that it is going to happen. Writing my first novel, The Road to Damascus, last summer was one of the greatest experiences of my life. THen the querying process killed all the wonder!!!

It's been a tough road since then, and I even wrote a YA book I never imagined. Like you, the idea and query have gotten a lotta millage. Unfortuantely, I've been through five rewrites of the opening, a pov change, one offer of representation from an inexperiened agent. The most painful was the almost from an agency. "I love it...just have to get the boss to accept" Two days later boss says no, and I'm back to the drawing board!!!

I used to dream of being on The New York Times Best Seller List, book tours all over the country, being on Oprah, etc. Now, I don't. It's a great fantasy, but now I dream of just having my book published.

The most awesome thing for me hasn't been in million dollar advances, but just in the high praise and appreciation that has come from those who have read my work. To get an unbiased opinion of my YA, I had a teacher buddy in a different county let her students read the book. Long story short, I now have a fan club! The principal talked about me coming to talk to the students. More than that, I even had a guy reader sketching out what he thought my characters looked like. It did my heart good!!!

My students have believed in me so much and praised me so much. My family and friends have been so supportive. I'm just hoping it's all gonna work out, and I've just learned to shoot for closer stars!!

I can stand the despair, it's the HOPE that's killing me..." John Cleese, "Clockwise"

Other's have made good points. I think it's important to bear in mind that it's the 'long race' you're running. It sounds like you have the right attitude regarding your writing. Write because its something you HAVE to do. Write because writing gives you pleasure. Write because when you're finished writing - you feel a sense of accomplishment.

Publication depends on many things that are simply beyond your control. Consider yourself blessed to have received the requests. This mean - at the very least - that your skill at writing queries is exceptional - congrats! It also means, at the very least - that the premise of your book, the story itself has great appeal! Whatever crits you get back from those who read the partials should be sifted carefully for nuggets of gold. Take heed especially if the same comments are repeated - then certainly these are areas to be addressed in a possible rewrite.

But understand that the market is a tricky thing. You can't know what a given pulisher ALREADY has in the works, what they are secretly 'hoping' for, what fight they had with their spouse before they read your sample. Yeah, it's a fickle thing... fate.

As others have said, send the samples out -and forget about them. Don't dwell on them. You've thrown your best pitch - you can't control the ball in mid-flight... it will be a hit or a miss.