The Daily Rejection

starryeyedkt said:

I got my first ever rejection for a partial this morning oh well, up and Atom!

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Partial rejects deserve a great big booooooo... and then a round of revenge queries. Show 'em, starryeyedkt.


Happy 4th July to all the American rejectionists!

I knew I'd hear from an agent on Sunday, July 4th. I mean really. Sunday. Fourth of July.

And it's just about the weirdest thing I've ever seen: A Form Acceptance. Their cookie cutter wording indicates that yet again they have no idea what a graphic novel is and what they'll be getting, so I'm looking forward to the boomerang Form Rejection. Maybe it'll come on Thanksgiving.

ILSinTexas said:

Alas and alack -- My husband and I support 10 indoor cats and two outdoor cats. Unfortunately, two weeks ago an abandoned baby kitten appeared in our yard. It's eyes were still blue, so it was less than 4 weeks old. Yes, we're feeding it. I think it's a female -- not good -- means more baby cats. It's ferel, so for now, trapping it is not an option. We just want to keep it alive. So, please keep your fingers crossed that baby kitten lives. If we can get it past 6 weeks, maybe I can trap it and take it to my vet.

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I have yet to query anything (though expect to see me when I do!) and so don't really have a place here, but saw this message and wanted to pop in and say something.

Obviously with so many kitties you're a cat person, so I imagine you would be happy to go out of your way to help the kitten and species in general. So I just wanted to ask if you've been in contact with a local animal shelter or rescue agency? Most of them will be happy to come out, locate mama and the kittens and take them back to a shelter so they can find good homes. Any good shelter will also desex mama and the babies, so it limits the problem of more homeless and starving kitty cats. Where there's one kitten, there's likely to be more (unless something very sad has happened) and it's best for everyone if all of them can be taken to a good home.

But then perhaps you've considered all of this and have a great reason why it's not possible

Signed,

A huge cat lover, animal shelter devotee and population-control activist

Hi Arkadia,

I really appreciate your reply. Yes, hubby and I are cat lovers. When we moved here from California, we transported 5 cats with us via Jet-A-Pet (I'm not sure if they're still in business). Of the 10 cats we keep indoors, 7 of them were strays, 2 are Persians, and one I bought for $10 from a pet store.

The two outdoor cats are from the first litter of one of my indoors. I placed 3 of the others, and one cat died from a rare disease. Mom cat had a second litter after we brought her indoors, and I was able to place all the kittens in (what I hope) were good homes.

I had this same problem 2 years ago. A couple of kittens found our yard. I called 2 agencies in our small town, and they lacked the personnel to come to collect the kittens. I called an agency in Fort Worth, and they told me they had their hands full. So, I bought a safe cat trap. Unfortunately, both kittens disappeared shortly afterward.

My vet knows what we're trying to do, and he's a cat person. He discounts neutering/spaying charges for strays. My hope is to capture the kitty when it's a little older and get its shots and such.

It's nice to know there are other cat lovers out there, and thank you for your concern.

Here's an update: Kitten was here about 2 hours ago and ate the entire plate I put out for it. Kitten is a survivor. It will make it. I feel it in my gut.

Let's talk query letters!

Over the 4th of July weekend, I managed to harrass a few more agents with my query letter. Yeah, me!

I queried two A agents, a B agent, and an agent who will probably ignore me. "Whatev," as my new MC would say. We'll see what happens.

I'm beginning to really love my new book, which is not (in any way, shape, or form) going to become a part of a series. It's a stand-alone. The problem is totally resolved at the end of the novel. If I don't secure an agent for the book I'm querying, maybe I can for this one. That would be cool, because then I can ask the agent who signs me if he/she would look at the book I'm querying. Can't you tell? The book I'm querying is the one I REALLY love. *sigh*

Anyway. unlike Miss Plum, no agent has left his hot dogs to send me a form letter requesting pages. I expect a deludge of rejections on Tuesday--or not.

I went to the Bewares thread on this agent and found that the Form Request is his modus operandi. Heh, can't wait to see his rejection.

Got home from 4th of July BBQ to find a form rejection in my inbox. Came in evening east coast time. And I had planned to stay offline for the weekend!

Yeeeeee!

A full request, one that I'm hopeful on as she had alot of nice things to say about my writing !!!

I'm excited!

Also got a form rejection but the rejection can go screw itself, the reuqest be all that matters

Zefiris said:

the rejection can go screw itself, the reuqest be all that matters

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HAHAHAHA! congratulations!!!!

Congrats Zefiris!

Oh, yeah, Zefiris!! Nice work!!!!

Zefiris said:

Also got a form rejection but the rejection can go screw itself, the reuqest be all that matters

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Hahaha! Love it!!

SIGH!

Got a rejection notice from one of my A agents:

Unfortunately, the project does not seem right for this agency, and we are sorry that we cannot offer to serve as your literary agent.

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She was quick, though. At least she answered.

And congrats to you, Zefiris, on the full request.

Crickets today, as expected. I'm going to hold off on new queries and probably go offline for a while. I need to do some reading for more comps and then I'm on vacation next week. I have to reset my brain, write, and stop obsessing over queries for a little bit.

I'll pop back in here if I get any news, but meanwhile, I wish you all the best of luck on querying. I expect some of you to be gone by the time I get back, and I am sure that there will be a huge thread to follow then. Ciao for now.

Absolute silence since the good news the other day! That always makes me a little nervous that a rejection-pocalypse is impending, but thankfully I have a short story deadline on Friday and I'll keep busy by trying to get that ready.

rejection-pocalypse

That's going right into the ol' lexicon, along with cricketastic.

mcbunny, really, you won't even be lurking? We'll keep your picture on the mantle and throw a little Welcome Home party when you get back.


ETA: How could I forget the Daily Countup? As of today, I've been wandering for 40 days and 40 nights in the desert of "or so." Isn't this the point where divine providence rescues me from doom or despair? Hello, Dream Agent?

Well, I just queried my 90th agent since entering Query Hell the first of January. I managed to get 3 queries out tonight, and it wore me out!

Kitten update:

Kitten ate the whole plate of food I left for it tonight. It looks healthy. A mockingbird squaks at it, though. I think the bird has a nest in the bushes where kitty is living.

I'm tired. Heading to bed.

Crickets were enjoying the fireworks all weekend after getting 3 query R's on Friday. Nothing new to report!

Nothing today, but a query R on the fourth.

I was offline all weekend and came back to a rejection that came in on the morning of the 4th. Really, agents work hard, don't they. Too bad I can't get one to work hard for me!

Good news, Zefiris! Good luck!

I'm glad the kitty is doing well, ILSinTexas.

And the waiting goes on...and on...

Just shaking my head here at all the holiday Rs. Did they come with red, white and blue borders? What's Christmas gonna be like?

Anyway, I have over 30 outstanding snail-queries out there and I'm about to leave the country for five weeks. I'll have to leave instructions with my mother so I can get Skype Rs.

Rejection -- it's a multimedia phenomenon 'round the world!!!!

Merry Christmas! You're not good enough!

Heard back from one of the agents with my full. She said not to worry about typos and that she is still reading and will get back to me when she's finished, also wished me a good holiday. Very glad she is looking to finish the book, although I kinda wish she would have been like CAN'T TALK NICK SAW THAT MS YOU SENT ME IS SO WONDERFUL I HAVE TO GET BACK TO IT, but alas, I am still quite pleased.

AAAAnd a personalized R based on a query.

Amazing that I haven't heard anything, what with the agent's subs out there and my many, many small press subs out in the cyber world. The non-responder % has grown to something like 65% over the past two years, worse than I've ever seen it. Publishers were never like this, ever. I've counted 22 partials that haven't been responded to over the last nine months. These are from houses that used to respond very quickly.

Tri

R on a partial. It was a copy with the old beginning though, hopefully the new beginning will catch some interest soon.

Another R trickled in today, made me feel like...I got rejected, therefore I am.

I find I don't even twitch on Query rejections these days. Partial and full rejections, now those still sting a little. Hopefully my recent manuscript overhaul will help fix that problem.