I'm as good as P.G. Wodehouse!! (But still rejected...)

Oh, I had one like that too and had mixed emotions about it.

"Very well done, but these Crichton-esque thrillers are a hard push at the moment."

Guh. Go tell it on the Michael. But, alas, I'll take that to the tiny bank.

Tri

I'm wondering why your query didn't indicate that it was satire (directly or indirectly) and that the characters change over the course of the book.

Maybe I'm missing something.

In any event, join the crowd. I got a rejection earlier this week from a major publisher on something I had high hopes for. Today, I'm sending it out to another publisher.

Well, if it's Wodehousian, I know I would love it!

It's sad though that he thinks only "elderly" readers would appreciate that sort of humor and writing. Maybe it'll be your destiny to bring this to the "yutes" of America.

DeeSoul said:

Maybe it'll be your destiny to bring this to the "yutes" of America.

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Yeah, can you add a vampire, wizard, or zombie to the story?

(I'm just kidding!)

alleycat said:

I'm wondering why your query didn't indicate that it was satire (directly or indirectly) and that the characters change over the course of the book.

Maybe I'm missing something.

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He said in his post that he didn't send the agent a query; he sent the manuscript.

I had an agent reject me, telling me that "It's tough when you're writing epic fantasy not to sound like the writers who have come before you-- but in the first couple of chapters I could piece together parts from other fantasy novelists and say "Yep, that sounds like George RR Martin. And that's Lois McMaster Bujold. And that's just like that other book I loved, but whose author I can't remember right now."

The only two fantasy authors I've ever read are Abercrombie and George Martin, so I took the fact that I was inadvertently reminding him of others I'd never even read as a compliment! xP

What's a PG Wodehouse?

Sorry about the rejection though.

Last I looked, Wodehouse was still very much in print. From what I read of your query, you've put an interesting modern spin on the immortal Upperclass Twit. Don't give up! One day he could even become Twit of the Year! (That is, if he can jump the matchboxes, get the bra off the mannequin, and shoot the tied down rabbits without killing himself.)

I long for a Jeeves of my own.

A good rejection can be almost as good as an acceptance, in my book. "I like it, but the market doesn't," is an acceptance of your writing, if not your marketability.

Aw, sorry Mark. That is promising as far as rejections go.

On my screen, the title of this thread first showed up as "I'm as good as P.G" and I thought wow, someone is as good as pregnant. I guess not, Mark! Eh?

[I long for a Jeeves of my own.

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I would SO love a Jeeves of my own.

Not only could he organize my life, but can you imagine how NICELY he would inform you of the rejections in your Inbox?

Sorry about your rejection. I do feel strongly, though, that you'll be able to find a place for this novel, based on what I've read of it, the query and synopsis. I have faith that it's an interesting idea, well executed.

All the best with your future submissions!

MarkEsq said:

Wow, thanks guys. Shadow, Wodehouse wrote the Jeeves and Wooster series and a great deal more.
I'll keep at it, and thanks again for the support.

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Just as a side note, Wodehouse's amusing, breezy style that seems so natural and easy was the result of almost obsessive rewriting. He rarely got more than two pages done in a day -- and he was a full time writer, sometimes working eight hours a day.

"Dying is easy. Comedy is hard."

-- Apocryphal deathbed words, attributed to various actors over the years.

MarkEsq said:

"I'm frightfully sorry, Sir, those artistically deficient bounders at [fill in agency] have apparently failed to recognize your genius. Do allow me to continue submitting on your behalf."

"Thank you, Jeeves. Please do."

"And would Sir prefer me to firebomb the [fill in agency] or merely beat [specific agent] half to death with a kipper?"

"The kipper thing would be fine, Jeeves. Carry on."

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*giggle*

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Hi MarkEsq,

I remember reading your query in SYW, and thinking that it had elements of Vernon "God" Little. I dunno if it's worth you putting that in there somewhere as a comparable work (whether it was or not!) As a Booker prize winner, it would certainly set more modern bells ringing for me.

I apologize to Mr. Wodehouse in advance. Most of this is from My Man Jeeves, with a few words changed here and there, and large chunks skipped over:

Jeeves--my man, you know--is really a most extraordinary chap….As an instance of what I mean, I remember meeting Monty Byng in Bond Street one morning, looking the last word in a grey check suit, arm in arm with his fabulous literary agent, and I felt I should never be happy till I had an agent like his. I dug the address of the agent out of him, and sent off my manuscript inside the hour.

"Jeeves," I said that evening. "I'm getting am agent like that one of Mr. Byng's."

"Injudicious, sir," he said firmly. "The agent will not become you."

"What absolute rot! It's the soundest thing I've struck for years."
"Unsuitable for you, sir."

Well, the long and the short of it was that the agent agreed to read a partial, but Jeeves was perfectly right.
One morning she called to say she was reading my manuscript at that very moment. Suddenly there was a noise over the phone, a scrabbling noise, as if somebody were trying to paw her way through the woodwork. Then a sort of thud.

"We’d better go and see what that is, Jeeves."

"Very good, sir."

We rushed over to her office. I sent Jeeves in. He went in and came back again.

"If you would not mind stepping this way, sir, I think we might be able to carry her out."

"Carry her out?"

"The agent is lying on the rug, sir."

I went to the door. The man was right. There was the agent huddled up on the floor. She was moaning a bit.

"She's had some sort of dashed fit," I said. I took another look.

"Jeeves! …..Call up a doctor!"

"I hardly think it will be necessary, sir. If you would take her legs, while I----"

"Great Scot, Jeeves! You don't think--she can't be----"

"I am inclined to think so, sir."

Melia said:

I apologize to Mr. Wodehouse in advance. Most of this is from My Man Jeeves, with a few words changed here and there, and large chunks skipped over:

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That is too perfect! Thanks for "updating" the story.

See? I just KNEW I would feel better if Jeeves were handling my rejections. LOL Now I've got proof!