The Daily Rejection, Vol. 2

Hello everyone from inside the (soon-to-be-opened) quarantine bunker....
Haven't been online much or done much of anything these last two weeks. My husband learned that he had been exposed to someone infected with the virus at work, and so we went into strict quarantine – staying inside, no visitors etc. My sister and niece did the shopping for us, so we were OK. My husband developed some light symptoms, fever etc, so we were a bit worried – but he's OK now, totally over whatever it was (probably the ordinary flu) and since we've stayed in for a fortnight like one should, and he's been symptom-free for two days, we can go back out now, do our own shopping and go for walks etc. (while keeping social distancing and all that, of course) So that's good.

You'd think I'd got a lot of writing/revising done with all that time on my hands, but no. Apathy and cabin fever and a bit of worry = nothing done. Sigh. Hoping to get back to some writing routine now, trying at least. (And selfishly happy to see that I'm not the only one procrastinating/not able to get anything done in here!)
utesfanami – wohoo, that's fantastic news!! Soo exciting!!
(and here's a rejection cake, too: )


Elle – I checked you on twitter too, and wow – yeah, that's one rock star agent right there! (Queried her five years ago with an earlier version of my manuscript, and she rejected me outright. Very nice form, though...) Saw how she praised your manuscript, too – I totally get that impostor syndrome thing, but you clearly have no reason for it – your manuscript is totally fabulous, period. So, so happy for you!!

Liz_V – here's your belated cake for that snail rejection: Good on you for trying those powerhouses, too! Aim high, no self-rejections, yes, yes, yes! And good luck with the query you sent out – crossing fingers! Yes, synopsises suck, but you can do it. I know, I hate hate hate them, but still managed to do one, finally. Here's a link to a site with some tips that might help. Screw those taxes, get on with it! :hides Liz's chair:

Here's a cake for you, too, Lakey – and no 'bridesmaid' trophy from me (I do get that feeling though. it's hard to keep going with those constant 'almosts' – so here's a perseverance trophy instead, if you like:)

And here's yours, noranne That sucks, yes, no simultaneous submissions with that kind of waiting times! Good luck with the next market, hope they respond a bit faster!

to all of you who don't feel like querying right now, for whatever reasons – take care, all of you. I'm not querying either, but I plan to, once I get this revision done – I think I have to, to beat this apathy and cabin fever hangover I'm in. But that's me.

(Did you do that nudge, ap? Any response?)

250 days does sound like nudging time on a full, aceafer. I'd do that if you haven't already. It's hard to find motivation in the middle of all this silence and waiting, isn't it. Maybe you will get an answer on the nudge, either way - it might help. Good luck!

That sounds really promising, utesfanami! I'm so glad this has come swiftly on the back of your painful rejection and I hope this turns into something good. Keep us posted!

I'm sorry for those of you who have had Rs. R cake for you (I am lucky and still have a reasonable supply of flour, sugar and eggs, though my butter stock is running low...). I can understand not wanting to query in this climate - it's hard to work up the enthusiasm for it, and from everything I see on other platforms, I think a lot of people feel the same. I don't think it's a bad time to query - agents who don't suddenly have kids to school or look after at home are open for business - but equally when (when!) this is all over, the agents will still be there. At this time I think we need to look after ourselves.

I'm glad you were looked after while in quarantine, Torill - I'm just coming to the end of two weeks entirely in the house and I have also felt very apathetic (a book club friend kindly dropped food off for us). It's a hard, weird period, and I hope you can get back into your writing routine now.

aceafer - followed you back! I know what you mean I obsessed about those submission stories too but what I can say is one of the agents I met had my full for about 4/5 months and didn't reply to my nudges and then out of the blue contacted me to meet, so it does happen.

Torrill - let me know who you are on twitter so that I can follow you. Thanks, all those years ago when I decided to have a go at writing tin view to get published she was the very first agent I wanted to query so it is a dream come true. Now I just need to deliver the edits that we have talked about. I'm so glad to hear that your husband is ok and is almost out of the quarantine period.I think a feeling of apathy is very much a normal feeling right now.

Raggy - glad to hear that you are coming off your quarantine period too!

Torill, glad to hear husband is on the mend and you'll be out of quarantine shortly! Stay safe--

RaggyCat, see above . Glad you'll be out of the quarantine shortly!!! I completely get the apathy--I keep waking up with good intentions (clean the house! Write/edit!) Then the day's suddenly over...

I'm in New York (on Long Island) and the virus is raging here, so there seems to be no end in sight . I'm keeping to the house as much as possible (having groceries brought in, etc.) but it's hard.

aceafer, I totally hear you--I have one sub out for a book I started querying a year and a half ago. The sub is over a year old. I nudged once at approximately the four month mark and got a very kind reply that the agent would get to it, but nothing thereafter. It's fine, because I've moved on to a couple of new projects, but I completely understand the anxiety...

Elle, I snuck over to Twitter and, WOW--definitely a rockstar!!!! So happy for you, and so well deserved!!!!! Congratulations again!!!!

I'm pretty positive I'm going to get an offer from the agent on Tuesday. We emailed back and forth on Friday, and she said, "I'd love to see what publishing doors we could burn down together." That line is pretty damn awesome, I think. We had some small talk too while we were setting up a time to talk.

She's read two projects of mine. I'm really excited!

Utesfanami - You are totally heading for an offer there! How exciting - I'm thrilled for you and I hope you gel well on the call. Is she an agent you'd be happy to work with? Do post after your call so we can enjoy some good news.

Torill - Do I follow you on Twitter? If not, please let me know your handle so I can do so! I have to confess I followed a lot of AW people all at the same time and I'm still sorting out who is who so if I have you muddled with someone I apologise. *blushes*

Hester - that sounds really grim! I know NY is badly hit. It's hard. Take care.

Thanks for your well-wishes, everyone!

Hester – NY is in the news here, too, and it really looks bad. Crossing my fingers for you all over there, hoping this will soon pass. Stay safe and hang in there!

Raggy and Elle – I'm not on twitter, actually – yet. One of the (many) things I should be doing but haven't got round to.... Hasn't stopped me from lurking on there, though!

It defintely sounds like an offer in the works, utesfanami – I hope this is the agent for you, the one you really want to work with. Do let us know how it works. Crossing fingers for you!

Got an email today from an agent I'd long since written off. That's a long rejection letter, thought I, two whole paragraphs! But being, of course, a compulsive reader, I read all the way through.

Oh. That's a partial request! First one on the current WIQ!

Now I just have to decide if I want to stall for a day or two and slap together a synopsis; agent would like one, but it's not required. Since Torill's gone and hidden my chair , I'm thinking I'll give the MS a quick refresher skim and see if I can come up with something halfway decent.


Torill, welcome back to the outside world! Raggy, you too, soon!

Elle, wow, your first-choice agent? That is very cool! (I'm not on Twitter, but I snuck over to see who it was -- oh, yeah!)

hester - Hang in there, both on the quarrantine and the queries. That goes for everybody else, too. (I know writers need to be able to wait, but c'mon, universe, this is taking the lesson too far!)

utesfanami, that is a fabulous line! Here's hoping the call is equally fabulous!

So, I got an offer today! We talked for two hours! The agent was great. Very hungry. Loved my book. Compared my writing to my favorite writer. It was one of the best calls of my life.

Now, I'm going to let other agents know!

utesfanami


I make writing goals for each month. I did really well in January and February, but, uh, not so well in March. I can't even blame the state of the world; it was just all my procrastination. My story subs are slowly whittling down with more first pass form rejections and motivation is hard. Getting back into the novel editing this month though (I took a break in March).

Congrats, utesfanami!!!

Well done, utesfanami! Congratulations. You deserve to have someone who is invested in your work. Do pop in on the Next Circle thread when you're ready and enjoy what comes next!

Congratulations utesfanami!! Sounds like a perfect match!

Congrats, mistri! A request is always exciting! Yeah, I wouldn't bother informing other agents about a request, only if there's an offer.

utesfanami – congrats! That's wonderful!! It really sounds like that agent is the perfect match for you! Comparing your writing to your favorite writer, – wow! That's fantastic!

Congrats to you, too, mistri on that full request. That's not meaningless at all - the agent likes your premise and your writing and wants to check if you're someone they'd want for a client. That's great. Of course it may end in a rejection, but it also may end in an offer. Crossing fingers for you!!
I've heard different things about alerting others about a full, some say do, some say only when there's an offer on the table. I haven't told the agent's I queried that I also have two fulls out – but I will of course if I get an offer. I really don't know if this is 'correct' or not.

Liz_V:
(I'm sure you can come up with something more than decent. And the good thing is, once you've done it you have it, and can use it over and over to everyone who asks for it. You go, girl!)

Utesfanami--Congratulations! Sounds like a good match if agent already knows your fave author to make comparisons.

Liz_V--great way to "unwrap" a partial request There's always improvements we can make to our writing, and the buzz of a request is great energy to ride into revision land, isn't it? Good luck!

Mistri--congratulations on the full request! I wouldn't inform agents you've already queried unless one of them requests a partial or full too.

utesfanami -


Tamlyn - I'm right there with you on the procrastination. Hey, at least you got two months' solid work in! Maybe this'll be the month we all get back in gear, eh?

mistri, welcome (back), and yay on the full request!


I am stressing out a bit about the partial request/synopsis. I figure it's okay to take a day or two to send pages and synopsis; Agent took several months to respond to the query, after all. It would've been okay to send the pages without the synopsis right away. What's not okay is to take several days and then end up sending the pages alone because the synopsis still isn't done, which is what I'm heading toward. It's not helping that the quick skim has turned into a detailed re-read, because it's been a while since I've spent time with this book (and because I like it so much).

Argh. Where's that time machine when I need it?

Congratulations, utesfanami!

Congrats on the request, mistri!

mistri - congrats on the full request! You know what they say it only takes one... Fingers crossed for you!

Liz_V - congrats on the partial!

utesfanami, YAY!!!!!!!! Congrats on the offer!!!!!!

And Liz_V and mistri, congrats on the requests!!!!!

In writing news, I'm feeling a tiny bit more productive--I was going to hit the revision trail for April Nano, but on impulse (!) I started something new. Technically it's not completely new, since it pulls in aspects of drafts of some prior books, but I'm loving the MC's voice so...

Thanks everyone!

Congrats to Liz_V and mistri for the requests!!

Got to say, this is the first time I've been offered and I can't believe how fast agents are replying. I've already had two queries bumped up to full requests as well as two agents who congratulated me before stepping aside. One agent also emailed me about an hour ago to know who the offering agent was, I told her, but I haven't heard back yet. Man, it all feels so surreal...

Liz_V – I don't think waiting a week to ten days or so will be a problem. A month maybe, but not a week. If they're interested now they'll be interested in a week or two as well. I doubt very much the agent will be counting the days, or have some sort of cut-off time when they'll say, oh no, this one's too late so won't read now, even though the premise sounded fabulous. You'll probably just be going into their tbr-pile anyway, won't you…. So, finish up that synopsis and send it out, now or in four days. Gogogo!!


Good luck with your new shiny, hester – sounds good, if you like the voice and all. You can always do revisions on old thing later, it's not as if it's going anywhere, is it.

utesfanami - wow – you've got two agents more who wants to speed-read your full to see if they want to offer? Does that mean you haven't closed the deal with the first offering agent yet, and will be considering the others? Did you give them a deadline, say a fortnight or so, to read the full? Do tell, this is so exciting!

I'm slowly getting back into my revisions – it's hard to concentrate in these social isolation days, I soo miss my coffee shop offices – but as long as I get some writing in each day, I'm glad. Hope you're all coping as best you can, and stay safe everyone!

@Torill

She offered and I asked for two weeks to consider and give all the agents with materials my work, from query to full, the professional courtesy to reply. I gave them two weeks, yeah.

Some are stepping aside. Some are jumping in.

Anyway, I think I'm going to go quiet until the deadline and I make a decision. Wish me luck!

Liz - I'm with Torill on a few days not being a problem. Agents are more understanding than we perhaps think. I would wait and send your material together.

mistri - There's no need to nudge other agents because you have a full request from one (congrats!) UNLESS on their agency guidelines they specifically say that. This happened to me last December - I had a full request and one of the other agencies the book was with asked to be informed of this. This led to the second agent also wanting a full. So check your guidelines. It seems to be quite uncommon for agencies to want to be told of FRs but not unheard of.

Torill and hester, I'm glad you're getting your writing grooves back! It's so hard right now. I need to do the same.