|
|
Monday, March 26, 2007Fastest Rejection In the WestI don't normally post about the inner workings of my pursuit toward publication. This blog isn't a place for me to bellyache about the ups and downs of the elusive Agent Search. When the good news comes, I'll post it. In the meantime, know that I'm hard at work on the "business end" of this writing thing, and that it surely does take a lot of time and energy -- emotional energy, mostly. But I can't let this one incident slip by. You see, I just received a rejection letter in nine minutes flat. I sent a query letter and sample pages via email. Nine minutes later -- nine minutes -- I received a standard form rejection. It's got to be a record. I mean, most agents warn you ahead of time that it will take two to three weeks for a response. Sometimes six weeks. Sometimes two months. And sometimes, they only respond if they are interested in reading more of your material. And that is the stinkiest kind of response there is. But not this time. Nope. I got slapped upside the head in nine minutes. Never fear. This is part of the game, part of the process. A writer who can't handle rejection needs to just give up and walk away. I'm used to it. And I've got "good stuff" in the wings right now, too, so this is just one more "tick" on the rejection side of my leger. But holy cow. Nine minutes? It begs the question, "Did she even read it?" Ah, well. That one wasn't meant to be. On to the next. Writers must never put all their eggs in one basket. Anyway, I'm amused. And if I can be amused by a rejection letter, then I've definitely grown as a writer -- and as a person. One can only hope. Labels: writing |
About Me
I am: Mother to five stunningly individualistic children... Writer of young adult fantasy... Passionate advocate for Women At Home... Madly in love with my husband... In need of Organic Gourmet Chocolate on a regular basis. I've got a Paypal account if you'd like to contribute to the cause....
|
14of my readers are feeling chatty:
Holy auto-responder!
Foo on them! :-P
Wow! That was fast! Crazy!
I'm sad I didn't get to meet your "boys". Dave said they all had a good visit...well, except for the antics of Kayden. I tried to get Dave to leave him home to go to church with me, but, alas, he took him anyway.
Well, one positive thing about that is that you didn't have to sit and wait for the rejection. In a way, I think it would be nice to get quick responses, except for the part that they probably didn't read it.
The e-query sure speeds things up. Maybe they had a robot read it. There weren't enough references to hardware in your query, so it passed.
Kerrie -- I know I can always count on your support. :):)
Erica -- I am so excited to taste your famous salsa!!! Eric and Jonathan had a great time. Maybe next time you and I can BOTH be there!
Dave -- You're right, I MUCH prefer a quick "no" than having to wait. It's definitely not a robot, though. Agents who accept e-queries take them seriously. In fact, this particular agent prefers them. So I know she reads them -- at least the query part, if not the sample pages. I guess she just knows EXACTLY what she's looking for right now -- and I'm not it! LOL
She didn't even read it! =(
God has a plan... as you know. ((I LOVE YOU))
Awww Jill, that just sucks!!!
Good for you for being amused, you have grown :-)
in fact she probably did read it.
It's not the norm of course, but it's entirely possible your query hit the mailbox when she was already reading queries; between tasks; avoiding calling a client with bad news (if my desk is clean it's a BAD week!)
If you don't believe me, do this independent verification.
Get out your own query letter and first three pages.
Start the clock.
Read them.
Stop the clock.
Didn't take anywhere close to nine minutes did it?
Turnaround time isn't how long it takes us to read your work, it's a measure of how much work is in front of you.
Sometimes you arrive at the head of the line.
I respect your attitude of not whining, and seeing the humor in this.
Good luck as you query widely and stay focused.
Very best wishes,
Miss Snark
I got rejected once in three minutes flat. Seriously. BUT, I also had a request for a partial within half an hour of sending a query.
Found you via Miss Snark. Very funny post.
Thanks, Miss Snark. Once again.
m.g. -- OK, you win. :) And actually, I had a request for a partial in 14 minutes recently, so yeah, it's happened that way, too. Much more gratifying, that!
I once had an agent ask for a full proposal - I sent her all 24 pages and got the rejection email within 15 minutes. The email said something to the effect of "your idea is not special/different/interesting/marketable enough". I think she spent 13 or her 15 response minutes coming up with adjectives! Best of luck to you. Hang in there!
I tell you what, I'm a small publisher, and sometimes it takes less than nine minutes to see that material isn't for you.
Lack of research shows.
Nine Minutes? Wow. My personal record is about 20 minutes. Funny how rejections all come quicker than acceptances or "Send me the first 50 pages"-es.
Good luck, anyway. I'm another Young Adult Fantasy Writer who happened to find your page linked from Nathan Bransford. Mind if I hang around?
-kaedajnor
www.undergroundunrest.com
Absolutely, kaedajnor -- so glad you stopped by! I'm always delighted to meet another YA Fantasy writer.
And New MBA -- many thanks!!
Post a Comment
<< Home