7/15/09

Gun Shy

Well . . . I'm ready to query . . . I guess. I was ready, but Jody hasn't gotten back to me with her comments about query version #3B. (Just kidding, Jods! I still have a synopsis to write!)

I HATE this part of the process. I get all excited about querying my precious story. I deliberate which agent would be the best choice in large agencies. I obsess over each agent's personal query requirement. And then I hit send.
--Yes, I only send equeries. Sorry, but I think it's totally asinine to waste money on paper and postage. If an agency hasn't gotten with the electronic times, then I wouldn't want to be represented by them anyway!

Sometimes it doesn't take long for the rejections to start rolling in. Sometimes I never hear back AT ALL (Personal pet peeve of mine--at least have the courtesy of an auto-response that it was rec'd!).

Revamp query and try next batch of agents. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I've been in this hot seat before and it doesn't get any easier. MISSING: One Garden Gnome is my fifth complete manuscript, but that doesn't count my picture book rejections or the first two stories that I only queried minimally. It's the part of the business that is extremely frustrating because if you do get a rejection it is usually a form letter--well, at least all mine have been with only a rare exception.

So as a writer you don't know WHY the story is being rejected. It could be anything from the plot needing a major overhaul, to they just bought something similar, to just didn't strike the agent's fancy. Shoot, for all we know, it could be just because the query wasn't enticing enough!

Rejections happen. Develop a thick skin. Just because you get published doesn't mean the rejections stop. From what I've heard it gets worse with every Joe-Schmoe dissing your book on Amazon's link.

And if all else fails.

Write on!

6 comments:

  1. Good luck, Margaret! I'm in the same process.

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  2. Thanks, Edie!

    It sounds like you've already gotten some nibbles. :-) Is this the Galaxy Girls story? I LOVED the bit I read when you subbed on someone's blog for a contest (it's been awhile and I can't even remember whose blog!)

    Good luck!

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  3. I've only gotten 2 rejections, but I've only submitted 2. :) So I'm not sure I have that thick skin you're speaking of just yet Margaret. But I'm a realist, so hopefully when I do get that next reject, I'll be okay with it.

    And the way I look at it is this--all they can say is no. And it takes only 1 to say yes. :D

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  4. *snort* Kira, I've been selling myself that same load of crap for years! It took me six years and over a hundred rejections before I learned to get over myself--and some rejections STILL hurt!

    It doesn't get easier, you just get used to it.

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  5. I can't imagine it would EVER be easy to have something you'd put your heart and soul into be rejected. Writing is a very personal thing. You put a big part of yourself into it. So it probably always feels like it is 'you' they are rejecting, not the story. Separating yourself from the equation has got to be incredibly difficult.

    (PS - I'm working on the query thing NOW Margie, really.....!)

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  6. It doesn't get easier putting your stuff out there, Jody.

    It gets . . . different.

    You, as the author of the Great American Novel, have to decide if getting the generic dings in the armor is worth the occasional bone you are thrown.

    Sometimes the form rejections on queries get you down, especially when it's from an agent you really, really want to represent you.

    Sometimes the full manuscript rejections that SHOULD get you down--don't, because you realize that ultimately YOUR story wouldn't be the right fit for that particular publishing house.

    As much as I love/hate this part of the process, I'll keep querying every new story that I write because I think these stories have potential and I want to share with young readers.

    But I DON'T want to self-publish--I'm lazy that way. Too much work trying to hawk your own wares without the support of a good company behind you.

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