4
Oct
I heard back on my partial today. The response read something like this:
“This isn’t really for me, but thanks for letting me take a look.”
That’s it. Nothing more.
I’d love to know what made her take a pass. Was it the writing? Was it the plot? Did she think the story would be too tough of a sell?
*Sigh.*
Without any sort of feedback as to why she wasn’t interested, all kinds of questions are plaguing me, and I feel self-doubt setting in…
So, in an effort to combat my rapidly descending bad mood, I have on the agenda for tonight:
1) Drinking an ice cold AmberBock
2) Watching several episodes of Supernatural, a TV series in its sixth season but which I only recently discovered. (I’m currently mid-way through season 2 and wondering how in the world I didn’t watch this show sooner. It’s fabulous! Great plot, fantastic characters, engaging dialogue–and it’s all about the supernatural. Color me excited!)
On tomorrow’s agenda:
1) Picking up the pieces of my shattered self-esteem
2) Sending out more query letters
And so it goes.
28
Sep
So, I’ve been meaning to post an update to my post on getting my first request for a full. As you might have guessed by now, the agent took a pass on my manuscript. She stated in her rejection that she’d been really excited to read my novel and, although she’d enjoyed it and thought it had merit, she decided Red wasn’t going to be right for her list.
Bummer.
Naturally, I was disappointed (translation: I was crushed), but so it goes. Considering my pitch at the MWW was essentially my first query involving this particular project, I was still pretty encouraged by the fact it had resulted in a request for a full.
Yay, me!
I’d just start sending out the query letters in the usual way. No big deal! Seeing as how I’d had such fantastic luck so far, I was sure to get loads of requests for partials and fulls, right?
Wrong.
Ten “Dear Author” form letter rejections later, I decided to take a step back and reevaluate. Based on some advice I received at the MWW, I took another look at my query letter, reworked it a bit, and sent out the revised version to the next agent on my list. That was Friday afternoon. Yesterday evening, I received a response.
When I saw the email message in my Inbox, my stomach sank. A response? Already? That couldn’t be good.
After taking a few deep breaths and bracing myself for the inevitable rejection, I opened the message to see:
“Could you send me the first 50 pages and a plot synopsis please?”
Wha-huh?
Well, of course, I can send her the first 50 pages and a synopsis! (Just as soon as I indulge in a little neurotic tweaking of said materials.)
So, today instead of stressing about no one wanting to see my novel, I’m stressing about my @$&! synopsis. Have I mentioned they’re from the devil?
Anyhoo…
As soon as I put the finishing touches on my synopsis (probably tomorrow), I’ll be sending off my partial in hopes that the requesting agent will want to see more. We’ll see how it goes.
In the meantime, I’m going to go take a few Dramamine and strap in for this roller coaster ride I do so love…
