Don't we all appreciate a speedy response? Jessica Regel received my partial, take one look at it and swiftly decided it was not for her. In about a week, she got back to me on the first three chapters. Her only comment on the rejection letter (about half a sheet of paper) was that it was not right for her list. No editorial suggestions, just a no, but she was quick and it's finished. Hope she wasn't angry about my not being able to grant her an exclusive look.
In the same pile of mail, I found a request for a partial from Barbara Rosenberg. Bizarre how it turns out, that one agent rejects and another asks for material, with their letters crossing my desk at the same time.
Trouble is, I can't remember if I sent some sample pages to Ms. Rosenberg. After Ms. Regel's speedy exit, I'm having some self-doubt about the writing, and I'm tempted to look at the chapters and tweak here and there. Can't very well tweak something that an agent's looked at and liked enough to ask for more. Sometimes I send out queries in a foul mood, fed up with the whole process, and my record keeping is not what it should be. Not the first time. Not the last, I'm sure.
I've been reading The Woodsman's Daughter to get a feel for what's selling. After skimming through the first part, which I forced myself to read because I thought the characters were wooden and the story lacking, I'm beginning to like the middle section. Now, if something like this can make it, I really don't think my manuscript is half bad. The first fifty are going out as is. I like them fine, and I like them better than what I've been reading. Oh, right. What I like to read is not what the big houses like to publish. Could be a bit of a problem here.
2 comments:
I feel your pain. I got a similarly snooty response from Scott Hoffman from Folio Literary. Although, I wasn't surprised by his response. He got up to use the restroom in the middle of my pitch, and then asked for me to send my samples. So how genuine could he have been?
The whole publishing thing is a crap shoot... No wonder writers make the best alchoholics.
Lovely thought, isn't it? I picture him focused on discreetly getting away to have a slash, not hearing a word you're saying while his bladder won't be ignored.
Writers are alcoholics because we need an excuse for the drinking we'd be doing anyway. Why else do we keep trying to break into the industry? A sober man would have quit long ago.
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