Somewhere inside, my inner M. is sobbing openly.
I'm trying to be realistic about this. Rejection is a fact of life and, although I'm okay with them, I'm also counting down Jack King's projected twelve- that means there's a 'yes' out there somewhere, with my name on it, right? Of course, if I never hear back from anyone (or if it takes an annoyingly-long time for that agent to respond), how am I ever supposed to know whether it's the idea itself that sucks, or maybe something else?
My theory- it's the query.
Admittedly, I learned how to write one from a sample that I found on a published writer's website; I then filled in the blanks, and used her example as a template, which I'm beginning to think was a bad idea. I recently read that agents want your query to show off your personality, as well as that of your novel- upon rereading my own, of course, I have discovered the missing ingredient: ME!
This letter needs more ME! There's not enough of ME (or K, or M, or anyone else) in it- of course, that doesn't mean that I'm going to write them a note in my own blood, threatening to kill myself if they don't accept the book, or attempt to bribe them with cake and fluffy bunnies. It simply means that I'll change things around a bit, so that the proposal better reflects ME and sounds less like a template- I'm an Aquarius, and everyone knows that we Aquariuses love templates, just as much as we love surprise root-canals and the occasional UTI. You get the picture.
Sorry, K- no cake or fluffy bunnies for you, today.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Badge of Determination #2.
Chalk another one up to the Wall of Rejection!
It's a little disappointing, but only because it's not even the book that's being rejected at this point- it's the idea itself, the query, and me/the writer. Clearly, one of the three of us needs fixing, and I'm not sure which one is the problem- maybe it's all of the above.
Back to the drawing... er, writing... board!
-
Acceptances: 0
Rejections: 2
Manuscript requests: 0
It's a little disappointing, but only because it's not even the book that's being rejected at this point- it's the idea itself, the query, and me/the writer. Clearly, one of the three of us needs fixing, and I'm not sure which one is the problem- maybe it's all of the above.
Back to the drawing... er, writing... board!
-
Acceptances: 0
Rejections: 2
Manuscript requests: 0
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Wanted: Inspiration
As you can see, my lack of posting has (probably) made it obvious that my inkwell is drying up. When you're a writer, whether well-known or not, this is never a good sign.
That all said, my main excuse for slacking is that I'm looking for a job (again), as I'm not getting many hours at the current one anymore and need something to supplement my paycheques there. If I could make money from writing on the side, that would be great (some literary journals pay $50-200 per article/poem/thing), but most of them take anywhere from 6 months to a year to reply- that doesn't help my cause right now. EI is a godsend- not just to me, but to anyone who lives away from home and needs to eat.
One of the things keeping me the most busy right now is editing the book... again. This was something that I was hoping to avoid, at least until I had enough rejection letters... I mean, badges of determination... to attest to the fact that the thing sucks; however, I did myself in by writing that awesome query-letter. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot- both literally, and in context.
It's interesting, though, how my characters have told me what to do over the years, rather than the other way around. For example, E. (M's girlfriend) was annoyed that she never got to tell her story, so I gave her a few chapters to herself; F. (K's uncle, and M's dad) has always been a meanie, but he somehow turned into a total d**chebag, who does all kinds of not-so-nice things to his family; and then there are B., D., (E's bffs), J. (all three are in M's band), T. (K's older sister), and L. (T's bff) who insisted on ruining every, single sappy scene that I wrote, with either their antics or ignorance.... Not fair! I am the allmighty Author, and you'll all do as I tell you, from now on!
(Not likely to happen- it never works that way.)
Clearly, these are desperate times.
That all said, my main excuse for slacking is that I'm looking for a job (again), as I'm not getting many hours at the current one anymore and need something to supplement my paycheques there. If I could make money from writing on the side, that would be great (some literary journals pay $50-200 per article/poem/thing), but most of them take anywhere from 6 months to a year to reply- that doesn't help my cause right now. EI is a godsend- not just to me, but to anyone who lives away from home and needs to eat.
One of the things keeping me the most busy right now is editing the book... again. This was something that I was hoping to avoid, at least until I had enough rejection letters... I mean, badges of determination... to attest to the fact that the thing sucks; however, I did myself in by writing that awesome query-letter. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot- both literally, and in context.
It's interesting, though, how my characters have told me what to do over the years, rather than the other way around. For example, E. (M's girlfriend) was annoyed that she never got to tell her story, so I gave her a few chapters to herself; F. (K's uncle, and M's dad) has always been a meanie, but he somehow turned into a total d**chebag, who does all kinds of not-so-nice things to his family; and then there are B., D., (E's bffs), J. (all three are in M's band), T. (K's older sister), and L. (T's bff) who insisted on ruining every, single sappy scene that I wrote, with either their antics or ignorance.... Not fair! I am the allmighty Author, and you'll all do as I tell you, from now on!
(Not likely to happen- it never works that way.)
Clearly, these are desperate times.
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