Responding to Julie's and Ellen's comments got me thinking, and rather than write a ridiculously long comment, I thought I'd share here. I've got queries out there. Writing is an exercise in bravery for me. Each time I share my work with someone else, I'm putting my neck on the chopping block. I'm putting myself there! What kind of parallel universe have I slipped into? Purposely subjecting myself to rejection. Such is the writer's life. I could be a true wannabe, and never let my pages see the light of day, but I'm not wired that way. Even if it hurts, I have to give myself the chance to succeed. I don't want to be an old woman with stories of what I could have been. I don't want to have to explain to my children why I never chased my dreams. Yes, rejection hurts, but embodying failure in the eyes of my children is more pain than I'm willing to endure.
But I digress. I sent off two agent queries at the end of January--literally the end. It's May, and I've heard nothing. Part of me wants to be happy that it's taking so long. No news is good news, right? The other part of me is afraid that I've waited all this time for a rejection. Thanks to the Golden Heart, I've learned that my writing evokes strong emotion. That's a great feeling as a writer, though I wish it translated into better contest scores. The whole business is subjective, so I wasn't too disappointed with my results. The waiting was what killed me! So now, here I am again, waiting to see what these agents will have to say about my work. For the record, Julie, I took Linda Lael Miller's advice and submitted my work to Harlequin. I haven't heard from them yet either, but I only sent it off early March, so it could be a while. How am I supposed to stay sane while waiting for a response?
I do have a few ideas. There's a contest I plan to enter--Mid-Michigan RWA's "Happily Ever After." I love all of my manuscript, but the end is my favorite part. We'll see how that goes. Of course, I have editing to do on my RS. And I've got a new one in the works, which should be a funny suspense. At least the beginning is funny, so I'm excited about getting it going. Okay, that worked. I'll make it a few more days.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Linda Lael Miller was interviewed on one of our local TV stations this weekend. She must live in the Northwest.
Regarding your submissions - why only two? Maybe while you're waiting (that must be hard - argh!), you could submit to other agents and/or editors. I attended a conference with Jayne Ann Krentz and Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and they both suggested finding a new acquisitions editor (someone hungry to find new talent and make a name for themselves, so they're willing to read the "over the transom" submissions) rather than going the agent route. They agreed agents are important, but for first sales, not necessarily the only way to go. Just something to think about. :)
And...rejections ARE hard, but take comfort in all the stories that multi-pubbed authors tell of their many rejections. It seems to be part of the process. Hang in there and good for you for putting them out there!
Miller lives near Spokane, Ellen. She was just the most gracious faculty member at La Jolla.
Fingers crossed on that Harlequin submission!!
I'm not to the point of subbing long manuscripts yet (gotta finish them first!) but I need to at least be entering contests and short stories, so I can thicken up my rejection skin.
Thanks for the reminder...I've gotten it from several folks this week, so it must be the Universe talking. :-)
Yep, Ellen, LLM is in your neck of the woods! What a generous, sweet woman! As to the query number, two is about all I have left after the query blitz I began in October 2006. I have hit up (almost) all the agents who handle anything in the romance genre, at least those RWA lists/recognizes. My first queries sucked (BIG TIME), so the rejections were quick and plentiful :) Thanks to a member of RWAOL, my query got a much-needed kick in the pants. The new letter resulted in a request for a full, which ultimately became a rejection. It was a very nice one, so I wasn't left with the feeling that I should get a new "hobby."
So far, I've only queried 2 editors. I heard through the grapevine and even read on agent websites and blogs that they prefer not to work with a project that's been sent all over God's green earth, so I limited my editor contact. At this point, though, and especially in the face of good advice, I don't feel I have any other recourse. I should probably leave out that the whole idea of walking that road has my stomach in knots! Thank you for the encouragement.
Julie, you know what thickened my rejection skin? Critique Circle. I thought my work was good until I went there! No one was brutal or ugly, but they were frank with me when I need it. Because of those critiques, my writing grew. I feel so fortunate to have other strong writers helping me be who I need to be. It's a free site, so you may want to check it out. I need to go back because there are a couple stories I need to finish for some awesome writers over there.
Post a Comment