REJECTION!!!!!

Hope you're not opposed to the color "orange." I chose it for Autumn, pumpkin pie and turkey!

Here it is November already and we're on a fast approach for Thanksgiving Day. Happy turkey day, y'all! I've decided to have a quiet day this year -- just Jeremy and me... and the bird. No additional family or extended family. In year's past when everyone left, I have made a silent, but solemn promise to myself that "next year I'm NOT hosting Thanksgiving; I'll be going to Fiji!" So far, that hasn't happened. Fiji, that is.

In my last post, I had just hit "send" of my query to two possibilities. That was a Friday. On Sunday afternoon, I received my first REJECTION letter. Wow! It zinged me between my eyes, and my stomach dropped to my toes. I was... ummm... "out of sorts" for the rest of the evening.

On Monday morning I was able to pick myself up, dry myself off, and start all over again. In case you don't know it, those are words to a song. It's a lilting melody. But, I digress, or at least stall. So, the first rejection is over. There will be more, I'm sure. We all face rejections in our lives and we deal with them. Maybe the next one won't pack such a wallop.

In my agent/publisher research, I have discovered that many agents/publishers want a synopsis with the query. Some will accept by email; some want snail mail. All their guidelines are different. Oy vey! I get bleary-eyed just trying to find out what they all want. Writing my story was EASY compared to this.

The First Query is Sent

I wrote a query and sent it to my editor. He made a couple of additions and changes which only enhanced it and I thought it was wonderful. It certainly caught MY eye. How could an agent/publisher resist?

I had found two "promising" publishing avenues. I know that there are gobs more, but, hey. This is a start. One was an agent, the other an actual publisher. I sat at my computer fully intending to email my query, but instead, I froze. I just sat here staring at the computer screen. I was so frightened about sending it incorrectly, or omitting something important that the receiver required, that I sat here for a long while. A meltdown of sorts happened. Tears flowed out of my eyes. I couldn't do it. I scolded myself for working SO hard on my manuscript and then not moving forward. I finally gave up and like Tara in Gone With the Wind, decided I'd think about that tomorrow. Well, la-dee-dah.

So. Tomorrow is now today and I did it. I actually carefully read through the requirements, made sure they were in my query, and hit "SEND."

The waiting game begins.

The Query

I made the last edits to my book and then asked my editor if he would like to see it again. In haggling about cost, he suggested that I send a dessert. Any ideas for a chocolate dessert that would travel well? He also had several comments and I made another round of changes. But, now I'm FINISHED! And I'm happy with it.

Then I started thinking about writing the query. My editor suggested that I not try to write it until the edits were completed. I found some sample letters on Google and I even found an agent to whom I'm planning to send my very first query. And probably others. So today I worked long and hard on writing the query and think I came up with something pretty unique, interesting, and catchy. I'm bracing myself for rejection, but I'm also praying that God has the right agent lined up and that there is HUGE interest in publishing my book.

Wisdom from other writers says that I should already have a following so the publisher is guaranteed money. Hence, this blog. Maybe I should get a website, too. I'm not interested in Twitter. I can barely tolerate Facebook. How will I make myself known?

The story continues...