And oh yes...

[annathepiper]

I have now hit the five-month mark with Luna!

I've started getting more nervous about the status of my manuscript these days, and have to keep myself from wondering things like whether it fell down behind some editor or other's desk, or whether they actually sent it back two months ago and it got misdirected, or, or, or.

I am waffling about whether to send them a nudge now or give them until the six-month mark. And whether I should send a polite little letter asking after my manuscript (with an SASP enclosed for a reply, of course), or whether I should just suck it up and call them, braced for a possible "Oh yes, THAT book, we sent it back to you three days ago, guess it just hasn't gotten back to you yet!" reply.

Agh! The suspense!

Right. There's something I'm supposed to be doing to alleviate this. It's called WORKING ON THE OTHER BOOK.

Days without a rejection letter from Luna: 5 months, 0 days

Comments

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Poke them. :)

[annathepiper]

And your vote is "just suck it up and call them", yes? ;)

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I donno what the proper protocol for that is. I'd probably write a letter.

[annathepiper]

Hrmm. HRmRmRmMRm. A letter sounds less skeery to me. 'Cause if I'm going to get a rejection I don't really want to hear about it on the phone! Also, it's less intrusive and they can answer it on their own time, which you can't really do with a phone call.

I think I'll do it that way. :)

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Odds are reasonably good they wouldn't reject you on the phone anyway, but a letter is less intrusive, yah. *hugs*!

[annathepiper]

*snugs a Kit* Thanks for the input, babe. Much appreciated, as always!

[neutronjockey.livejournal.com]

And your vote is "just suck it up and call them", yes? ;)
x 2

[annathepiper]

Heh! I think I'm going to do a letter, though. Mostly because I'm chicken, but also since I'm in Find a Job mode right now, it'd feel too much like calling up a potential employer and saying, "So are you guys going to hire me, or what?" ;)

[irysangel.livejournal.com]

It's probably sitting on someone's desk in the final decision stages. Everyone always says that the longer you take to hear back on a (normally fast) submission is a good sign.

And then there's Catie, who broke the mold for all of us. ;)

[annathepiper]

Catie is a joy and an inspiration, and I have to remind myself on a daily basis that while it would be incredibly cool to match the wonderful luck she's had with her various sales, I probably won't pull it off. ;)

She has been telling me though that the longer it takes to get a reply, the better my chances are, indeed! Which is exactly why I'm getting twitchier now than I was earlier on!

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Well, that's what they say! Except for when it means they've lost your manuscript, which has happened to me. (But not at Luna!) But yah, usually they say longer is better, because hopefully it means the book is being discussed in the book-buying committee. :)

[annathepiper]

::waves pompoms at her manuscript:: Go, book, go! Get talked about by the book-buying committee! Don't fall behind any desks! There's nothing down there but dust!

(Agh! The suspense! Agh! I suppose I'll get more used to this as I do it more often, but for now, agh! ;) )

[leian.livejournal.com]

No news is good news? ^_^

They're just rereading it a couple of times because they can't believe how good it is? Maybe someone's chortling with glee because you sent it to them and not another publishing house? ;)

[annathepiper]

No news is pretty good news, yeah, but actual "we'd like to buy your book!" news would be better. ;)

Actually, most of their time is certainly being taken up with handling their already-established authors (like oh, say, mizkit!), and there's only so quickly a publisher can devote per day to the submissions they're considering. Which is why it takes so long.

But still, agh, the suspense! :)

[leian.livejournal.com]

Aye, but many would give for this suspense. To borrow Arwen's line, "There is still hope." *hugs*

[annathepiper]

*snugs!* There is indeed. Thanks. :)

[poodlgrl.livejournal.com]

Hey, Milo is 5 months old today meaning he's exactly as old as your No-Rejection-Letter-Waiting-Counter. Maybe it's a positive omen!

[annathepiper]

Awww! Perhaps he is my book mascot!

(Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KELLI!)

Bookage..

[(Anonymous)]

What sort of response time is typical? Sounds like a good omen to me. Maybe they've put it in the keeper pile...Scott

Re: Bookage..

[annathepiper]

Well, just to compare, it took Tor about a month and a week to get back to me the first time with a form rejection letter, the one that had "too wordy" scribbled at the bottom. And it took them about three and a half months to get back to me the second time, again with a form rejection letter.

So just based on my own experience with sending out manuscripts so far, this is kind of hopeful. However, I also know that mizkit and shadowhwk have both gone many more months than that without getting a reply. Five months is not at all unusual.

[wildshadowstar.livejournal.com]

You could write them a letter asking what's up. You could have been Stephen King's position when he first started out (was watching Biography last night; said that he threw away the manuscrpit for Carrie, wife saw it in the trash, dug it out and told him to finish it). The rest is history.

Hang in there, I have faith in you.

[annathepiper]

And of course, since I posted this post I heard back from Luna, so you know the update on that.

But I wanted to answer this comment anyway to let you know that I saw it, and to give you a big ol' sisterly hug and a thank you for that vote of confidence! :) I'm trying to knock off a lot of my backlogged LJ comments today, before I go diving into today's round of words for Nanowrimo.

[wildshadowstar.livejournal.com]

Heck fire, you don't have to respond to every little comment; I just wanted you to know I'm thinking of you.

[annathepiper]

I know, but you're my SISTER. So I like to let you know I'm thinking of you too! ^_^