Luna says no

[annathepiper]

So there I was, about to head out the door with solarbird to go down to Lake Forest Park and run some errands, when I saw the mail truck coming up the hill to our house.

This is not normal behavior, given that our mailbox is actually down at the end of our little cul-de-sac and on the opposite side of the cross street as well. So I got ever so slightly worried, since I wasn't expecting anything to arrive, especially when we saw the mailman get out of the truck with something that was big enough to hold my manuscript. Dara wondered if it was perhaps the moccasins she'd ordered arriving--but no. Although it wasn't the actual envelope I'd sent off with the manuscript (which it turns out was apparently too small, oops), I knew what it was the instant Dara saw the address label on it and read off the word "Harlequin".

There's an excellent rejection letter in it, with some good feedback on why Faerie Blood didn't quite work for this specific editor. Most importantly, there's an invitation to send along any further projects I'd like Luna to consider. So now I need to think extremely hard about what else I might send Luna; I can't send them Lament, since I don't think The Dove, the Rook, and the Hawk will fit into their imprint. They're not doing SF, so neither of my skiffy novels will quite fit them either.

But I'm seriously, seriously considering whether something I wanted to write anyway--the origin story for Millicent, one of my Faerie Blood characters--would interest them. It'd be fun to write, because it'd be a "period" urban fantasy, set in 1950's Seattle. I may have to up that in priority enough to see if I could get together a coherent enough pitch and synopsis to send this guy a proposal.

In the meantime (she said, doggedly squaring her shoulders), I've got to keep plowing through Lament, because getting this manuscript back changes NOTHING in my plans for getting that book finished. And I need to decide whether to send Faerie Blood off to Baen or Daw next, or some other publisher entirely.

Five months, one week is the new turnaround time to beat. And I've gotten my first personal, non-form rejection letter. Not too damned bad for only my second time out.

Comments

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

congratulations! (condolences too, if you feel the need...)

i'd love to read millicent's origin story myself :)

[annathepiper]

Thank you, hon. :) Intermingled congratulations and condolences are about my speed right now, yeah; I'm bummed about the "no", but there's quite a bit of consolation to be had in having gotten such an excellent rejection letter, and knowing that I've been taken seriously enough to be invited to send them any appropriate further projects. It makes me hopeful that yeah, perhaps with just a little bit more work and polish on my craft, I can make this eventually work.

And heh... I love Millie, and I'd love to write about her feisty younger self in the 1950's, which is part of what tempts me about this! Reading about Seattle's history in the right time frame would be fun, too.

[kieri.livejournal.com]

Much love to you and also a yay, because personal rejection letters are rare.

My friend Rachel was told the other day that there's a term for you:

Neo-novelist. Someone who hasn't been published yet, but who assuredly will be some day, as soon as the publishling stars align. :)

Can't wait to see Faerie Blood in print.

[annathepiper]

Thank you, honey!

I'm bummed about the no, but less bummed than I might otherwise be. The rejection letter is excellent, especially because of the invitation to submit any further appropriate projects. That makes me extremely hopeful that with just a bit more work and polish on my craft, I could indeed ultimately get myself into print. Maybe not with Faerie Blood--but with something. :)

[ghost-light.livejournal.com]

Condolences and congratulations.

I like the idea of the period fantasy set in Seattle. I miss that town a lot.

[annathepiper]

Thank you!

Yeah, I may just have to up that idea enough in priority to see if I can assemble a coherent pitch and proposal. Right now I have just a few scattered concepts about what to do with the tale; I don't even have much of a plot yet.

And I've got to keep plowing through Lament, anyway. :)

[ghost-light.livejournal.com]

Very true - keep plowing towards the goal first.

I have to admit I missed the title of your post and, as I was reading, I was on pins and needles to find out what Luna said.

[annathepiper]

*giggles* Yeah, I think Julian, Kestar, and Faanshi will be all very annoyed with me if I let this distract me from finishing their story up. ;)

I'd send that book to Luna in a heartbeat, except it just won't fit their imprint. Gah!

[jesshartley.livejournal.com]

Congrats and Commiserations, hon! It's awesome that they took the time to write you a personalized letter, and invite you to submit further works! That really feels like it means exactly what they said. Not that your work isn't publishable, but that it's just not what they need right now. Which is /great/. Because there are tons of other places to submit it!

*HUGS*

[annathepiper]

*snugs a Jess* Thanks, hon. :)

Now I just need to figure out where Faerie Blood is going next... and what else I might send Luna. Oh, oh, oh, if they ONLY did SF... I'd be sending them a proposal for Child of Ocean, Child of Stars in a heartbeat!

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

*Awww*! I'm really sorry to hear that! But wow, you did so well, Anna! And they really MEAN it when they say to send them other things, so *go* for it!

*HUGS*!

[annathepiper]

*snugs a Kit!* Thanks, sweetie! I am, I must admit, impressed by the rejection letter itself. Some of the feedback given is stuff I can actually buy as potential problems with the story--enough that it's keeping me from not turning around immediately and firing it off to another potential publisher.

But if I fixed those problems, that'd take time away from Lament, so I can't do that quite yet. :) Guh. Not sure what to do yet!

The trick is just to figure out what the hell else I can send them. Looking at my current set of story concepts, I've got maybe two things at most that I could target at Luna. A lot of what I've got on the queue is either SF and therefore not right, or else likely to be a bit more balanced between the female and male leads' POVs than Luna seems to like. Millie's backstory is about the strongest thing I have on the queue right now that I might send them...

And since that's actually connected to the universe of Faerie Blood, I'd feel weird sending FB around to other publishers at the same time.

Hrmm.

This requires much thought. :)

[seimaisin.livejournal.com]

Awwwww. The personal letter is very very promising, but still not what you'd hoped for! But, a step in the right direction, anyway - the fact that they spent time formulating a good reply definitely means good things for you.

{{{{hugs}}}} Good luck for the next round of submissions, wherever they may be!

[annathepiper]

*snugs!* Thanks, hon!

I'm taking quite a bit of consolation from this excellent a rejection letter... and thinking very hard about what else I might send Luna. I've got a pretty long list of things to work on, but very few of my current concepts are things that would fit easily into their imprint. They're either SF, or else likely to be a bit more balanced between the male and female leads' POVs than Luna seems to want, so I'm not sure yet. See my comments to Kit along those lines, above!

[cafiorello.livejournal.com]

Sorry you got a 'no,' but glad it's a good 'no'!

It's an excellent story. And I can't wait to see it in print.

And I'd love to read the Millie story too!

Go Anna!

Cathy

[annathepiper]

It IS a good no, and heartening. It helps me believe I'm on the right path with this whole writing thing. :) :)

Need to think about Millie's story a lot. I've got her as a young woman in my head, and I've got her love interest Jonathan, but no plot yet. I'll need that before I can whip up a decent proposal to send to Luna. And I found another possible story I could do for them in my story concepts file, too.

So I'll definitely be talking to them again!

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

If it's between Baen and Daw, go with Baen. Jim Baen is just too cool and clueful of a publisher to pass up.

And congratudolences....

[annathepiper]

Baen would also have the advantage of taking electronic submissions, which is tempting. Luna's sent me back my manuscript, but it looks like it went through quite a few hands, so I'd need to print up fresh copies of quite a few of the pages.

On the other hand, Daw puts out two of my very most favorite authors, which is extremely tempting.

On the other other hand, the feedback in the rejection letter is actually interesting enough to consider that I'm not quite sure yet whether a fifth draft isn't called for before it goes back out anyway. I'm going to take a few days and mull it, while I'm working on Lament. :)

[me-fein.livejournal.com]

Wow...at least you have a personalised rejection letter, versus the form.

Here's to the next publishing house that will take your novel! Also, finding something that Luna will take. Damn, but there is still hope.

[annathepiper]

There is hope indeed. Considering my relatively early stage of the game here--i.e., this is only the second novel I've tried to professionally submit anywhere EVER, and this is only the second publisher that's looked at this book--I can only take this as a sign that I'm on the proper path! :)

Shoot!

[irysangel.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry that it wasn't a resounding YES! :(

Was it stuff you can fix before you send out again, or is it opinion-kinda stuff? That's always harder. Your book might be perfect, just not for that particular person.

But at least you made it to the editor! They didn't get past my synopsis on my submission package. ;)

Re: Shoot!

[annathepiper]

The items that the editor specifically mentioned actually fell into both buckets. Some of it felt like opinion-y/subjective sorts of things, just reasons why the story wasn't quite right for Luna, and that's totally cool. One issue he raised, though, is potentially a legitimate concern with the way the story currently flows. I need to think about that specific issue and whether it warrants me putting a hold on sending the manuscript right back out again.

I'm going to take a few days and mull it while I'm working on Lament.

[shadowhwk.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry that Luna said no, but as others have said, the fact that they invited you to submit more should be taken sincerely. When you have something suitable, go ahead and send it to them. They'll remember your name and maybe next time will be the charm.

And congratulations on taking another step toward published. :)

[annathepiper]

mizkit has given me some further valuable things to think about tonight... so I think I've got the beginnings of a Plan coming together that'll hopefully get me something else to send off to Luna early next year.

In the meantime, I need to send this gentleman a thank-you note. For this is absolutely the kind of rejection letter that requires a thank-you note!

Thanks much for the words of support, hon! Very much appreciated. :)

[howlinhobbit.livejournal.com]

Your downtown contingent is still rooting for you.

Sometimes it's a bitch having to "make haste slowly" but I think you'll be autographing a copy of your first published work for me pretty darn soon.

Keep at it.

HH

[annathepiper]

Thank you. :) Every word of support helps!

And honestly, this kind of editorial feedback is coming a lot sooner than I expected anyway. So at the end of the day (well, at the end of TODAY, anyway), I'm a lot more hopeful than disappointed!

[shaylith.livejournal.com]

Well, kinda bummer/yay! ;) But the personal rejection is so nice, and that they're interested in more of your work! Good luck! :D

[annathepiper]

Thanks, hon!

I have formulated a Plan. Which I will be enacting tomorrow, after I take my allowed 24 hours to sulk a bit before getting back on the pony that threw me, as it were. ;)

Now if I could only find Carbon Leaf chord pages that don't suck...

[janne.livejournal.com]

I think that sounds very promising indeed, getting encouraging and personal letter in return after a (relatively) short time submitting. Go you! And I'd like to see a 1950's Seattle story too. (Hmm, wasn't Elvis out and about around then? :)

[annathepiper]

*snicker* In the timeframe of Millie's origin story, Elvis would have been around--but still in Tennessee and not quite yet famous. ;) What Elessir might have been doing at the time, I have not yet determined.

That said, after chatting about it with Kit, I think I will save Millie's backstory for a bit and instead give Luna an unrelated idea to consider, which will give me an opportunity to demonstrate that I have a range of ideas to work with. Also, if I'm going to be sending Faerie Blood elsewhere, it'd be weird to have them looking at a connected story at the same time!

[janne.livejournal.com]

Sound thinking, wouldn't want to come across as a one trick pony. Good luck!

[annathepiper]

That's about the thing, yeah. And thanks much! :)

[casirafics.livejournal.com]

*big hugs & such* :)

[annathepiper]

*snugs!* Thank you! As Kit has so wryly observed to me, being a writer is so WEIRD. Only in writing can I actually find myself going "YAY! I GOT A REJECTION LETTER!" ;)

I don't quite feel like one of the grownups yet; I suppose that'll be if I actually sell something. But with a rejection letter like the one I got, I feel like I'm a teenager now at least!

[apel.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on being one step closer to being a published author! Even if it smarts right now.

[annathepiper]

Thank you! And it's only a little bit of a smart, I must admit. :) I definitely feel like I've passed a milestone here, getting such a fabulous rejection letter--and knowing that the door is still open at Luna. I just need to get a little bit more creative in thinking about something I can write that would fit their imprint better--which I absolutely want to do at this point!

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on your wonderful rejection letter. And an invitation to submit other work--wow! So you bowled a spare, not a strike. You'll knock that last pin down next time.

[annathepiper]

Yeah, all things considered, I'm not nearly as disappointed as I might otherwise have been. :) Faerie Blood is almost there; my brain's already thinking about ways to address the main interesting question that the editor raised.

The trick is going to be making myself finish Lament first!

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Go you with almost getting there.

Gina

[annathepiper]

Thank you. :)