YAY!

[annathepiper]

I came home tonight to a rejection letter!

Comments

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Aw. Bugger. :( *hugs*

[flashfire.livejournal.com]

Aw. Have to snicker at the title and mood, however.

[neutronjockey.livejournal.com]

Congratulations. You have already done more than what most writers (wanna-be pub'd, will-be's whatever you want to coin it...) do. Have the courage to complete a novel, and have the courage to face the possibility of rejection. The average story takes 20 submissions before publishing. Just look at it this way: you're one step closer.
And fear not, I sent a query letter out to an agent about two weeks ago; so I'll be joining you in the same boat. Keep writing; keep revising; keep submitting; keep your name in front of people at every opportunity.
-=Jeff=-
You should be proud.

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

*points up*

What he said. *hugs*

[seimaisin.livejournal.com]

{{hugs}} Just another step in the process. What did this one say?

[annathepiper]

It was a form letter, so nothing special.

[annathepiper]

Quite. *hugs back* I'll have to think about where to send it next--the third draft isn't ready, so I'm not in a position to send the full manuscript anywhere.

[annathepiper]

If I count rejection letters from agents, as well as the rejection letter for the novel I tried to send to Del Rey when I was just going into college, this'll make my fifth rejection. And two specifically for Faerie Blood. So yeah, kind of getting used to having to deal. :)

Now to figure out where to send it next.

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Major Hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} Sorry to hear, hun... And form letters are just so... impersonal :(

[annathepiper]

I'm not particularly bothered by receiving a form letter. Having taken some time to learn from actual people in the publishing industry, I totally understand why a very busy editor must usually send one--because any given publishing house is going to get dozens of manuscripts every week, and a given editor isn't just sitting around reading those manuscripts. He or she is doing a LOT more with their day besides that; dealing with authors already writing for their house, dealing with agents, editing books already on their publishing roster, etc.

From what I've been learning, that busy editor is going to spend only a little bit of time every day looking at submissions because that's all that person has to spare. So he or she doesn't have TIME to send a personal reply to every submission received.

I'm okay with that.

But thanks for the hugs, they're appreciated.

[annathepiper]

*snugs* Thanks. :)

[annathepiper]

GIR's a comforting little guy, sometimes. :)

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

but it would be nice to know what wasn't liked, and what could be improved upon...

[annathepiper]

Sure. But the thing is, there might not have been any particular thing about my novel that was a problem. It might have been exactly what the form letter said: "not right for us at this time." And that's fine. I'm not going to spend energy worrying about it terribly much, when I can spend that energy actually finishing what I want to do to the book and finding a publisher for whom it will be right.

As quite a few experienced people have advised me, very, very few aspiring writers get accepted on their first try, or even their first several tries.

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

true... well, your shi will come in (as terribly clicheish as that sounds) and I can't wait to read the finished work when it is done... :)

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

SHIP* SHIP* ::Facepalm::

[starfallz.livejournal.com]

Just fling it back out at someone else and then you can count the days until the next one.

At least it made it after your birthday. :)

***hugs***

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

allow me to say once again how proud of you i am for *finishing* a novel :)

*hugs*

[annathepiper]

Yeah, a rejection letter three days after my birthday sucks way less than a rejection letter ON my birthday would have done. :)

Just need to figure out who gets it next.

[annathepiper]

*hugs back!* Thank you! I'd say I've actually finished a novel before, which I have--but this is the first one I can comfortably say doesn't suck. ;)

[annathepiper]

Indeed. :) Thanks, hon!

[writersweekend.livejournal.com]

Of course I'm hugging you...::hug::

You are strong and graceful...you will prevail.

[annathepiper]

Awwww... thank you. *hugs back!*

I have over two dozen stories battling it out in my head for attention; one of them WILL eventually get sold. :)

[mistwolf.livejournal.com]

*snugsnug* Sad to hear this.

[annathepiper]

*snugs back* Thank you.

[annathepiper]

Heh. Thank you. Here's hoping I can get the bloody thing into a finished state before the end of the year; I really need to get it off my plate and keep plugging away on Lament of the Dove, and clear out mental space to move on to one of the SF novels I want to work on as well.

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

Quite Welcome :)

[brightbeak.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

Ditto the "not-on-your-birthday" sentiment. :-)

[kitchengrrl.livejournal.com]

*HUGS*

Seems like you've got a very good attitude about it, but *HUGS* anyway. :D

[janne.livejournal.com]

Aw... somebody needs to buy that book so I can read the sequels someday :) *hug*

[howlinhobbit.livejournal.com]

At the risk of sounding like a movie trailer... if you keep plugging, they will buy.

My duo played at a showcase last night and amongst the acts was a guy -- just an ordinary bloke, y'know -- who has a passion for songwriting. He's plugged away, honing his skills and laughing off the rejections, for several years on it and the day before yesterday signed his first-ever single song contract. In other words, he sold a song. He announced that and a room full of musicians and songwriters cheered REAL loud.

You're just like him -- errr... ok, you're not an ordinary bloke but... -- you've got the passion and are working on honing your skills. You'll prevail.

And I'm going to keep on rooting for you, if for no other reason than to be able to say, "See? I told you!" ;-)

HH

[annathepiper]

*hugs back* Thanks, hon. :)

[annathepiper]

Yes, quite... though it could have picked a less sucky week to get to me. ;P :)

[annathepiper]

*hugs back* Trying to cultivate that attitude, anyway. I haven't quite mastered it yet. But it helps for me to think of it in a very useful way that got talked about at Writer's Weekend: the book is my resume, and I'm applying for a job. I.e., the job of "author".

When I think about it like that, "not the right candidate for the position" feels a lot like "your book is not right for us at this time". And when you're job-hunting, you don't usually take a 'no thanks' personally (unless you've been unemployed for four years straight or something ;P :) ), and you just shrug and send your resume on to the next employer.

[annathepiper]

I'm with you there. :) I want to WRITE the sequels someday. :) *hugs*

[annathepiper]

Thank you kindly. :) I've been hearing tell over and over that practically every single professional writer gets rejected several times before he or she actually sells a book--but it's very helpful to be reminded.

And all rootings-for are most welcome. Especially as I plan to get together a new subscription packet to send out this weekend; next up, Luna!

[otoselkie.livejournal.com]

Aww. *bigtime hugs* You've gotten farther than most people ever will, I think you can get even farther. Keep trying and in the meantime have some chocolate. It really does help.

[annathepiper]

*hugs back* Thank you--and yeah, I finished off the last of the birthday cake. solarbird bought me Mike's hard lemonade, too.

My friend jenna

[mpulse.livejournal.com]

Wallpaper a wall of her room with rejections letters.
so one place made a mistake, you didn't want to work with tham anyways.

Re: My friend jenna

[annathepiper]

Heh, I've heard of other aspiring writers and even pros who have done this. Me, I'm more tidy, I'll just make a File of Evil. ;)

But actually, I did want to work with that specific publisher! The more I've learned about them, the more I like them. Also, they've put out books by several of my favorite SF/F authors.

(Of course, I went through my SF/F shelves last night, tallied, and came up with only about half a dozen publishers total represented in my collection. So I grant this isn't saying too much. ;) But nevertheless!)

[terlan.livejournal.com]

Yuck!

I'm just glad that you are handling it as well as you are. It's equally good to see that so many people have faith in you. That tells me that I am not alone in that regard! ^_^

[annathepiper]

I find it pretty bolstering as well, I can assure you. :)

Tomorrow: I print another copy of the first three chapters and synopsis, and get 'em ready to head out to the next publisher on the list!

[terlan.livejournal.com]

Excellent! I'll be looking forward to hearing more about it!! :)

[annathepiper]

Well, not too much more to say at the moment, other than that it's out the door! Let's see what happens next. :)

[cafiorello.livejournal.com]

Good for you! Keep plugging away--we know you'll make it!
Cathy

[annathepiper]

Thank you! This whole 'sending manuscripts out' thing is getting easier with practice; I'm way less nervous about this time around than I was when I sent off Faerie Blood for the first time last year. :)