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Up all night Friday fretting over an "I'm too lazy to knock" card my Postal Critter had left about a package that was awaiting me at the PO -- the several things the uninformative notice suggested it could be ranged from bad to worse. Hoping it was choice #2, "the machine has accidentally read your return address as the destination for one of your Holiday Mailings again", we headed out as soon as the PO opened Saturday. But no:
Surprisingly, I find that my reaction has been mostly annoyance that now I'm going to have to write another cover letter, which is easily my least favorite chore in life. I'm well aware of the exigencies of the publishing business -- the delicate balance between bringing up new talent to make up for the mortality rate, and the crap economics of the situation -- and I'm more prepared for setbacks than even I expected I'd be. (Although I'm still always a little baffled that across the board it always seems that industries that depend on "talent" to produce their Product seem to consider the talent to be the one expendable line-item in their budgets... seems rather counterintuitive if you ask me, without talent there's no Product for the bloated sales department to sell) It's my long-suffering-artist-Mum who's more upset, she's never been very good at not taking professional rejection as a personal slam at her work/talent/right-to-exist. I could wish that the form letter was a little more useful about whether their decision had more to do with the manuscript's own merits/lack thereof or simply its failure to fit into the confines of their publishing schedule, but I do find it amusing that rejection letters these days are couched in terms of the economics of it all in the first place; it's an interesting spin.
Present course of action: since we're into the Holiday Mailing Rush, and I'd rather not trust a copy of the Manuscript to the tender mercies of the PO at this time of the year, I think that my next approach shall be to an Agent -- most want query&synopsis first, and those are far more expendable than 300-odd pages of xeroxing if they end up heading off to Santa instead of NYC. Agent #1 on my list of targets claims to report in a month on whether they're interested in seeing the whole, which should put me safely into January whichever way they answer.
So I have sat down right now to start work on said Cover Letter to Agent #1, which I hope to have ready to send out by the end of this week. It's a bloody nuisance, since I've got knitting to do for the holidays and I need my hands for that, not typing, but it's not as if it's not something I've been meaning to do all along, so it may not take quite so long as all that. (It's mostly the timing that's got me rattled, I was expecting to be looking at doing all this after the holidays.)
Next projected entries: LiveJournal MeetUp Goes Bowling, Thanksgiving Amongst the Republicans, and the long-overdue Acknowledgements List. Which I still have to do the math for. :(
Oh, and so long as I'm still here checking up on a few things before I get down to the serious work:
Wouldn't have been my guess... maybe Formerly skewed the results a bit. :)
Dear Contributor,
Thank you for considering "Publisher A" for your manuscript. We are one of the very few publishers left still willing to consider unsolicited manuscripts and our readers review every single submission on a weekly basis.
As you may know, these are increasingly uncertain times in the publishing business, and it has never been more difficult to break out a new book. A book by a writer new to our list needs to be truly outstanding.
Unfortunately, we do not feel your manuscript would be a commercial success for us at the present time. But remember, we have rejected books that went on to be published by other companies, and some of our best known writers were originally rejected by other publishers. We wish you the best possible fortune in your writing career. Please feel free to try us again.
Best wishes and regards...
Surprisingly, I find that my reaction has been mostly annoyance that now I'm going to have to write another cover letter, which is easily my least favorite chore in life. I'm well aware of the exigencies of the publishing business -- the delicate balance between bringing up new talent to make up for the mortality rate, and the crap economics of the situation -- and I'm more prepared for setbacks than even I expected I'd be. (Although I'm still always a little baffled that across the board it always seems that industries that depend on "talent" to produce their Product seem to consider the talent to be the one expendable line-item in their budgets... seems rather counterintuitive if you ask me, without talent there's no Product for the bloated sales department to sell) It's my long-suffering-artist-Mum who's more upset, she's never been very good at not taking professional rejection as a personal slam at her work/talent/right-to-exist. I could wish that the form letter was a little more useful about whether their decision had more to do with the manuscript's own merits/lack thereof or simply its failure to fit into the confines of their publishing schedule, but I do find it amusing that rejection letters these days are couched in terms of the economics of it all in the first place; it's an interesting spin.
Present course of action: since we're into the Holiday Mailing Rush, and I'd rather not trust a copy of the Manuscript to the tender mercies of the PO at this time of the year, I think that my next approach shall be to an Agent -- most want query&synopsis first, and those are far more expendable than 300-odd pages of xeroxing if they end up heading off to Santa instead of NYC. Agent #1 on my list of targets claims to report in a month on whether they're interested in seeing the whole, which should put me safely into January whichever way they answer.
So I have sat down right now to start work on said Cover Letter to Agent #1, which I hope to have ready to send out by the end of this week. It's a bloody nuisance, since I've got knitting to do for the holidays and I need my hands for that, not typing, but it's not as if it's not something I've been meaning to do all along, so it may not take quite so long as all that. (It's mostly the timing that's got me rattled, I was expecting to be looking at doing all this after the holidays.)
Next projected entries: LiveJournal MeetUp Goes Bowling, Thanksgiving Amongst the Republicans, and the long-overdue Acknowledgements List. Which I still have to do the math for. :(
Oh, and so long as I'm still here checking up on a few things before I get down to the serious work:
you are purple#800080 |
Your saturation level is very high - you are all about getting things done. The world may think you work too hard but you have a lot to show for it, and it keeps you going. You shouldn't be afraid to lead people, because if you're doing it, it'll be done right. Your outlook on life is slightly darker than most people's. You try to see things for what they are and face situations honestly. You'd rather get to the point than look for what's good. |
Wouldn't have been my guess... maybe Formerly skewed the results a bit. :)
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