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"Thoughts become things... choose the good ones!"
Today's "Note From The Universe" that arrived in my email was a little pick-me-up. I admit that I really don't believe in this and signed up just for fun, but right now I need to hear this. I do believe things have to happen in their own time. I just find accepting that really, really difficult. Not to mention there's always that thought that my writing just isn't good enough. Anyway, here's today's "Note From The Universe."
To sign up, click HERE.
Sometimes, Kristin, when things take longer than you thought they would, it's just a gentle reminder from your greater self (me), that you have more time than you thought, and that there's a journey to enjoy. Yeah, like all the time in the world.
The Universe
Besides, Kristin, just because it's taking longer than you thought it would, doesn't mean stuff isn't happening, even as you read these words.
I thought I might as well transfer a few articles I had on my old querying site.
But first, here's my major PICK ME UP from one of my favorite authors, Karen Marie Moning. It was St. Patrick's Day '08 that I received my first rejection letter for CBTM. It was from The Knight Agency. I was really bummed because....
1). Rejection sucks
2). That same day Karen posted HERE in her blog, the memory of the day her story was accepted by a
publisher.
3). A few other unfortunate coincidences were involved, but I'll not get into that.
Anyway, the next day I saw that Karen actually responded to me.
Below is what she wrote:
Beware of Italics, Keep the Faith
I have a folder of rejection letters. I saved every one. And one day, I put my first contract in that
folder too. That you're getting rejected means you're
one step ahead of most people-- you're taking the risk and trying. Best of Luck!
And here is something she told someone else:
Trying to get published is going to hurt, it's going to
make you cry, it's going to make you feel small and
insignificant and hopeless at times. People will ask you
(in condescending tones) "How's that little book of yours
coming along?" (Little, my petunia.) You'll hate the
mailman. You'll alternately feel like the worst writer
in the world and a pretty decent one. And if you
actually make it through all that and finish the story,
land an agent, and get published-- guess what? You'll
STILL feel all those things! LOL
Helpful Links:
Dealing with Rejection
Fiction Factor
Nasty Ride
Putting Rejection into Perspective
Feeling Dejected?
Teresa Medeiros Blog
Don't Give Up!
Christina Dodd on Writing
So far, my endeavors to land a literary agent for CBTM have been ugly. (Unless it's a children's book, agents are a necessity for a writer to get into the door of a publishing house. It's RARE that a publisher will look at your work without an agent, as the 1st question out of their mouths about submissions is whether it came from an agent. And a good one, as there are a lot of bad agents out there. Scammers, too). True, I did receive requests for partials and full's, so at least my query letter didn't suck too bad. But still...
Rejections > Requests 
Time to write another book and submit others.
Here are my statistics for CBTM.
Depressing, no?
(Okay, so I hear from fellow writers that the statistics below aren't all that bad, but... I still have no agent. I failed).
137 TOTAL SENT
88 rejections (maybe 90)
43 no replies
8 partial requests (3 no replies)
3 full requests
At this rate, a monkey might as well have written my book with a banana.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As I've said before, maybe I can get an agent interested in this book if I just make Iain a flippin' vampire.
Instead of a sword at his belt, he'll have little vials of blood and a pair of Christian Dior designer sunglasses. Not only that, but I'll create a new species of vamp. Iain will be the first in a long-lost line of Scottish Ghost Vampires donning kilts. I'm just not so sure his brogue will sound too sexy with those fangs getting in the way.
