It really is long and boring, this road. Still haven't heard from some agents I queried way way back in September. One agent had my full for two weeks, then bam, a Monday morning comes and so does a rejection. It was hard to tell (it arrived via email) whether it was just a standard form rejection or something personal. It read something like, "Although you have a great project, we can't take on an unpublished writer right now..."

I'm going with form. If it had said something like, "Your protagonist makes too many decisions out of character" or "we didn't like first and third person point of view in the same story" then I might have believed it was personal. Whatever. No is no, and it's time to move on. One agent did ask to see the first 50 pages after reading the five I sent, so that kind of helped.

So, as of today, the stats are: 18 queries out, 3 favorable responses, 4 not yet heard from, 1 rejection of the full, and one full still out there.

Rejection #8

Dear Author,

Thank you very much for your query. After reviewing it, we have decided it's not right for our agency. We wish you all the best in your publishing endeavors.

Sincerely,
Agent

Got this after coming in out of the water and just went, whatever. That's what being in the ocean does to you. It mellows. Or that could just be pure exhaustion. Still, whatever. 8 more to respond to the query, two to the full, and if nothing comes back in my favor, it's on to the next batch.

On the first book, I queried 22 agents. 2 wanted to see more (ultimately rejected), 1 wrote me a letter asking me to re-query after her office was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina (I never got around to it), and the rest were rejections. There were several more agents I had planned to query but by then I was in the middle of the next book and decided the first one needed some changes before I sent it out again. I'm the kind of writer who doesn't bounce around. I pretty much stick to what I'm working on until it's finished. So my plan was to finish the second book and fix the first one when I was ready. Now I'm on number 3 and that's where it's at right now.

Writer's Tip: Don't believe what they say.

Every morning when I get into work I open up the web mail account that I use specifically for writing correspondence. Meaning, the only folks who have this address are the agents I've queried.

So I get in around nine, and I'm already thinking I'm behind the times because it's noon in New York. Already! I've been a little obsessive about checking the stupid box. Do I open it and get bad news and what if I do and can't work the rest of the day? That's easy, I tell myself. I won't work. I'll go surf. It started macking this week and I thought that if this is a week to get some rejections, then this is a good one, because nothing puts life more into perspective than a really good sesh. Plus, I just dropped bank on a new wetsuit. Bring it on, winter.

But I really didn't think about what would happen if I got good news in the mailbox. It happened, this week, during the third time I refreshed the page at noon (it's 3 in NY--practically the end of the day!) and there was an email from an agent's assistant, telling me they'd like to see more--would I please send the full manuscript?

This one from a top agent, too, one with a mile long list of bestselling authors and movie deals with Academy Award winning actors... "No way!" I think I yelled. This could easily turn into a rejection though, so there's no super celebration going on here. But still. Someone took notice of my work, and thought it was worth a closer look. That's what I'll have to remember through all of this.

Writer's Tip: Learn the Rules. Then break them.

Thank you for contacting us. We have given careful consideration to your work and regret that we cannot take it on. We wish you all the best as a writer.

That was number 7.

You know the lamest rejection I've received? It was about two years ago, when I was trying to find an agent for Book 1. I sent off 5 pages and a query and got a form-style email asking me to send the first three chapters. I was stoked, because this agent has a great reputation and has made a lot of sales to big houses. So I sent it off. I waited a long time. Truthfully, I forgot about it. Having a baby sort of does that. Anyway, months later, I don't know how many exactly, I get my three chapters back in my SASE with a greeting card (yeah, weird) with a Bible verse in it. Okay, whatever. But way up in the corner of the card on the left side is "Sorry for the late return of your materials."--in the handwriting of a child.

I thought it was a joke. Seriously! Here's an agent that says presentation is half of it, that professionalism goes a long way in a business like hers, and yet this is the kind of schlock she corresponds with? A freaking greeting card rejection written by a kid? COME ON!

Little sore over that one still.

Needless to say, she's not on my list this time around.

For a form rejection, this one is actually not so painful:

Dear Author,

Thank you for your query and for allowing me to consider your work. Due to the high quantity of query letters I receive, I must be highly selective in requesting further materials to read. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I must decline on this project right now, but I do want to encourage you to continue submitting. Just because a project isn't quite right for me doesn't mean the right agent isn't just around the corner. I wish you the best of luck with all your writing endeavors and in the querying and submission process. Persistence pays off, so don't give up!

Still a rejection, though. Stay tuned.

Writer's Tip: Explore characters that aren't human.

As of today, the tally is four form rejections and one--never thought I'd say this so early in the process--request for the full manuscript.

I can't find reason for breaking out some celebratory substance, because this doesn't guarantee I'll get representation or a book deal, but hey, somebody noticed something. And not just somebody, but a big agent, one with decades of experience and whose agency sells a hundred or more books a year. I keep thinking there has been a mistake--maybe that request wasn't meant for me. I keep wondering, what did he see in my work?

I've been through this process before with my first book, sending out partials, a full. It's worse when your whole manuscript is rejected, rather than just a query, because you've invested that much more of yourself. Husband says, "Well, you don't have to send it if you don't want to." It's nice to hear the option. But it's in a box now, ready for FedEx in the a.m. going to 10001 and you know what the best part is? Writing the words REQUESTED MATERIAL above that Manhattan address.

Writer's Tip: Live in the moment.

Thank you for your inquiry. We are sorry, but we don't think we are the appropriate agents for your inquiry. Best of luck elsewhere. Sincerely, (photocopied signature of agent).

This is what came in the mail today on one-half of a letter sized sheet of paper. Don't get me wrong--I'm all for saving the trees. Whatev. It's hard to learn something from these kind of rejections. Okay, so what exactly didn't work? The story idea? It couldn't have been the goods, because I sent only a query. Ah, tomorrow is another day.

Writer's Tip: Don't write on a computer that is hooked up to the internet.