I emailed that New York agent this afternoon. The one I've been waiting on for 12 weeks. Thirteen, actually, as I realised this morning that I'd counted up wrong. They were a week overdue, so I sent them a memory jogger email. Hello, it's me. I'm still here. Still waiting. How are you getting on?
I received a reply within five minutes. Basically it said "thanks, but no thanks." But she didn't pass up the chance to pepper the 'no thanks' with a little disdain. Just for added piquancy you understand: "I had the chance to read it and while I enjoy the premise, I didn't feel the execution made the book stand out from others in its category."
Ouch.
Gotta tell you lady, it's still better than a lot of the crap I've waded through in the last three years of being a book club member. But reactions like that are frowned upon in writing circles. You have to suck it up, grit your teeth, and get on with it. Which is exactly what I did. Since receiving that dismissive reply I've sent out another ten queries. And I'll keep sending them out until I get that 'yes.' That one yes. The only yes I need.
The thing that pissed me off more than the rejection, was that the tone of the rest of the email implied she'd finished reading the manuscript (or read as far as she needed to make up her mind) weeks ago, but hadn't bothered to let me know the result. So I've wasted weeks of potential querying time waiting for someone who had already decided to say no.
You can bet I won't be making that mistake again.
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We, the producers, create the product,which then goes to the sales department, whose employees then decide how marketable our efforts are.
That's simplified, because in today's world, all that has to go up a few rungs.
Quite frankly, I'm amazed that anything of value makes it through that maze.
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