A post in two parts:
1. Tweeting my own horn. I don't really do "tweet" stories (notice all the itty-bitty markets that have cropped up lately?), but I couldn't resist Tweet the Meat. My tweet is due tomorrow at 6 PM Pacific. Follow them for a load of blood and guts in little bite-sized bits.
2. Give me a form rejection, please. When I queried for the first time in '07, most of those queries went out as traditional snail mail. Of the email I sent, I received a response from about 90%. The times they are a'changing: many agents now state they only respond to email queries when they are interested, leaving a writer in limbo.
This is akin to saying hello to someone and that someone not reciprocating. A little thing, sure, but it saps my "psychic energy". My first e-query for The House Eaters went out in mid March, and I've heard nothing. Rejection? Of course. But I still feel like some bit of me is floating out in the ether, some stranger passing on the street to whom I've said hello and they don't even make eye contact. I beg you for form rejections.
11 comments:
I'm going to wind you up further. That March sub may not be a rejection, it may still be sitting in the agent's inbox. I received a rejection for my original version of TPA on the day I started subbing the new version - 9/10 months after I queried.
When I first submitted my novel directly to Baen, I hadn't heard anything for a couple months, and I assumed it was a rejection. I submitted it off to other markets. 1.5 YEARS later, my book was already published with a different, smaller market, and I got a very lengthy e-rejection from them. They had clearly read it and had some very helpful comments, but alas it was too late.
Oh, Cate. I might start drinking.
Matt - seems as though I expect the world to move at my pace. Hurry up, will ya! (thanks for dropping by)
Congrats on tweeting the meat. Now THAT sounded dirty.
All this talk of queries has me dreading the day I must begin the process for myself. Maybe I'll have a drink, too.
I saw Tweet the Meat listed on Duotrope, so now I know they're a quality establishment if they bought one of your stories. :)
The no response if not interested thing with agents is incredibly rude. If they don't have time to zap back with a form response, they need to close to queries. I'm frankly sick of the whole agent thing anyway.
Closure always feels better.
Jameson - dirty, yeah. Meat has so many meanings... ;)
K.C. - It does seem a little cold.
Natalie - "closure" is one of those great psychobable words.
Congrats on the whole 'Meat' thing (take that any way you want)
I hope you hear back from the agent in question soon. You are too young for a coronary.
Jamie - it's all about patience. I just need to have some.
I hear your frustrations regarding agents not replying. It sucks, but that's just the way of the game. What irritates me the most are the agents who blog and twitter every other minute and then complain that their submission pile is growing larger and larger and that they just DON'T HAVE TIME. Not that those agents who blog and twitter are bad, of course, but come on, use some sense here.
I'm with you all on the rejection thing...that's just bad business, I think. If you're too busy to respond to all queries, then there may be something flawed with your business model.
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