Man...here's another one. This is from a literary agency I was hoping would represent me. I guess they've very, very, very busy. Judging from the letterhead, I would guess joining the rest of us in the year 2002 isn't much of a priority. It looks like something Greg Brady would write a letter to a 'really groovy chick' on.

But I digress.

Dear Author

Thank you very much for submitting your book idea to us. Unfortunately, we are not accepting any new projects or authors until further notice.

Best of luck in finding the right representation.

Cordially,

Pema Browne, Ltd.

Okay...this is easily the worst one I've gotten. Not only could they not be bothered to use my name in this, the lamest of rejected letters, the couldn't take the extra minute or two to sign it. Yuck.

But...despite this, I am not bitter. Not in the least. I actually laugh a little when I get these. Truly. These people haven't read my actual manuscript. They've read my somewhat sappy query letter, which, let's face it folks, I'm not completely in love with. I'm not going to deter my goal or my ambitions in the least to get this sucker into the right hands. No way, no day. I will, however change up my plan a bit.

Right now, I'm working feverishly to maintain my writing schedule. I'm a couple of pages behind in my '2 a day' plan...okay, more like 6 pages behind, but by the end of the month (or shortly afterwards) I'll have the first draft done. Methinks it'll be a bit longer than my first book, but that's what the hell that is editing is for. I'll whittle it down, make it lean and mean, and see how that goes.

So, here's the new plan:

1. Finish Book Two (first draft)
2. Rewrite my awful query letter
3. Drum up some other solicitation materials to use
4. Research the market some more
5. Submit, submit, submit.
6. Come back to Book Two for a read-through and edit

It'll happen. It's just a matter of when.

In other news: I'm going to participate in a short story-writing contest this weekend. Mark (a friend from work) and I signed up and at 12:00pm on 9.21.02, we'll get a topic and word count via e-mail. We'll have 24 hours to put together a short story. Should be fun and a bit challenging, as it's been a while since I crafted a short story...you know, now that I'm all about the novel.

Wish me luck.

Okay. Got another one the other day. I opened and read it and said they were suckers.

This one came courtesy of Dutton's Children's Books. It went a little something like this:

Dear Author:

Thank you for querying us about your publishing idea. Unfortunately, we do not feel that this project suits our particular list, but we do thank you for thinking of Dutton.

Editorial Staff
Dutton Children's Books

(in pencil, they took the time to scrawl out the title of my book at the bottom of the piece of paper)

Weird. Well, I didnt' expect much. This was one of the big companies, a part of Penguin Putnam. Ugh. I guess that means I need to do a couple of things when I shoot out a couple more submissions. They are:

1. Rewrite my query letter. I don't think I'm communicating what my book is about very well. I've only had one rejection from a manuscript submission, but at least that was mildly positive. The query letter I've slapped together must be kind of weak. I'll have to work on that, I guess.

2. Stay on top of my 'Keep 4 Out There' plan. I've been slacking in that regard. It's going to be forever until I get published if I don't stay on top of it. Sure I've been busy working on the next in the series, but I need to set aside time for getting my stuff to the right people. (any suggestions?)

As if that weren't bad enough, I've fallen behind a bit in the writing of the next book. I haven't written squat for the last 4 days or so, so that puts me roughly 8 pages behind schedule. Not that I'm worried...when the pressure builds, I tend to write a bit more easily. I don't know why. Having deadlines and what-not works wonders on my page-cranking abilities.

Okay. If I get any other news on the writing front, it'll be on here.

Okay...so it's been a while since I shot an update down. So, here's a quick one for those of you waiting to see how I got published...if I ever do. Don't take my silence on this sister site as an indication that I've quit on my dream of getting my work out there. Not gonna happen. Here's where I'm sitting right now:

1. I haven't gotten any more rejection slips or returned manuscripts since that last one I posted. I still need to send out another manuscript or query, but I've been a bit preoccupied with other things. I might just get one out today or tomorrow. (submitting gets expensive!)

2. I'm currently all caught up with my 2 pages a day writing plan. Since I've started August 1st, I've been ahead, behind and I'm proud to say that I'm over the hump. I've got 71 pages written (rough, of course) and by the end of the month (which will coincide with my move) I'll have the 2nd book fleshed out. Considering it took me 2 years to write the first one, this is a pretty big deal to me.

3. I still plan on working on a children's picture book (any artists out there?) and I plan on also working on a different type of novel next. Not sure if I'll jump into the suspense/mystery project I've planned or do something different. I guess we'll wait and see.

4. There isn't going to be another Christmas story this year. Many have asked if I'm going to continue the series, but I'm not. 10 years worth of those are enough. While they were fun, I don't think there's much else to do with it. I may, however, try and put together a deluxe edition and see if anyone (which I doubt) would be interested in publishing them.

That's it for now. More news as it happens... :)