Well, I guess some news isn't always good news. Yep, you guessed it. I got a couple of rejections in the mail over the last week.

The first one was from Dutton Children's Books. I sent them a query letter along with one of those cool little cards with a picture of my main character either smiling (if they wanted to read the book) or frowning (if they didn't). The jerks only X'd the box that said they weren't interested and sent it back off to me. *sigh* I guess I shouldn't have expected much, considering they're a huge company (part of Penguin Putnam), but still it kind of stung anyway. I guess the first one will...just like the 50th, the 78th, the 142nd...

The second one I got (yesterday) was from Windward Publishing. They also received a query letter from me along with a reply card. They checked the box saying they weren't interested, but also included a form letter for my trouble. It read:

Dear Potential Author/Writer:

Thank you for the opportunity to consider your manuscript.

As you might already know, Finney Publishing's main market has been educational publishing (grade 7-12) in the areas of agriculture, career, and technical education), with our customers being schools and libraries. Our Windward Publishing imprint's main market has been SE United States & Caribbean book and retail stores.

After reviewing your manuscript, we feel this type of work is not a good "fit" for our current customer base. Thank you for the opportunity to consider this manuscript and we wish you success in finding a publisher to work with.

Sincerely,

Finney Company and
Windward Publishing.

(on the bottom was a note that said...)

Kingsley - Thanks for sharing 'your work.'

It's so easy to get frustrated and want to give up sending stuff out, I realize. I'm not going to do that, however. I guess I'll just keep plugging along until something clicks and I'll continue to write whether I EVER get published or not. It's still early yet in the game.

I know this...