The Best Rejection Letter In The World

Okay. I got another package in the mail yesterday and immediately I was like 'Great...this is all I need.' I looked at the postage stamping and saw that it was from New York. Even better. The agent in Minneapolis is avoiding me like some kind of infectuous rash and the only other person that agreed to read my book has sent it back to me with (most likely) bad news.

On the contrary:

Dear Kingsley,

First of all, thank you for your patience as you waited for a response. I know it's not easy to sit on your hands and do nothing! I wish this letter were offering you unequivocal good news. The reality is that we take on incredibly few children's books at William Morris.

Nevertheless, I am grateful to have had the chance to read (THE TITLE OF MY BOOK). The premise of (MAIN STORY ELEMENT) is a good one, and I love the relationship between Travis and Henry. I did think the story went on a bit too long, and would have liked to see you delve even deeper into the characters and fantasy element, but these are quibbles. Please understand that publishing is a subjective business, and it is likely another agent will feel differently. To that end, I have enclosed a list of the top children's book agents. Feel free to say I recommended you.

I wish you the very best of luck, and will be looking for your name on bookstore shelves!

Warmly,

Agent Lady

Right. So it's not an acceptance letter, but she's basically opened the door for me to query like 25 others literary agents and I get to drop her name besides. It's hard to tell what to do. Do I try and rework the book a little before sending it out? Or...do I send it as is and hope that one of the agents sees the potential and agrees to take me under their wing and worry about the rewrites later?

I think I'm going with 2nd option for now. I'd hate to dramatically change it and screw it up. Don't get me wrong, I'm not being egotistical and I'm well aware that it needs work, but...I'm a little gun shy. You know?

Anyhow...more news later as I hit another slew of agents!

First Things First!

Okay. I've finally completed the 3rd draft of my 2nd book. Yeah, big deal, right? It is! It took me for-freaking-ever to finish this and I've finally got a version that people can read and (hopefully) enjoy. I actually got it done on Monday and my fiance got a head start on all the others who were jonesing to read Book Two.

It clocked in at 315 pages or 109,144 words. I'm sure it's going to need to be trimmed down considerably, but it's a start. I'm thinking of working on a smaller project before plunging into Book 3. You know...mix it up a bit.

Aaaaargh....

Remember how I was complaining that I never heard back from any of the 3 agents that I sent my beloved book to? Well, over the Labor Day Weekend, I got a nice little taste of agent feedback. Quite honestly, I could've done without it. It went a little something like this:

Dear Mr. Kingsley,

Thank you for letting me read (THE TITLE OF MY BOOK). Unfortunately, I don't think it's right for me.

As I'm sure you know, the children's fantasy market is incredibly competitive these days, and while your story has some charm and cleverness, I didn't feel like there was any obvious hook to make it stand out enough to get a publisher to take a chance on it.

I'm sorry not to have better news, but I wish you the best of success in placing your work elsewhere.

Sincerely,

Barry Goldblatt

I guess third time isn't a charm. Oh well. Barry, we could've been something. You just needed to have a little faith in my work. Or, heaven forbid, had you spoken to me in person (on the phone, whatever) I could've sold you on the whole grand scheme of things. Alas...'tis not to be, I guess.

I'm not bitter. I guess the thing that's bugging me the most is that I don't know what more of a 'hook' I can come up with to attract people to my book. It's all there! The stories that will follow ARE the hook in my opinion!

My fiance said it best: 'Sweetie. This is ONE guy's opinion of the book. Tons of people have read it and LOVED it.'

She's right. As usual, she's right.

Draft 3 is almost ready and will hit the public (my reading public anyway) in the next week or so.