Ouch.

Remember how I said I got the quickest rejection letter ever (7 minutes)just last week? Well, that record's been smashed.

Back in February I'd queried agent William Reiss from John Hawkins Literary Agency. I sent him an e-mail (which was acceptable), but I never heard back from him. Checking on Verla Kay's Blue Boards, I could see people getting responses as quickly as the same day. This, to me, meant one thing. My query had fallen into that great abyss where none return.

So, seeing as it's been a number of months, I re-queried him and even attached a note, saying that author Terry Trueman recommended finding Ron Koertge's (STONER & SPAZ)agent. Done and done.

5 minutes later, I got this:

Dear Mr. Troupe:

No thank you, but thank you for writing to me about your novel.

Yours sincerely,

William Reiss

Ouch.

The sort of good news? I've got 5 queries out there, waiting to see what'll happen. This is the week where I start the snail-mail process. I've got the stamps. I've got the names. I just need to send 'em out, dang it.

Good Times, Bad Times

Well, another 2 rejections have come in. One I was pretty bummed about because I thought that there might be a chance that the agent was taking her time getting back to me (you know, because she was LOVING my work or something) but that wasn't the case.

Danielle Svetcov - I gave her my old query letter (tailored a bit to her interests) and 50 pages of THE SHORT BUS JOURNAL. She gave a great, personalized rejection saying that she enjoyed much of my book and thought I had an extremely likeable protagonist. In the end, she didn't like the 'diary format' and thought it was kind of limiting to the story.

Hmm...I don't know that I agree. I sort of think it allows me to 'cut the excess fat' off the story and just deal with the stuff my main character deems important. That, and I think the whole purpose of the journal he writes in is that it's his therapy and his way of working through the mess of troubles he finds himself in. Maybe that doesn't make itself clear in the first 50 pages. I really think the book would lose something were it written in straight narrative. Maybe I'm wrong.

Stephen Barbara - I sent him my new-fangled query and the first 5 pages. Wow. The absolute FASTEST rejection I've ever gotten in my life. 7 minutes! He thought I had a interesting concept (normal kid riding short bus with disabled kids) but he didn't like the diary format, either.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Thomas, that's 2 agents in a row who said they didn't like the diary format. Change it! I have to exhaust many more options before I decide to change things up. I think I need to get feedback from someone who has read the whole thing before I go crazy and rebuild my book from the ground up. Am I being stubborn? Stupid? Both? I'd hate to change it on the whim of 2 agents...especially ones who I've e-mailed. They're flipping through thousands of queries a day. The odds of landing one of them is (to me) much slimmer than a snail mail one. Is that crazy talk? Mayhap...

I e-mailed to Terry Trueman, author of STUCK IN NEUTRAL and CRUISE CONTROL asking for his sage advice in trying to hook an agent. I thought he'd be a good resource since his book deals with handicapped children and there's obviously a market for this kind of work. I was amazed that he wrote back to me the next day. He gave me a couple of ideas of where to go. He suggested contacting his agent's former assistant (Paul Rodeen) and to check out the book STONER & SPAZ which is a book about a kid with cerebral palsy.

Read the book in 2 days. Great read. Just can't find who Ron Koertge's agent is. Hmmm...

Anyway, I sent a very short note to Paul Rodeen and mentioned that Terry and I were talking about my book and his name came up, blah, blah, blah... So far, nothing. We'll see if something transpires.

So, that's where I'm at. Still plugging away. I've got about 6 queries out in the great internet graveyard, waiting to see if anyone is interested. I need to knuckle down and start getting some snail-mail queries out there. It's time.

Oh...here's something that sucks. My computer has contracted some kind of virus. It's been a nightmare and I'm slowly trying to get things back up and running. It's so frustrating to be working on something and have some ridiculous pop-up come on the screen. It makes me look at the companies and the products they're promoting and swear like a truck driver. Also, I want to boycott any site and/or product associated with these scumbags.

So yeah, I've got my work cut out for me. It's made working on 'Goodhalo' sporadic at best. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it. Well, for now.

So Much To Say, So Much To Say

Well, it seems it wouldn't be a typical post if I didn't apologize for not posting more. It's been hectic, but you know...I've been busy. I'm trying to get The Short Bus Journal into the right hands and it hasn't been easy. The good news? I've submitted it to a couple of really good (and by good I mean they seem like solid human beings) agents.

I'll do my best to keep that frame of mind if/when they reject me!

Anyway, I've gotten a couple of rejections since we last spoke, so I'll just get those outta the way.

Steven Malk - Writer's House (CA)

Dear Mr. Troupe,

Thank you for your query email.

Your project sounds interesting, but Mr. Malk is taking on very few
clients at the moment, so he's going to have to decline the invitation
to read your work. As you know, these decisions are highly subjective,
and another agent or editor may have an entirely different opinion.

Thanks again for thinking of us, and best wishes for finding a good home
for your writing.

Sincerely,

Lindsay Davis

Fair enough. What I discovered was that Dan Lazar, another agent from Writer's House in their New York branch threw out an invite for authors to hit him up on the Verla Kay Writer's Message Board. Like a friggin' desperado, I dropped the query science on Mr. Lazar. A mere day later, here's what I got:

Dan Lazar - Writer's House (NY)

Hey Thomas - thanks for keeping me in mind, but I'm afraid this isn't striking magic with me, so I'll decline. Good luck with it.

Best,
Dan

No comment. Well, I guess I've got a couple of comments. Apparently, this 'striking magic' is sort of a calling card for Mr. Lazar. A couple of other writers who submitted to him got similiar responses. Also, he signed off his rejection the way I signed off on my query. I use:

Best,
Thomas Kingsley Troupe

The dude's mocking me. But hey, it's all Kool & the Gang.

So, on the writing front, I've decided to shelve Book #3 for now. I know, I know. I said I wasn't going to work on anything until I made some headway, but the truth is...I've kind of lost my excitement for it. And, there's another reason.

My series of books are (gulp) a 'portal' series. This is a big laugh for agents across the country. I've read that they get TONS AND TONS of books like this.

Thomas, this is news to me. What the heck is a 'portal' story?

I'm glad you asked, fair reader. A portal book contains an element in which something in the story transports the main character(s) to another world, time, place, dimension, whatever. For some reason, the people querying are flooding agents with these types of tales. And to think, I had 10 of these suckers pretty much mapped out. Kind of hard to have the energy for a series that is sort of the laughing stock right now.

So...I'll hold onto them and see how my other work pans out. I still like them and I still feel like there's an audience for them. It's just getting them through to the 'gatekeepers' and having them see their merit.

With that said, I'm digging into 'Goodhalo.' This is the one project that I've 'pitched' to friends, accquaintances, and my barber and actually had them ask me about it months and months later.

"TKT, did you ever start that book about the cleric and the zombies?"

Now I can say, "Yes. Yes, I have."

I've even had my critique group check out the first chapter. And the response has been positive. This is a genre that they aren't normally interested in (fantasy, horror, Y/A), but I'm doing it my way. That means:

1. No overblown boring fantasy detailed exposition
2. Maintaining a Y/A mentality to it (relationships, conflict, coming of age, romance, etc.)
3. Keeping the gore to a tasteful minimum.
4. Making it accessible to people who don't normally read this genre, while not alienating those who do.
5. Slipping appropriate humor to keep an otherwise dark story somewhat lite.

Here's the kicker. It's probably going to be a series. I forsee 3 books in Goodhalo's future. The other bonus? I've already scouted some agents that it would be absolutely PERFECT for. I'm hoping to have this monster cranked out in the next few months.

Wow. That's a long post.

Anyway, in closing, I'll just say that I'm looking at switching to another type o' blog and leaving this ugly thing in the dust. I'm open for suggestions. Something a simple guy (with no programming skills) could manage.

Hit me.

Shot Down In A Blaze of Glory

Another rejection.

Man...I'm beginning to think e-mailing agents isn't the way to go. Of course I'm only e-mailing those who would like to receive e-mailed queries, but still. They probably get just a tidal wave of e-mails every day. Maybe there's some truth to the idea that an e-mail isn't nearly as intimate as a nice old-fashioned letter.

Hmmm...

Anyway, this one is from Faye Bender Literary Agency.

Dear Author,Thank you for your query, which we have had the chance to review.Unfortunately, your project is not quite right for our list. We have tobe extremely selective about what we represent, and are sorry this isn’t amatch for us.

We're sorry this isn’t a personal letter, but the volume of queries wereceive prevents us from writing to you individually, despite the merit ofmany of the projects. Please keep in mind that publishing is subjectiveby nature, and that taste and judgment vary widely amongst agents.Best of luck with your book.

Sincerely,
Faye Bender Literary Agency

Crap.

In other news, the newspaper article about me came out a couple of Wednesdays ago. It was pretty crappy, poorly written and loaded with inconsistencies. While I know I'm nowhere near the level of people who deserve to complain about the media and the press being inaccurate, I got my own little home-town taste of it.

I'm debating whether to post a screen-shot of the article here. We'll see.

On the plus side, press is press. People who see me around town know what I'm about now and it's kind of cool to have people ask me about it. Of course, when they read I just finished work on a book about the short bus, they look at me kind of weird.

As for now, I've got to get the ball rolling on my next project, which is to finish Book 3. I feel so badly that I've neglected it for so long. I'm trying to tell myself that I won't allow myself to work on any new projects until its done and I've got a couple that're just itching to get written.

Agent Hunt Ver 1.0

Well, I'm on the prowl guys and guyettes.

I'm tryin' my dangdest to find me one of them there fancy-type literary agents to represent mah writin'.

Ahem. Sorry. I've been spending so much time drafting query letters, scouring the internet, books and other resources for reputable agents that I needed to get in contact with. It's not fun and it's definitely not easy.

Yeah. Like you needed ME to tell you that, right?

Here's the good part: It's somewhat easier than trying to pitch my first novel. I don't know. Maybe it's because I've got more of an emotional connection to this work or maybe that it's got (what an agent who will remain un-named said I needed) a hook. In some cases I was supposed to send the first 10 pages along with the query letter and I gotta say, I DEFY any of those agents (that requested it, of course) to stop reading after just 10 pages. Can you do it?

You can? Boy...have you checked your pulse lately?

UPDATE:

Man, some people can even wait a week to hand me a rejection. Here's an e-mail response from Bill Contardi from Brandt & Hochman Literary Agency:

Thank you for your query. Unfortunately, this is not something that seems right for me and so I will pass. I wish you the best.

Well, at least he wished me the best, right? That's saying something.

Anyway, chin up. I've got plenty more out there, waiting for some 'manuscript requested' love.

UPDATE Part 2:

Another rejection. This one is from Rosemary B. Stimola from Stimola Literary Studio:

thanks, thomas, but not quite for me at present.

r. stimola

Yuck.

Been A While, Eh?

You know, it's getting harder and harder to keep up with this blogging thing, keeping the one or two stragglers up to date with what I'm doing in the literary world. Well, I guess I've got some news to share, so I'll do my best to keep it brief.

DELAYED! - My early reader book PATRICK'S SUPER SOCKS was originally going to be published this Fall (September 07) but they company is doing a little restructuring and one of the divisions they want to re-tool is the early readers. Just my luck! Oh, well. It's definitely going to come out in January of next year, so look for it online. Also, they have their eye on two others I've written.

NEWSPAPER - A local newspaper here in Woodbury wanted to do a story on me. The slant is that I'm a firefighter/EMT AND I write children's books. It's supposed to come out on Wednesday, so we'll have to see how it turns out. Hopefully I don't sound like too big of a geek/dork/nerd in it, but you never can tell.

THE SHORT BUS JOURNAL - I've finished the 3rd draft of my newest book and I'm really excited to get it out there into the world. It's gotten rave reviews from my network of writer friends, my resources who are subject matter expert on special needs kids, and there's even a 10 year old girl named Annie (who I don't know!) who loves it so much she hopes I write a sequel AND it becomes a movie some day. No pressure there!

FIRST REJECTION (for the new book) - Although I already got a rejection letter for TSBJ, I gotta admit, it's not too shabby. Check it. This is from Sara Crowe of Harvey Klinger Literary Agency:

Dear Thomas: Many thanks for thinking of me for the Short Bus Journal, which does sound good, but I am afraid I don't feel I am a good fit. I am not taking on much middle grade at this moment — and I am sure another agent will feel differently.

All my best,

Sara

I should be bummed, but I'm sort of...not. Sure, I would've liked it if she'd read it first, but hey, at least she didn't just give me a COMPLETELY generic reply, right?

So that's all the news I have currently. I'm looking to switch my blogger over to something a little more substantial and (let's face it) prettier than this thing, so in time, look for a new address, a new look and hopefully some new news.

Hey, I also have a new e-mail address. It's thomas_kingsley_troupe@gmail.com (just remove the _)

Until next time, y'all.