EMBRACING REJECTION

IT HAPPENED AGAIN YESTERDAY 
The dreaded rejection letter from a literary agent. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually glad I got a rejection. I realize that literary agents are busy people, but too many of them have resorted to the: I'll only respond to queries that interest me excuse for not writing back. Even a standard rejection message would be appreciated.

AGENTS TELL WRITERS TO BE PROFESSIONAL WHEN SENDING QUERIES, but how professional is it to ignore a business letter asking for representation? And that's exactly what a query letter is--a business letter from someone who has been writing their novel for several years and taken the time to research agents who have signed clients with similar books. More and more agents are accepting email only queries and the SASE has become obsolete. Like most writers I keep a detailed list of agents that I have queried. The list consists of the date the query was sent, the agency, where they are located, the agent's name and if the query contained sample pages and/or a synopsis. As soon as I hear back, I write down the date and add YES or NO. YES, if they've requested a sample or whole manuscript and NO if it has been rejected. I have to admit that more than half of the list is filled with question marks.

A literary agent who I sent a query to last September (five months ago) had requested 30 pages. I didn't hear back and placed a red question mark after her name on the list. Out of the blue, the other day, I received an email from her apologizing that she had kept the query so long and she would have an answer for me in a week. I suppose she was wondering if I was still looking for an agent and I wrote back to thank her for her message. I told her that in the interim I had made some changes to the manuscript and developed a stronger platform.

THE MARKETS ARE CLOSING FOR NEW WRITERS
Most large publishing houses are now closed to unsolicited manuscripts, which leaves the writer with two choices--find a literary agent or self-publish. I've heard so many horror stories from writers regarding self-publishing that I have no desire to try it. 

WHAT CAN A WRITER DO TO GET AN AGENT TO NOTICE HER WORK?
The query is the first thing an agent sees, so make sure it's perfect. Before you write the query research agents' blogs and websites to see what they want and personalize your query to each agent. Make a connection by telling the agent why you have selected their agency. Was it something they said in an interview? Have they represented authors' books that you love or do they specialize in helping unpublished writers find their niche? Let them know if you met them at a writers' conference or if they were recommended by another agent or author. 

Pitch the story in 3 to 10 sentences, but don't give the ending away. It should read something like the blurb on the back cover of a novel. Introduce the main character and explain something interesting or different about him/her. What is the main character's goal? Write an exciting incident that propels the plot into motion.

Polish the query and make sure the spelling and grammar are perfect. If their blog says they don't like gimmicky queries, don't start out with: What if... Tell them if you have published short stories or articles in magazines or newspapers. Enter writing contests and tell them if you've won any. If you have a solid platform tell them why you are the best person to write the book.

Don't query a mile-long list of agents at once. Query a few, then wait a few weeks to query a few more and write a question mark beside the names of the agents you haven't heard back from.

DON'T GIVE UP!
Whenever I receive a rejection I allow myself a few minutes to feel sorry for myself, then I remember that I have a darn good manuscript with a fresh untold story and I will find the right literary agent some day. 

I always respond to a rejection to let the agent know that I appreciate he or she taking the time to get back to me. We're all busy and, unfortunately, social media has deprived some of us of manners. No longer can a writer believe the adage: No news is good news.


 

 

Is it Writer's Block or Indigestion?

MY UNFINISHED MANUSCRIPT HAS BEEN SITTING ON THE SHELF FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS and trying to get back into it has been harder than pulling teeth. I've already blogged about procrastination so I won't go there again. I did read over the one-hundred-or-so first-draft pages and was pleasantly surprised to find the brief beginning of the next chapter in my computer. It was almost effortless to get back into it and I was reminded of a how-to book, I think it was On Writing by Stephen King who advised writers to stop writing in the middle of a sentence so you can pick up where you left off the next day. If you haven't read his book, go and buy it right now. The best advice I got from On Writing helped me get over the guilt of reading when I thought I should have been writing. He said, "If you don't have time to read, you don't have time to write."

I wrote about four pages yesterday and stopped in the middle of the scene, knowing I would be able to jump back in today. Unfortunately I had to keep pausing while I was writing to look up historical facts and dates. 

I know from personal experience that if I get stuck for a long period of time, something is seriously wrong with the manuscript. It might be the plot or characterization, but when major writer's block halts the progress I know I need to make some major changes.

SOMETIMES IT'S NOT WRITER'S BLOCK, but just a snag and a change of scenery is needed. Puttering in the garden or taking a walk clears the mind. Clearing the clutter off the desk is a must. I can work if the clutter is behind me, but not around me. I tend to be very hard on myself. I used to think the first-draft should be perfect. I've lowered my standards now that I've been writing for almost twenty years.

I also used to believe that a novel should be written from start to finish. My last manuscript had a duel time frame and I wrote it entirely out of order. In fact, when I finished a chapter somewhere in the middle of the book I was thrilled to discover that I had completed the manuscript.

I'm not the first or last writer to suffer with writer's block. Some great authors admitted having writer's block. Virginia Woolf and Ernest Hemingway did, but considering what happened to them, maybe I'll just say I have indigestion and go for a walk.

FINDING MY GROOVE

I seem to be at a crossroad with my writing. I have a completed five-hundred and forty paged novel and another unfinished manuscript with one hundred first-draft pages written. Every writer knows that she must put a finished manuscript away for several weeks/months before tackling the editing process. Mine sat for many months before I came back to look at it. 

I'm happy to say that most of what I read was good. The bad parts were pretty glaring and easy to fix. I've written a query letter and tomorrow I'll email the query and the first chapter to an agent who represents some of my favourite authors. 

So I've reached a crossroad and I find myself hesitating to get back into the unfinished novel. It's quite an exciting outline that I wrote twenty years ago. It's been waiting a long time to be heard and, since the outline is long and detailed, there shouldn't be a problem so why am I procrastinating?

In my case, procrastination is my middle name. I'll always find a way to avoid doing something that scares me even if I have to resort to cleaning toilets. I already did that this morning so I'm looking for something else that needs attention. Why am I afraid of getting back into the new novel? Fear of failure, perhaps, or fear of success. Every writer wants to be successful and admired, but there's a lot of responsibility that goes along with success. Each new novel must be better than the last. These days a novelist must have a blog and a website and keep them up-to-date. Marketing is essential and best-selling authors must travel across the country or even the globe promoting their work. Unknown authors must work just as hard, if not harder, at promoting their novels. All these things take time away from the process, the creation of words. The reason we write is because the words in our heads demand to be heard. 

I have a writers' circle next week and know I must write a new chapter to read to the group. I've been away from the manuscript for several months now and I think the best way to get back into it is to read what I've written. I'll try not to edit as I read and hopefully the words will start flowing and I'll find my groove. If not the toilet will need cleaning again by then. 

LOOKING AHEAD

I LIKE TO THINK OF EACH NEW YEAR AS AN ARTIST WOULD A BLANK CANVAS.

Past mistakes and shortcomings are ancient history and January allows me to move forward towards successful enterprises. Looking back, I had a few accomplishments. I won second prize in a writing contest and My Weekly asked for minor changes before they would consider buying a short story.

I spent almost all year seeking an agent for my novel. A few asked for partial manuscripts and one requested the entire novel. I had some conflicting advice, but nothing that really helped. Early this month, I was discussing the non-fiction author's platform with my friend, Tina, and a light bulb went off in my head. Surely an unpublished fiction author requires a platform as well.

Beneath the Surface is a dual time frame novel that takes place during The War of 1812 and 2012. Following the Revolutionary War my United Empire Loyalist ancestors were driven from their land in what is now Lower Manhattan. The 1794 Jay Treaty stated that the Loyalists were to be compensated for their lost property and many were, but the U.S. reneged and my ancestors were never compensated. Many law suits were brought forward over the next century, but nothing was settled. There is no statute of limitations on property, so, are the current heirs entitled to cash rewards? Maybe, maybe not, but it does make an interesting platform that I will use in the novel and my query letter.

We've had a ton of snow so far and I often find myself curling up in a cozy chair with a good book and a cup of tea. I did a lot of reading this year and several of my favorite authors published novels including, Barbara Erskine, Susanna Kearsley and Maeve Binchy, who passed away last year. As usual I have a stack of unread books, fiction and non-fiction waiting to be read. I'm currently reading Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, which is set in 1870s New York society.

I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO A PRODUCTIVE WRITING YEAR

Hopefully I will be selling a few short stories and signing with a literary agent. I don't make New Year's Resolutions, but I have promised myself that this year I will keep my office tidier, eat less chocolate and blog more. So far I haven't kept any those promises, but there's still eleven and a half months left in 2013.