A rejection

I got a letter back from DAW Books last night and I knew, since it came in the form of a letter rather than a phone call, and since it was only two weeks since I submitted my manuscript, that it was going to be a rejection. I thought that I had set myself up for this, having received no response at all from TOR on my original "part 1" submission, and having received a rejection letter from Wizards of the Coast on it also, but it still gave me a bit of a sting.

Before I get decried as some kind of low-self-esteem wallower, I'm going to head that off at the pass. I'm actually glad to have received any communication back from them - I am excited that someone read my work, whether they "liked it" or not or thought it was "publishable."

I could blame my rejection on anything from the state of the economy to the fact that I'm a brand new author as external causes, or I could blame it on my writing or story not being "strong" enough, or I could blame it on the editor for not being in a "good mood" that day, but knowing what I know from having read so many books and blogs about writing, rejection is a natural part of this process.

It's okay to be prepared for it and it is also okay to be stung by it. In certain things, I've never really been a patient person, so it's hard for me to hear people say things like, "It took me fifteen years to publish my first book!" I've always been the kind of person that wants things to happen now rather than an unclear time down the indefinite road, but that's all the "sting" really is. It's a disappointment that it didn't happen now, not that I got a rejection.

So, no Merlot just yet, and I'm not discouraged or disheartened. I'll continue to wait and hear what Becca at Prospect has to say, if anything, and continue to work on my next novel, and continue to submit my current one when and where I can.

I'm famous around these parts for the phrase "I root for progress." Well, rejection is progress in the publishing business so [ironically] in this instance I'm rooting for rejection. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but it was something, and in this case something is definitely better than nothing.

On the reading front...

I've decided to suspend my book reviews for the time being since they're not really satisfying me at the moment. I only occasionally read them myself, usually finding them to be full of useless information except from a few great sources like James at Speculative Horizons, but occasionally find a nugget of greatness in a recommendation there. This post is really just to log what I've been reading.

Finished Glen Cook's The Books of the South, didn't like it as much as the original Chronicles of the Black Company, but liked it a lot.

Finished Joe Abercrombie's "First Law" trilogy with Last Argument of Kings, feeling a little disappointment in the way things ended. The story tied up well, but just didn't punctuate well enough for me. Still a fantastic trilogy and great debut for a new author.

Finished George R.R. Martin's A Storm of Swords, and currently reading A Feast for Crows. Loving this entire series, despite the numerous family names to keep track of and slough of viewpoint characters. Martin is definitely the premier Epic Fantasy author of our time.

That's all for now. Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to keep updated on all my goings-on. And feel free to comment once in awhile to let me know you're all still alive out there.

Publisher, Raffle, Terry Brooks, Agent - in that order

So, I meant to blog last week at some point about the flurry of activity that I've had lately, both revolving around my novel and otherwise.

Firstly, I will declare with certainty (for the moment) that it is done, none of this tentative crap. I sent the completed, double-spaced, and printed out, 720-page manuscript to DAW Books in New York two Thursdays ago, the same day I attended the Rock Mountain Fiction Writers' "Writer of the Year" event at the Tattered Cover in LoDo (Lower Downtown, Denver).

At the event, they were giving away some raffle prizes including the books of the 3 speaking authors and 3 breakfast meetings with agents at the RMFW Convention this past Saturday. I was [extremely] lucky enough to win one of the aforementioned meetings with an agent by the name of Becca Stumpf from the Prospect Agency (also in New York).

The following Thursday, Terry Brooks came to town to promote his new Shannara book, The Gypsy Morph. I attended the event, listened to the reading, bought the book (hefty $27 hardcover edition though it was) and promptly had it signed by Mr. Brooks himself. A fantastic guy, super-nice, super-friendly. He even shook my hand. A little brush with fame, the fame that comes from being one of the most celebrated and influential Fantasy authors of the 20th (and 21st, I suppose) century.

This past Saturday, I attended my breakfast with Becca at the Renaissance Hotel, where the RMFW Convention was (but, alas, couldn't attend the convention itself). The meeting went great, we talked a lot about the state of the Fantasy market and I had some good questions about her job and her agency (I think). She was super-friendly as well and it turned into a nice little networking opportunity when I mentioned my finished novel.

Little did I know that the Prospect Agency takes electronic submissions! I had looked over the site before the meeting but, since I had just barely sent my manuscript to DAW, and since I would have to write yet another synopsis to submit to Prospect, I bookmarked it until after the meeting. Well, based on Becca's response and interest, I wrote the feared synopsis and submitted a query with my book beginning.

No result yet but, as anyone from the publishing world will tell you, these things take time. And that's okay. I have other projects to work on, other novels to write, and (lest I forget) a day job to keep me occupied while I patiently wait for a response from either set of hands turning the pages of my manuscript.

In case you were wondering, I have started working on the Thomas Redpool book again, re-written the first chapter to my current satisfaction, and submitted it for critique from my weekly Writer's Group.

That's what's been going on lately. I'll try to be more timely with my updates. Definitely count on something more (and an opening ceremony for the bottle of Merlot I'm saving) when some interest comes back about The Ninth Avatar.