Here is a photo of my first-ever rejection letter. I keep it pinned up next to my bed, because they say you're not a real author until you've had enough rejection letters to paper your bedroom wall. One probably has a better chance of winning the lottery than getting one's first novel published on the first try, so since I fully expected a rejection I went ahead and submitted my first novel to TOR books. Shoot for the moon, and even if you miss you'll still have a hell of a ride! Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I can be more deliberate and intelligent in my quest for publication.
Check in on this page to see up-to-date documentation on where I am in the technical aspects of my quest to be a published author. Currently, I have three manuscripts in play, each listed here under it's working title. Here are my general stats:
Miscellaneous
Number of Published Works (not including high school literary magazine): 0
Number of Creative Works Previously Submitted: 2
Number of Contests Entered (damn it all, Camela, why did you talk me into this?): 0
Personal
Stress Level (scale of zero to ten): 4
Optimism Level (scale of Nihilist to Pollyanna): Charlie Brown
Current Self-Care Strategies: Cookies. It's that time of year.
The Demon of Lashingholm Hall
Dead Gold
Last updated 11/22/2015
Manuscript Checklist
Complete and Fully Edited Manuscript (word count: approx 87,000): ✔
Short Synopsis (1 page, word count: 633): ✔
Long Synopsis (5 pages, word count: 1304):
Chapter Summary:
Submission Progress
Potential Agents Identified: 40
Agents Queried: 37 (one keeps kicking my email back to me--it thinks it's spam)
Replies: 27
Rejections: 27 (one said she's actually leaving the industry)
Initially Interested: 3!!! (but since they've all said "no.")
Dead Gold
Last updated 04/22/2015
Manuscript Checklist
Complete and Fully Edited Manuscript (word count: approx 82,000):
Short Synopsis (word count: 906): ✔
Long Synopsis:
Chapter Summary:
Submission Progress
Potential Agents Identified: 46
Agents Contacted: 0
Replies: 0
Rejections: 0
Interested: n/a
Replies: 0
Rejections: 0
Interested: n/a
Coyle House
Last updated 11/03/2014
Manuscript Checklist
Complete and Fully Edited Manuscript: ✔
Brief Summary: ✔
Full
Summary:
Chapter
Summary: meh...who needs it!
Synopsis: ✔
Submission
Progress
Potential
Agents Identified: 44--and that's enough for me!
Agents
Contacted: 44
Replies: 27
Rejections: 27
Interested: None at this time--that's a wrap.
Replies: 27
Rejections: 27
Interested: None at this time--that's a wrap.