writing diary 13/09/2011
I have just received a letter of rejection for my Xmas story. It's not that much of a surprise. To be published in time for Xmas it would have to be with the printers now-ish.
I'm still unsure what I want to do with it. The letter isn't too bad. First, it's signed by the Commissioning Editor and I had sent it to an Associate Editor, which means it's circulated and been read by at least 2 people. Second, the rejection says 'after careful consideration, we have decided that it is not quite right for our lists'. From the look of the ms, it might be true - the consideration bit. Third, they add 'Please do consider us for any future proposals.' That's bound to be better than 'we'd rather never hear from you again, thank you very much'.
The problem is that there's no hope for this particular book for this year now and I suspect it won't be as original as it is now next year. The characters do something that's very fashionable at the moment. It would have been a selling point this year, but it might not be the 'in' thing next year, in which case I would have missed the trend.
An alternative for the time being would be to approach agents with it, as an 'example' of what I can do. I'm not sure about this as I know it will be time consumming and emotionally taxing. There's also the fact the Brit agents I like the best have signed my SIL on years ago. I'm not sure how she would react to me approaching them. She might feel threatened. Let's face it, writers aren't that sympathetic to competition...
I've had another couple of stories at the back of my mind. One is about spring, the other about a princess (but it's not the birthday one I subbed to The People's Friend. That particular one needs a good revision if I want to submit it again and it's not in the right format for a picture book). It might be worth cracking on those and submitting them to the guys who didn't want my Xmas story. The problem is that I don't have that much time at the mo and the spring one would have to go out now-ish to be able to make it next year...
I've got some paid non-creative work at the moment, which is great except that I don't get to relax or sleep much...
Decisions, decisions...
I'm still unsure what I want to do with it. The letter isn't too bad. First, it's signed by the Commissioning Editor and I had sent it to an Associate Editor, which means it's circulated and been read by at least 2 people. Second, the rejection says 'after careful consideration, we have decided that it is not quite right for our lists'. From the look of the ms, it might be true - the consideration bit. Third, they add 'Please do consider us for any future proposals.' That's bound to be better than 'we'd rather never hear from you again, thank you very much'.
The problem is that there's no hope for this particular book for this year now and I suspect it won't be as original as it is now next year. The characters do something that's very fashionable at the moment. It would have been a selling point this year, but it might not be the 'in' thing next year, in which case I would have missed the trend.
An alternative for the time being would be to approach agents with it, as an 'example' of what I can do. I'm not sure about this as I know it will be time consumming and emotionally taxing. There's also the fact the Brit agents I like the best have signed my SIL on years ago. I'm not sure how she would react to me approaching them. She might feel threatened. Let's face it, writers aren't that sympathetic to competition...
I've had another couple of stories at the back of my mind. One is about spring, the other about a princess (but it's not the birthday one I subbed to The People's Friend. That particular one needs a good revision if I want to submit it again and it's not in the right format for a picture book). It might be worth cracking on those and submitting them to the guys who didn't want my Xmas story. The problem is that I don't have that much time at the mo and the spring one would have to go out now-ish to be able to make it next year...
I've got some paid non-creative work at the moment, which is great except that I don't get to relax or sleep much...
Decisions, decisions...