Wednesday, February 16, 2011

I Stopped Reading at "Unfortunately"

On Monday evening, I told my family that I would be busy Tuesday working my Stampin' Up! business, and that I wouldn't be home when they returned from school and work. Pretty sure they all nodded and said, "Okay, Mom."

Maybe... "Okay, Mom" = "Whatever. I'm busy and not really listening to you anyway."

So, Tuesday afternoon, my sweet daughter called me on my cell and asked, "Where are you?" Well, of course, I lovingly reminded her of our conversation the previous evening. She responded, "You never said that." Well, of course, I did, but nonetheless...

"Anything else?" I asked her.

"Yeah. One more thing," she said. "Why did you write a letter to yourself?"

"I didn't."

"Well, there's an envelope in the mail with your handwriting on it that is addressed to and from you," she said.

"It's just another rejection," Eeyore said.

"How could you possibly know that?" she asked.

"Open it up and read it outloud."

"Thank you for giving us the opportunity to ... blah blah blah ... Unfortunately--"

"You can stop reading now," I said.

"But I'm not even half way through the letter!"

"Trust me," I said as she mumbled to herself quickly reading.

"Oh...oh...I'm so sorry, Mom."

Whelp, it's okay. I stopped reading at "unfortunately" ... at least I tried to. Truth be told I read the rejections in their entirety. Usually more than once. Then I log it in my excel file.

The real bummer, is when you PAY to be rejected. I wish all agents accepted email queries. It's a bummer to spend money on postage, paper, and envelopes to be rejected.

I need a little less Eeyore this week and a litte more Tigger.

Any words of wisdom to spring me out of my rejection slump?

14 comments:

  1. No words of wisdom I'm afraid. A paid for rejection is indeed a bummer!
    Chocolate?...

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  2. Hi there,

    Just popping by to say hello. I believe that we are currently in the same crusader group!!

    Shame about the letter. Keep going though, so many more places to try. I'm not looking forward to that stage of the game.

    What is your book about? i had a quick look but no luck. (unless it is a secret of course)

    anyway good luck with the crusade and all. Talk to you soon

    constance
    http://precociousscribe.blogspot.com/
    Go crusaders

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  3. Awww, I'm sorry. I feel your pain. I've submitted to a couple of the agents still using snail mail, and it always hurts to send a partial for $12 and get nothing back but an unsigned form letter. Hang in there :)

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  4. I wish I knew what to say. Magic words to make it all better would be wonderful, but I don't know that they exist. I hope you feel better soon.

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  5. Oh, Margo, so sorry. We've all been there and we all deal with it differently. I have a rule (for now) that I only query agents who accept email so I don't have to pay for the rejection.

    If you've had between 5 and 10 rejections without any requests, take another stab at your query letter.

    And get on to the next one! Hang in there!

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  6. So sorry Margo, just got one myself. All I can do is quote the little engine, "I think I can, I think I can."

    Hugs
    Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

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  7. Don't be sad, be glad! I'm sure if they said yes, they wouldn't be as fabulous as the people who are going to say of course we love your book.

    Keep on going, crusader!

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  8. I'm a member of your Crusade group, stopping by to say hi!

    Oh, rejections. They just keep coming and never stop stinging! After a ton of rejections, I finally got an agent, but now I'm starting to receive rejections from publishers! Ugh!

    My words of wisdom are to stick with it. It only takes on "yes" in a sea of "no's" to make your dream come true! Just keep the faith that your "yes" will come soon!

    Looking forward to reading more of your blog and learning more about you!

    Erin @ Quitting My Day Job

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  9. No getting past it, the rejections hurt. Especially the snail mail ones, which as you point out, you've paid for, and plus they take forever. I've gotten so that I only query agents who accept email submissions. It is faster (relatively, I still find it interminably slow) and second, I kinda want someone representing me who's entered the internet age.

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  10. Awww, so sorry for the rejection letter. Tuck it away and when you get your acceptance letter, pull it out, laugh out loud and say "Look what you're missing."

    Fellow Crusader dropping by to say Hi!

    ~kristal

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  11. I find that chocolate and sending it out again helps. Everyone gets rejected. Think about all the 27 or so agents you rejected J.K. Rowling, you think they sleep at night?

    Thanks for dropping by blog, it's nice to meet you too!

    Lauri

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  12. Cyberhugs to you! But more rejections means you ARE trying (kudos for that) and your writerly skin is getting thicker (a good thing). How do I avoid paying for rejection? I only send to agents who accept queries via email! ;o)

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  13. As I've not reached the query stage yet, I have no words of wisdom. I'm actually thinking of going straight to self publishing with my book, because I know it's ridiculously over what's considered an accepted word count for YA. So I figure, why spend months waiting for the inevitable no when I can make it available ASAP and have people actually reading it.

    I'm in your crusader group - looking forward to getting to know you throughout the crusade!

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  14. Hang in there. I've had plenty myself. It cracks me up that you have an Excel file, too. I thought I was the only person that anal. :)

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