Yet More Rejections

Le sigh.

Of course, almost all of them are form letters, but one can hardly blame the agencies for that. They must be so swamped with hopefuls like myself. I'd be using a form letter too, if only to save myself a few minutes each day!

Jenny Brown was quite nice. Straight to the point, but it made it seem like she at least read the query letter. Lippincott Massie and McQuilkin was much the same with their rejection. Pleasant and to the point without being awful. They also sounded like they had read it.

The reason for both these rejections? My story isn't quite their fit. Well, better that than "it's utter crap" I suppose.

One agent asked for my forgiveness on the impersonal note. That's OK. Most every other agent has been much more impersonal, and I do very much appreciate your encouragement.

My favourite rejection? Why, it's this one, of course:

Dear Ms. Carriere;

You are a good writer and this looks like a book that will be published, but I have to decline. I'm afraid my work load won't permit me to take on anything else. I wish you the best of luck with this book and with your writing career.
Sincerely

Wasn't that sweet? She used my name and everything!

Now, I received this rejection only a matter of hours after I sent in the query, which had me wondering if it was actually read, or if every writer is told by this agent that they are good, and their book looks like it will be published, creating a virtual army of authors who are in fact awful, but now believe they are good.

That's an absurd idea, and I have since dismissed it and figured that the agent was genuine in her praise. I celebrated with chocolate milk. I'm going to have that first sentence printed and framed, and placed on my monitor above the top of the screen.

Many thanks to this agent, who I won't name because I haven't asked her if I can use her name. It was an ego boost - and I needed it, after being slammed a couple of times this week by peers.

With this particular list of agents exhausted, I shall give the queries a rest for now, and concentrate on marking the essays that landed on my desk early this afternoon. Ugh!

In other news, there are some shout-outs that I must give before Ziggs.com emails flood my inbox completely.

Good morrow, United Kingdom!

Visitor Location: Chichester, United Kingdom
Date: April 07, 2010
Time: 8:17 PM EST

Visitor Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom
Date: April 10, 2010
Time: 4:07 PM EST

These searches excited me as they came in shortly after I queried a couple of agents in the U.K. Coincidence? Yes... but it's still exciting!

Hello, Brazil!
Visitor Location: Cornélio Procópio, Brazil
Date: April 11, 2010
Time: 10:20 AM EST

Ooh! Brazil! This is new and exciting!

G'Day U.S.A.!

Visitor Location: College Park, MD
Date: April 08, 2010
Time: 8:04 PM EST

And to you too, no freakin' clue!

Visitor Location: N/A

Date: April 10, 2010
Time: 7:53 PM EST

Visitor Location: N/A
Date: April 11, 2010
Time: 11:37 AM EST

I really wish I knew where these searches were coming from!

Right, so that's everything up to date for now. I will, of course, keep you informed of my progress. As of now though, I'm going to print that lovely first sentence and stick to my computer, and then get back to marking these essays. Have a lovely Tuesday everyone!