Saturday, February 5, 2011

Up From the Ashes

I just received a rejection letter from an agent I had been recommended to by a good friend and published writer. The news came in the form of a two sentence e-mail that set me back to square forty-three in my journey to publication for The Bones of the King. I can't say square one because I would not be in a position to be rejected if I had not checked off a lot of squares prior to now. Having a completed novel counts for something. Still, it has not been read by nearly enough people and I would love to be paid while I write the sequel.

Like the legion of writers who walked this road before me I'm going to continue seeking representation buoyed by the conviction that my stories will resonate with readers, that all hurdles will be cleared and that I will prevail. Is it possible to be a writer without your glass being half full? I'm not sure, but I do know that when I'm writing, my glass is overflowing. Must be a sign.

A good friend of mine from the Faroe Islands, a man who has seen his share of reversals and successes in life would look at me right now with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face and say. "It's a hard life!" He's right, but if you don't ask, the answer's always no. So the journey continues. I'm up from the ashes and flying once more. For entertainment and motivation I'm going to track my progress here. If nothing else, perhaps some other fellow traveler will learn from my mistakes and be able to negotiate his or her own agent search minefield successfully.

If you're a writer and you know of an agent that specializes in action-adventure with a literary bent please let me know. If you're that agent, well, you made it this far. Drop me a line. The story is original and well written and you won't be kicking yourself later because you didn't ask to see it.

The next week will be spent making a list of prospective agents and honing my query letter. Then I'll begin 'asking'. Stay tuned and keep writing.

Aloha,

Doug

6 comments:

  1. To me, the rejections that come from an agent who has been personally recommended are the hardest. I always have such high hopes for those. I don't have any brilliant new words of comfort, except to tell you I'm in exactly the same place, so hang in there. I'm convinced its a numbers game.

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  2. Dear Charlotte,

    Your words are brilliant and comforting nonetheless. The great thing about that recommendation was that it was from a woman way outside of my target audience. She read the entire book and enjoyed it enough to try to help me. I choose to find the good things about getting to this point. One of them is meeting you.

    Aloha,

    Doug

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  3. Hey Doug, glad to see you're back!

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  4. Been there, done that, Doug. I just (finally) signed with an agent after 5 months of revisions with her, but tht just means that now I'm waiting to see what publishers say and bracing for more revisions. With "indie" publishers and the market changing, we may end up all being our own agents so explore one of those alterative routes. That's what I'm going to do if my book doesn't sell.
    Aloha
    Toby

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  5. Thanks, Madison. It's good to be back.

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  6. Dear Toby,

    Thanks for your words of encouragement. Been researching the alternatives thoroughly. Going to give the conventional agents a chance to rough me up first. Will dispense with the S+M after a year.

    Good luck with your work. I hope to hear you published soon.

    Aloha,

    Doug

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