And...gave me a very prompt, short rejection

Helvetica Stone

artsy soul in a scientific world

Helvetica Stone

Birthday: November 26

Bio: Helvetica Stone wants art and science to hold hands and look up in wonder at the miracle of existence.

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Family: Till Death and Happily Ever After; My Man, 20 Years Later; Still My Daddy; Loving My Momma
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JANUARY 31, 2012 8:57PM

Rate: 10 Flag

So, the good agent on 5th Ave sent a very nice short rejection notice for my "debut" novel.

I cried for less than 5 minutes.

Now I'm moving on. To what next I am not sure. There were a few more agents on my list. Someone else in my life who reads a lot of contemporary fiction offered a read. I'm not sure if that's a good idea right now or not.

Please return to your regularly scheduled blogging.

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novel, sisyphus, writing, fiction

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Comments

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Sending your wonderful novel on to another publisher, I am sure it will find just the right reader soon.
rated with love

RomanticPoetess

January 31, 2012 09:06 PM

Here's the conundrum, Helvetica: Unless your novel is a potential blockbuster, a big agent probably won't take you because he/she has a lot of heavy hitters on his/her list. A smaller, hungrier agent with a less impressive list of clients might take you. The Catch 22 is that the big agent will have a lot of clout with publishers, the smaller agent not so much. Either way, it's a jungle out there.

john blumenthal

January 31, 2012 09:19 PM

Pooey. This person just missed out on another JK Rowling, that's all.

just phyllis for now

January 31, 2012 09:29 PM

Ouch. Well, at least you've got that under your belt. Better than never hearing back at all.

Con Chapman

January 31, 2012 09:31 PM

Bummer. Self pub time, Hellie. Look at www.booklocker.com or the Amazon.com imprints they've just started. It all comes down to marketing, anyway. Our next step as an online community is to persuade Open Salon to set up a Book Nook for all us OSers with books to sell. We'll gouge out our own market share. We have some real creative hucksters amongst us. Whatever you do, DON'T GIVE UP!!!!

Matt Paust

January 31, 2012 09:42 PM

Gotta keep trying.

I once had a book accepted by an editor. Before he got a contract out to me, he was replaced and the new editor un-accepted my book.

I may have cried for more than five minutes...

Myriad

January 31, 2012 09:49 PM

What the hell do they know ?
:-)

Kim Gamble

January 31, 2012 09:58 PM

You were upset for 5 minutes. Well, you are in the right game. My suggestion is multiple submissions, to the large and to the small agents. The typical is 27 rejections. If I were you I'd get a list of 10 and send your debut novel onto each. Find their names in books somewhat similar to yours or sign up for Publishers' Lunch. With determination you'll find your match. (Cover letters are said to be important; in yours you need to say this is a multiple submission)--makes life more interesting. Good Luck!!!R

wendyo

January 31, 2012 10:37 PM

Don't give up!

Deborah Méndez Wilson

February 01, 2012 12:14 AM

Keep at it Helvetica; there's plenty more where that one came from.

Margaret Feike

February 01, 2012 12:19 AM

Right all, keep going. This was third on my short list. I've got about seven agents targeted total right now, from things they represent, or just a gut feeling about it. Drafted query number four tonight. Will try to send in the am. After the bills.

Helvetica Stone

February 01, 2012 01:21 AM

Looks like others have given you some good suggestions. I have been there. I was terribly excited to have an agent ask for fifty pages, only to get the same type of short rejection. You were wise to give it only five minutes of your time. Hang in there.