Monday, May 3, 2010

First Rejection

Hello again.

I've told people I would keep my blog updated with news about Song of the Daystar.  As some of you know, I started the Querying stage of the publishing process at the beginning of the week, and now I can say I received my first ever rejection notice.

The notice was very polite but not overly so.  It was actually pleasant (and this coming from the rejected author!).  To be honest, I didn't really expect this agent to represent my work, but I was curious to see if he was even a tad bit interested.  Apparently he wasn't.  But I'm ok with that.

Some of you may be wondering who exactly I'm talking about.  Well, it's no secret: his name is Nathan Bradsford and he's one of the top agents at Curtis Brown, LTD... a very highly recommended literary agency.  I follow his blog consistently: it's completely filled with helpful and useful tips for writers.  I suggest that other writers look into it.

One of the things that Nathan says on his blog is, "If in doubt, query me."  Which is exactly what I did.  I have to say that I think the reason I wasn't hurt by the rejection in any way, shape, or form is because I've been steeling myself for my first rejection letter (and probably the many others that follow the first), for several years now.  I've know it was bound to happen, so when I read the letter, all that came to mind was, "Alright then.  He must not be the right agent, but that just means that the right agent is still out there and God will help me find him."

Below, I've posted the rejection so that you can see for yourself how polite he was about it: 

Dear Nichole,


Thank you for your recent e-mail and for reading my blog, I appreciate it. I regret to say that I don't feel that I'm the most appropriate agent for your work.


However, opinions vary considerably in this business, and I wish you the best of luck in your search for representation.


Best wishes,

Nathan



So, I guess that means I just wait for the next response...  *taps fingers impatiently on the computer desk.*  Waiting can be so hard!!!

7 comments:

Storyteller SilverLoom said...

Sorry about your reject. You seem to be taking it well, though. :)

Don't be discouraged! You are doing great. Keep busy.

How many queries have you submitted in all?

Jacob R Parker said...

Maybe I'm weird, but I consider the first rejection letter a cause for celebration. Every rejection letter is one rejection letter closer to an acceptance. :-) So... congratulations! You're on your way.

Star-Dreamer said...

Storyteller: Oh, I'm not discouraged at all. In fact, I am more or less excited. I just figured if he rejected my query, then he must not be the right person to represent me. God knows the agent I need and he'll direct our paths so that we meet. Until then, I'll continue to query and pray. Everything will work out in due time.

It's just the waiting part that's hard! :)

Storyteller SilverLoom said...

Amen! I'll be praying for you. :)

Jake said...

I wish you luck!!... Or, actually, I'll pray for you. I don't really believe in luck. :)

Just a quick question; What's your query like? I've never, uh, actually read a query, although I know what they are.

Jaleh D said...

Too bad about the rejection, but great that you still have loads of enthusiasm. Have an e-cookie on me. :D

Miriam Forster said...

Congratulations! Rejections mean that you're brave. :) I also have a lovely, polite rejection from Nathan Bransford,as well as lots of other nice agents.

You're absolutely right, the waiting is the toughest part. Send out queries, wait, wait, get staggered responses, tweak letter, send out more queries, wait...

Personally, I keep sane by writing more books.