Monday, January 26, 2009

How I wrote a book, got it published, and changed my world. Or something. Part three!

My little spreadsheet? Started filling up.

I looked up the agent of my most favorite books. I sent her my manuscript.

No response.

I sent it to another publisher who was known for being kind to fat women (no, I'm not kidding). Rejected.

I sent it to two other companies who seemed like they would fit in with my writing. Quick rejections. They didn't read it. They didn't care. Nothing.

I sent it to a company who specializes in mom authors (again, not kidding) and got a really great, positive response. I'm going to decline to say the name of this company here but after I got the great positive response in which this individual asked for more information the following then happened:

1) She asked me to buy her book which was about her adventures as a publisher.
2) I did.
3) I read it, thought it was stupid and a waste of time, and was very annoyed at myself for buying it in the first place.
4) I looked at all her online stuff, as she asked.
5) I found it stupid and a waste of time and was annoyed at the length of time I spent on it.
6) I emailed her my "pitch" as she requested.
7) The email bounced back.
8) I resent the email.
9) It didn't bounce back but she never responded.
10) I waited two weeks, emailed and politely asked if she had received my email, and never heard from her.
11) Threw her book in the trash.


I was getting frustrated and sad and annoyed. I decided that maybe I needed someone else to look at my book and edit it for me. I asked one friend and she agreed, but I think she was so busy she never got around to it. Or maybe she read it and thought it sucked and she never told me. I don't know.

I queried again to a small publisher who, after only a few days, asked me for my full manuscript. I sent it immediately and felt pretty happy about it for a few days until I did more looking around on my author's board and found out that this publisher pretty much sucked and was shady and I definitely didn't want to publish with her.

She never emailed me back either. Thus, my book must have sucked. If a shady publisher didn't even bother to email me back, well then. What did that say about me and my book?

So. I started thinking that my book really sucked. That I was a horrible writer. I was a horrible human being. That something was really going wrong with ME and my WRITING and everything and everybody, maybe.

So I stopped thinking about it. I vowed I wouldn't read it for a while. I was going to start my other writing project and get that done and everything would be fine. Eventually I would revisit this book, but not for a long, long time.


To be continued...

4 comments:

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

I'm kind of glad you didn't get accepted first try. It wouldn't make me hate you or anything, but I would start envying you a wee little bit.

I have several friends who are published authors and they all secretly hate the ones who get published first try. They consider all the crap you describe in this post as part of their apprenticeship and think it shouldn't come too easy.

Still though. That is a LOT of crap to have gone through.

SJINCO said...

Ugh, such a long, long road you've been on - but I'm so glad you didn't give up. SO GLAD.

Suzy said...

An agent just asked me to send in my first few chapters and after reading this I'M SCARED.

Although the first 2 years of my standup career was like that.

Alpha Dude said...

Some people just wouldn't notice a good thing if it landed on the end of their nose.

I happen to think you are a great writer.
But, I also have very good taste.

Blessings.