Best Rejection Stories

My agent and I have been on submission for just over a month. She sent out to a fab list of editors while I braced myself for Rejection Highway. Because let's face it, life has said No to me way more often than Yes.

Last week, Tricia forwarded an Almost-Email. A Big House editor had some positive things to say about my submission. He loved the writing, the atmosphere, the whole premise of the story. He'd sat on the MS for a while mulling it over before finally deciding to pass. The parts he loved the most were the ones I'd tackled in revisions. I was still stressed over those bits, wondering if they went too far or gave a false start to the tone of the story. Learning that this editor had a favorable response was a huge relief. 

This was very exciting to both Tricia and me because it proved - at least as far as one reader was concerned - that our gut instincts about the weak areas in the MS were correct. In a weird way, this rejection was a huge boost to my writerly confidence.

I asked a few other writers if they'd had similar experiences. Here's what Jolene Perry had to say:

 I'd queried Victoria Marini with a YA paranormal called Insight. She read the beginning twice, and said that she couldn't put her finger on it, but it still didn't work. HOWEVER, she'd be happy to read anything else I had.
When I completed my first YA contemporary, I sent it to her and immediately got a request for a full (she doesn't rep much contemp, if any). She kept my manuscript for a full eight weeks and when she got back to me it was still a no, but her letter totally propelled me forward. She said she saw huge growth in my writing and loved the voice. She said she knew it would find a home somewhere, and that after reading it, she sat on the manuscript for three weeks, unsure of what to do.
For me, deep in the query trenches, I first saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I still keep her letter. I wrote her when I did sign to thank her, and she wrote back right away.
It was the first time that I truly understood that placing a manuscript with an agent or an editor is all about right person, right place, AND the right time (once your MS is truly ready).

Do you have a best rejection story - one that really helped you along the writing road? Share it in the comments!

A chat with Jolene Perry part two

Thanks to those of you who posted your pitches below! I hope the feedback helped you.

Now for part two of Jolene Perry's awesome interview. (She's pictured here with her two lovely kids.) Please continue to post your two-sentence or Twitter pitch in the comments - rules are below.


7. How was The Pub Call different from The Agent Call?
Very different. The Pub call was HUGE. WAY HUGE - even though they're a smaller publisher. The more I learn about them, the happier I am that I ended up with them. Their distribution is INCREDIBLE for being smaller. That was, again January of 2011
The agent call - I had my head on a lot more straight when Lauren called me. That was June of 2011. I was still shaking with excitement, and then, as happens often, I had more than one offer. I knew, because of friends like Kelley, that finding an agent was simply another step. I ADORE Lauren, I love how enthusiastic she is, and how hard she works.


8. You're working on more projects (a LOT more projects) Tell us how the process of writing now is different than it was for The Next Door Boys.
I'm a better writer by far. I'm not sure that my process is really any different. I write the major scenes and events first, I rarely write in order. I write the end before I hit 10,000 words. It generally needs to be changed up a bit later, but it gives me a place to get to. I tried the whole starting on chapter one on my last two projects, and I find that I just get irritated, and that I lose steam. I think the biggest thing is that I'm MUCH better at self-editing than I used to be. I can see my mistakes, and how the story could be made better so much more clearly. Not all of them (SO important to have good critique people)

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9. You're on the 'board' of For the Love of Contemporary, a new blog aimed at (in case the name didn't give it away) YA contemp. Talk about the start of this idea and how it evolved.
Kelley mentioned off-hand that she'd thought about doing a group blog dedicated solely to contemporary, and that we'd only talk about stuff we LOVED. Later that day I made the blog header and sent it to her, and a week later we'd asked a few friends to join with us. All are VERY talented, published authors. I've read everyone's book but Kelley York's which comes out this December. If I had to choose one genre to read forever, that would be it. I love stories that take place in the real world.


10. How does managing this blog and your blog, affect your writing schedule? I mean, you've got kids, right? Do you never sleep? :)
I don't sleep nearly as much as my body wants me to. Seriously.
My number one is keeping on top of email. Also, once your blog gets to a certain point, it sort of runs itself. I think it was more work when I only had 100 followers than it is now. I have people whose blogs I almost always visit, and of course I pop by those who visit me. It all works. I've slowed to three days a week on my personal blog, and I'm only in charge of a few items a month on the contemporary blog. So, it all works. Some days I ignore my blog in favor of writing, but usually I'm in and out in both. As soon as my fingers slow on my keyboard while in my current project, I'll bounce into email, check and answer a couple, and then go back to my WIP.


Bonus: 11. And now...for everyone who doesn't live where we do - share the best part of living in Alaska. 'Cuz we know they're all jealous. Er...until winter hits anyway. :))
I have to remind myself of the best parts OFTEN, lol.
I run into people I know when I go into Wasilla. I live on two acres and can see no other homes from my backyard, but I can see all of Hatcher's Pass, which is just beautiful. We get moose in our yard all the time. I LOVE to go snowmachining (snowmobiling to those out-of-staters) and there's LOTS of time for that. I also love how quiet it is. When Mike was in law school we lived behind the Walmart off the corner of Tropicana and Pecos in Las Vegas. It was NEVER quiet. So, I love that. It's also just beautiful. It doesn't matter if I head north up the highway, or south, it's just a beautiful place to live.

Agreed!

Now, to recap, please post your pitch in the comments using this format:

Title:
Genre:
Pitch:
Email:

And critique at least three other pitches (assuming that many are posted). The drawing Monday will determine a winner to discuss with Jolene the kind of short critique desired. Good luck!

Interview with Jolene Perry...and the Twitter pitch giveaway

I ran across Jolene Perry's blog while wandering around For the Love of Contemporary, the just-launched YA blog aimed at (you guessed it, smartie!) contemporary fiction. And squee if she doesn't live in Wasilla, or about 20 minutes from my house. Give or take. Anyway, I jumped at the chance to learn all her secrets interview her which is my sneaky way of picking her brain. Her book The Next Door Boys comes out next month (happy early pub day!!)and she's currently balancing debut authorhood with mom/wife/general manager/writer/blogger. We all can relate, right?

In addition to sharing the secret of Jolene's multi-tasking wizardry, we're hosting a pitch practice in these here comments. The rules of the giveaway are below.
And now, heerre's Jolene!

1. Talk briefly about your decision to switch careers from teaching to writing full-time. Was it all the timing (ie, first book sale?) or did you just jump w/o a financial net?
I stopped teaching to stay home with my daughter who was born with Moebius (google it, not even her doctors know what it is). My husband was in law school at the time, and one of us needed to be with her constantly to make sure she could eat. We plowed through law school (incurring more than your average debt with me being at home and all) and now he works for the state - which is definitely not the best paying, but we can JUST cover everything if we budget carefully. So, really, I write while chasing little people, and, occasionally, myself. Up until about a year ago I thought I'd go back to teaching, but I don't have time for that now!!

The Moebius Syndrome site has a lot of info. Click on 'about us' and then 'meet people with Moebius' for a snapshot of living with this condition.

2. You are obviously a networking queen. Tell us how you met your writing partner, Kelley Vitollo, and the most valuable social networking tool you use.
Wow - Networking Queen - you make me sound so supercool ;O
Kelley and I met through blogging. I've met SO many incredible people through blogging. SO many. Kelley kept putting up these books that she'd read, that she LOVED, and I started reading them. So we got to know one another that way. We now text, and email back and forth a ton. We have a joint YA project that our agents are working on a sub list for right now. So, we're VERY excited about that - it should go on sub later this week or next.


3. Why do you write YA?
I taught high school, and still work with the youth, so that's the easy answer. I do have a few women's fiction projects, but I'm just in the groove with the YA thing right now. I LOVE how much good lit there is for teens now, and I love that the genre has expanded into the adult market as well. It's just fun to write.

Me, too! Am very excited about New Adult, which is rumored to cover the 18-22 age group. Fingers crossed it takes off soon.

4. How many MS did you write before The Next Door Boys (NDB)? How did you know this one would take you places?
The Next Door Boys is my second novel. I thought my first might go somewhere, but it's shelved until I'm ready to just use the outline and rewrite the whole thing (love the story, but the writing is a disaster). The Boys started out as something completely different, and I wasn't sure if it would ever go anywhere. So, I guess I didn't know it would take me places until CFI picked it up. I love, love, love the story (still one of my favorite guys I've ever written), but my writing has much improved in the time since I wrote it. I wrote it in past tense, and I've learned through MANY more projects that my voice comes out better in present.

5 . How long did it take you to write NDB before you landed a deal? (Include any revisions with your agent.)
My agent had nothing to do with NDB. I finished my first draft in the spring of 2010 (my first drafts go pretty quick - I think a month). It was VERY rough, but I had no idea that it was rough. I sent it to ONE publisher who responded in the NO. The project was shelved for several months while I worked on other stuff. I read more, and started to find critique partners. I won a first chapter critique by submitting a line from a WIP (If you care the line was - "Today, love walks out the door with me, keeps my hand in his and I don’t even notice when we pass my safe place - I’m already there.") So, from that one line I got a critique that CHANGED how I wrote. She offered to help me finish the book (LisaAnn Turner) and I went painstakingly through each and every chapter, adding and subtracting, and I swear the only thing that stayed the same was the dialogue, and a very few other lines. I submitted it to CFI and they came back THREE weeks later telling me that they wanted to publish The Next Door Boys. That was Jan of 2011. Hubs and I celebrated by going to dinner.


6. What was your 2-sentence pitch for The Boys? (Or twitter pitch if you had one.)
After spending what should have been her freshman year at home fighting cancer, Leigh is finally out on her own. She's determined to be independent despite her over-protective brother and ever-expanding line of young men ready to be in love with her.


You'll notice that some of this pitch, ended up on the back cover.

Now it's your turn, readers! Boil down, cut, slash and shrink that pitch, then polish and post. Include your two sentences, or Twitter pitch (140 characters) for others to critique/marvel at. Any genre is welcome, although Jo's area of expertise is obviously YA. Please include the info below AND critique at least three other entries (assuming there are that many). Would love it if you followed and/or Tweeted this giveaway but honestly, I'm just happy if this helps you. On Monday, a random winner will confab with Jo on the type of critique desired.
Title:
Genre:
Pitch:
Email:

Stop by tomorrow for Part II with Jolene.

Jolene Perry and the Twitter pitch contest

So this week I cyber-met the amazing Jolene Perry and found out she lives by me. *minor hyperventilation followed by chocolate intake* YA writers are a bit thin on the ground up here so I jumped at the chance to stalk her every move have her be on the blog. Not only did she agree, she turned the interview around in five seconds flat. (She types a million words per minute.) Her book, The Next Door Boys, comes out next month...plus she's one of the cofounders of For the Love of Contemporary (meaning YA) blog which just launched Sept. 1. So we'll have lots to talk about.

And, the best part is she agreed to help you all out with your Twitter pitches. On Friday and Saturday, stop by and share your 140-character book pitch. OR two-sentence pitch, if you can't quite squeeze it down yet. Everyone else will critique them before Monday, when Melvin the Magic Sorting Hat will choose one lucky writer for a tete-a-tete with Jo. She'll critique your first three chapters or your query or synopsis or whatever your little heart desires as long as it's not super long.

I can't wait for Friday!