Purgatory's Pit of Doom

Yes, a tequila for me please. Can I have mine in a giant mug?

Query R this morning and an R on the full that has been out for 6 months. I assumed at this point she wasn't interested, but damn this one really brings my optimism to a grinding halt. It was an R&R and it was a two sentence explanation - she admires my narrative voice and thinks the project has great potential BUT she can't connect with the pacing and arc of the storyline.

I am so fed up with this process. Seriously.

(((Alias))) Two sentences off a R&R is just wrong.

*passes huge margarita*

Bloody Hell, Alias...that bites, especially after 6 months.

Have some guacamole.

Thanks for the drinks and the snacks.

I wasn't expecting a line by line crit or anything, but the email just felt like the kind of R you get from a blind query with a few pages pasted in.

I think I've come full circle now. This agent was the very first query I sent out. Ah, those hopeful days back in the winter! I remember reading the Miss Snark querying adage about querying a project till you get 100 agents that say no. I thought It will never come to that, right? Ha. Now here I am closing in on that number, nearing the end, and no closer to anything useful.

This from a major publisher:

"Chris--
First I’ll put you out of your misery and then offer some words of encouragement.
We’ll have to pass on DISPOSSESSED, but not without regret. We love your voice. You have a great comic style, and a good idea. Where we run into trouble is the logic of the plot. The set-up isn’t believable as written, and that hampers the readers ability to willingly suspend disbelief.

This isn’t quite a comic novel, isn’t quite a romance, isn’t quite a ghost story. Hybrids are sometimes difficult animals to market.

We wish we had better news for you, but rest assured we gave this a great deal of thought. While DISPOSSESSED won’t work for us, we’d be delighted to see future manuscripts from you with the caveat that even in comic novels the logical flow of the story must never be ignored. The reader has to believe the chain of events.

Best of luck placing this manuscript. We may well regret this because we do love your voice."


I know that I should take solace in this but it's hard to take. It DOES confirm what my agent said about suspension of disbelief in the setup. I'm beginning to think that my spec fiction is way over-the-top across the board, and perhaps I should stick to hard science fiction or straight thrillers. I knew that my concept had never been done before, making it a gamble from the start. I seems my presentation is what torpedoed me.
I do have a straight thriller next up that needs editing. Alas, I'll keep this editor's comments in mind when I make a major pass over it.

Still...I don't care if I have the voice of a genius and the comedy timing of Chris Rock, if you can't be believed, nobody's gonna buy it.

Close, but yet so far.

Tri

{{{tri}}}

Damn, Tri. The complimentary rejection.

Alias--seriously, you got a 2 sentence rejection on an R&R? That's cold.

Can I hang out in the Pit of Doom, if I'm just bummed over my real estate woes?

I have tequila! Lots of it.

((((Tri)))) that was a lovely, encouraging letter but ouch nonetheless.
I loathe pigeonholing.

Red, househunting woes definitely qualify you for the pit. I'll make some more guacamole.

(((Tri))) That stings, in that complimentary smacking sort of way.

I love that you are keeping us full of libations Bran, and keep that guacamole coming Fire.

Red - Ack! House hunting is stressful. I hope you find something perfect soon.

OOooh, another query R. Way to kick me while I'm down agentland.

Octavia, that seriously sucks. I'm so sorry.

Ouch, Tri. That's almost like a backhanded rejection, if that makes sense.

(((Octavia))) Why do query Rs inevitably follow full or partial Rs? It's like the poisoned cherry on top of a vomitous sundae.

Red, sorry about the house-hunting blues.

Sorry to hear this, Tri. So close. Those are the worst.

Alias - don't give up.

Thanks, guys. Y'all are a wonderful, supportive bunch. I think this is an instance where a beta reader could have warned me off at the pass. I've always resisted a beta reader out of shyness, and the fear that I would put somebody to too much trouble. Doesn't mean that we can't swap openers, trading the favor. Time to think about such strategies for future work.

Alias, those are tough, too. Especially on a full. Sounds like they're throwing you a soup bone instead of a slice of meat. I would expect something a little more on a full myself. Hell, not a complete disertation or anything. But how about an abstract on where we've gone wrong? Is a paragraph too much to ask?

Tri

Sorry to hear that, Alias and Tri.

Two rejections in the last two days. I am so sick of this.

Hang, Rose, hang. It just don't get any easier, does it?

Tri

(((((Rose)))))) Bummer.

(((gray rose))) I know what you mean. I am pretty fed up with the process. I now sort of understand how some writers plummet over the edge and become perpetually jaded. You know the ones - "mainstream publishing is against me and impossible to break into" conspiracy stuff. Yeah.

alias octavia said:

I think I've come full circle now. This agent was the very first query I sent out. Ah, those hopeful days back in the winter! I remember reading the Miss Snark querying adage about querying a project till you get 100 agents that say no. I thought It will never come to that, right? Ha. Now here I am closing in on that number, nearing the end, and no closer to anything useful.

Click to expand...

I could have written these words, only I had started querying in spring, not winter. 95+ queries, almost zero result. A bunch of non-responses, rejections, then suddenly three full requests, of which two have already rejected as well - with all kinds of compliments about the book. I have pretty much had it. I'll wait until I hear from the last agent reading the full and then probably ditch the whole darn thing.

Oh, wait, I have said this before. Several times, in fact, during the last 17+ years.

(((Bran))) Don't let it get you down.

Are these eclipses coming this month going to help us all out, or what? I keep hoping so.