Monday, July 5, 2010

Day 31: Kinda, Not Really, More Opinion

Still need to send out last three partials... What light through yonder window break? It is the east, and Stamps, thou art the sun!

---

Summer's here and with that came Eclipse and another Twilight debate (You'd think these things would just go away but nooooo.... had to keep coming back.)

The newest debate over whether S Meyer's books are any good revolves around the issue of whether they contribute to society or not. While I am a fan of Ms. Meyer herself for opening up the literary world to many young women, some things just don't work for me.

Personally, I think they do, just not in a way I consider useful, but I'm only one person. They're very... carnal, as in appealing to the crudest of human sensations, a gateway for man's animal instincts. But contrary to what Ms. Meyer depicts, we young people are not all bundles of hormones waiting to be jumped.
No, we the modern youth still have our brains, logical senses, philosophies related to science, math, economics, history, and psychology. "[insert name here] is so hot" is not our only thought, and stalkers, however sparkly or vegetarian they may be, are still creepy.

Practical analysis:
Speaking from personal experience, I'd recently received a facebook message from a young man who a) is very good looking - sandy blond, blue eyes, tall, b) very communicative, c) drives a red convertable, d) just graduated from one of the nation's top universities and already has a job, e) athletic, and f) knows me through a few of my friends.
He started flirting, then admitted to facebook-stalking me, then finally hinted that he would be up to meet up sometimes and hang out. I told him no. Why? Is Blanche so full of herself that she can't see a good thing when it's right in front of her face? No... This -- and someone should really let Ms. Meyer know -- is what we, the youth of this generation, call "a creeper".

And Edward Cullen, I'm sorry to say, is... a creeper.

Now, my summer apartment on the second floor has a window looking in at my bed, and a tree next to said window. Though I admit to having a mad crush on a cutie at school, he would instantly become uncute if I ever found him outside my window, or anyone else's window. And if he then turned out to be a vampire, that would not make the window incident better, it would simply inspire all three of us who live here to transfer schools. I heard the deep south is accepting new sunburnt students...

So what could have improved the situation? Well, anything. Edward could have used the front door (that's what doors are for, right). He could have sent an email, or asked next time Bella saw him. Heck, if Ms. S. Meyer insists on using the window/tree combo, Edward would've been less creepy if he'd miscalculated his coordinates while skydiving and gotten stuck in the tree, and then after Bella found him, proceeded to ask her out.

Does anyone see my point?
Anyways, just a little rant for a little book that's creating lots of drama

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Day 30: Wow, it's been 30 entries...

So, newwise, I got another "no" on a partial =(. It was a romance agent who thought I needed more description... I added a little bit more, but since I'm not writing romance, I don't really care what their distinctive faces and bodies look like. I hope that's not going to be a huge factor in getting an agent...
Odd thing happened today. I got another partial request in my mail, but my box also told me I had spam. It turns out that I've had another partial request for some time; it just got sorted into spam for some reason... Feeling apologetic towards the agent =(

Material Status: ( so i figured I'd list everything I've had, and put an "x" next to the one no longer active)

Partial 1: x
Partial 2: x
Partial 3: 9 weeks (nudged)
Partial 4: 27 day
Partial 5: 18 days
Partial 6: 17 days
Partial 7: 13 days
Partial 8: x
Partial 9: not yet... stamps D:
Partial 10: prepping
Partial 11: prepping
Full 1: x
Full 2: x
Full 3: x
Full 4: 26 days
Full 5: x
Full 6: 15 days
Full 7: 14 day


Midterm tomorrow. My TA took off 3 pts out of a 10 pt assignment for an incorrectly written bibliography. Really not happy with her...
Now I have to go find out what the deal behind caffeine is. I'll say this... I was fond of coffee until I had to separate its elements. Hell must smell like Calcium Sulfate + 1-propanol + caffeine
Turned down a commission for a flash game =( No time...

Friday, June 25, 2010

Day 29: No Writer's House

Semi-personalized rejection from Writer's House. Complexing context, interesting character, overall no go. I'm starting to think there's something wrong with the first chapters... Based on the comments, I don't think anyone's made it past chapter 14 yet... maybe the seeming-irrelevant-details-but-are-totally-clues-to-the-mystery's-solution need to be a bit more obvious.

I had a nagging thought yesterday after one of my... older friends (she's 35) read it and said that maybe my context is "too complex" for YA. I can't tell if she means I should try YA literary fiction or if I should put the book under Adult Mystery.
Either way, I hope it's not because she thinks teens and YA's aren't as smart as adults, because we very much are, thank you very much. Maybe not metaphysically, but logically, I'm pretty sure teens and adults have equally capacity...

Got another partial request. They want snail mailed partial. Need stamps... again. I think the bane of my existence is now stamps.

Good news: Lost my wallet the day before yesterday. Found it today. =)

Material Status:

Partial 1: 8 weeks (will nudge in a few days)
Partial 2: 21 day
Partial 3: 12 days
Partial 4: 11 days
Partial 5: 7 days
Partial 6: 7 days
Partial 7: not yet... stamps D:
Full 1: 20 days
Full 2: x
Full 3: 9 days
Full 4: 8 day

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Day 28: Waiting, TV and Homework

Loving the Gilmore Girls right now. Great source of stress relief.

Confession time: So I finally decided to query Writers House, and two weeks ago, I got a full manuscript request. It's been two weeks currently, and so far, I've heard nothing from them. Querytracker tells me that most people hear within 2 weeks, or if not, get either "revise and resubmit" or "so close but reject because the assistant quit on me".
I was pleased until five minutes ago, when I realized that they could have very well not received my email in the first place. My email was malfunctioning that day, I remember, as when I clicked "Save Draft" it told me "Message sent" (cue lots of screaming and cursing).
I really want Writers House, but I don't want to think about it anymore... Must watch more Gilmore Girls

Material Status:

Partial 1: 7 weeks (will nudge in 8 weeks)
Partial 2: 18 day
Partial 3: 9 days
Partial 4: 9 days
Partial 5: 4 days
Partial 6: 4 days
Full 1: 17 days
Full 2: 14 days
Full 3: 6 days
Full 4: 5 day

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Day 27: Back in school

Classes start tomorrow. Not sure if I'm suppose to have a roommate or not, but the apartment is empty for now. Got locked out yesterday because the manager didn't feel like coming to give me the key after I got off the plane. I ended up stranded outside, standing by myself for 30 minutes before a friend came to rescue me and feed me. Thank God for God and good friends.

Material Status:

Partial 1: 7 weeks (will nudge in 8 weeks)
Partial 2: 16 day
Partial 3: 7 days
Partial 4: 7 days
Partial 5: 2 days
Partial 6: 2 days
Full 1: 15 days
Full 2: 12 days
Full 3: 4 days
Full 4: 3 day

Dear Santa,

Please tell me somewhere in there is an agent who'd give me a change =(

Blanche

Friday, June 18, 2010

Day 26: Stamps again...

Why is the post office never open when I'm awake? Well, I'm fixing that today. I'm going to print and submit today for sure!

It's funny, as an artist, I use to worry about wasting paper all the time. I never used blank paper, or even new canvases. Everything was on the back of something (mostly homework) and my AP Art teacher even gave me all the old canvases people left behind (about 30-40). Heck, even the rough draft of my book was written on the back of old statistics and econ homework.


Material Status:

Partial 1: 6 weeks? (should probably nudge)
Partial 2: 14 day
Partial 3: 5 days
Partial 4: 5 days
Partial 5: ... hasn't sent out yet. (No stamps ._.)
Partial 6: ... hasn't sent out yet. (No stamps ._.)
Full 1: 13 day
Full 2: 10 days
Full 3: 2 days
Full 4: 1 day

Oh, and here's a painting I finished yesterday. The lighting's not great, but I thought I'd share.


Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Day 25: Requests

Oh boy... so I need stamps now, because the last two agents who requested partials want snail mail packages. I'm also a little broke, being a college student and all. My parents are lending me a little for the process, but they're not exactly literary people and would rather I spend my time studying science instead of writing.

I ran my plot and theme against a professor of mine, and she said that if my book as a intricate as what I told her, there shouldn't be any problems on getting it published. The problem, she said, was that agents may not see the theme initially unless I tell them, so I should revise my query to state my point more clearly.

So I sent more (revised) queries out yesterday, mostly because the wait is killing me, and two came back this morning: one for a partial, one for a full, both for a synopsis.

So far...

Status

Queries sent: 38
Query Rejections: 19
Material Requests: 14
Waiting on: 5

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Day 24: To do list...

Things to get done before the end of next week:

1. Study for physics final.
2. Pack up dorm room and locate lost wallet.
3. Get some stamps and re-query Mr. R. (No stamps = no snail mail queries or partials)
4. Sign lease on apartment
5. Drop off wrongly graded chem lab for regrade
6. Make list of agents already queried
7. Debug friend's computer
8. E-mail agent with MIA partial
9. Stop querying and study for MCAT

Status

Queries sent: 35
Query Rejections: 13
Material Requests: 10
Waiting on: 12

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Day 23: More Requests...

Got another full request last night. I'm starting to wonder if I should re-query the first few agents I got material requests from. Thinking back, my book has changed a lot from what the first two agent read in my first martial.

One of these agents happens to be for a big agency, which thinking back, I probably shouldn't have queried until now. Yet, it was from those two rejections that several of these changes came to be, as in the story went from...

"quiet girl meets interesting smart guy, talk about their respective hobbies, fall in love, and through him, meets many interesting ghosts, and learns what it means to truly love someone."

to:

"former cheerleader runs into a nerd and engages in a competition of logic and trust with him over a set of disappearing ghosts. love ensues and so do evil spirits, and ultimately, everyone learns the vital importance of sharing information."

I wonder if I should re-query those first agents...

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Day 22: Tracking stats...

I'm currently procrastinating instead of studying for my chem final. Justine's blog gave me this idea.

Book: SftOS - 4 pieces of material out/ suppose to be out?

Partial 1: 5 weeks?
Partial 2: 1 day
Partial 3: ... hasn't sent out yet. (No stamps ._.)
Full 1: 1 day

Everything else usually came back in 1-3 weeks ._.

---

Dear Santa Claus,

This year for Christmas, I'd like an agent and a .5 GPA boost.

Sincerely,

Blanche

Friday, June 4, 2010

Day 21: More stuff...

Semi-personalize rejection from Nathan on partial. I'm not surprised or disappointed. =) He'll still be my favorite agent until I find one of my own.

Another full and partial request today/ yesterday respectively... I get about 1 email back a day...

Status

Queries sent: 35
Query Rejections: 13
Material Requests: 9
Waiting on: 13

Friday, May 28, 2010

Day 20: Queries here, Queries there

More emails finally coming back... still none of the ones with pages. I've decided to send out more queries since I'm stuck in the computer lab for a while.

So after blogging yesterday, my computer charger decided that it hates me and snapped itself in two. As a result, that partial I was suppose to send Nathan yesterday got delayed until tomorrow, because that's when the replacement charger's coming.

Status

Queries sent: 35
Query Rejections: 10
Material Requests: 7
Waiting on: 18

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Day 19: Smile! =D

Life = Win!

Been having a bit of a slump lately. After sending out 17 queries and realizing that their average response time is... a month x_x (ranging from 3 weeks to "??? wait you want a reply?"), I decided to have more readers around the floor read my novel. I got some quality feedback from one girl. Did a massive add/edit to my novel that changed/ improved everything.

So yesterday, I finally got the courage up to query Nathan Bransford, and this morning... 30 page partial request! =D

I'm so happy that my roommate and I set off party poppers!

...and accidentally scared the RA (^_^; oops...)

Monday, May 24, 2010

Day 18: Midterms and Requests

Got my chem midterm back. Did a lot better than I thought. The grades were a mess though... Most people failed and the average was a D. I was scared at first because everyone I talked to got 400-something for spect-orange absorption and I got 620nm. Turns out it was actually 620.

Also got an interview for research. Hoping for some research. Beryllium is my new chemical partner.

Another full request. I've decided to put a little more color in my main character. The other agent who had my full responded with a negative, but gave some feedback. She said the quality of writing was one of the best she's seen in a while (yay?) but the main character needs more thoughts and emotions. I was attempting to show a development of emotions in an initially stoic character, but it seems that the point wasn't well perceived.
I gave the girl some more thoughts and feelings through the narration. Hopefully that solves the problem.

Sun's up, once more around, faces down.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Day 17: Too quiet...

I can't stand the silence anymore, so I went ahead and filed off 5 more queries. I'd like to hear back from somebody, even if it's just a rejection. My friends aren't in a literary mood right now. They just finished Azimov's Foundation series, and have decided to wait for each other to discover another good book. Meanwhile, we've got a deck of cards...

My second book is coming out nicely, but the Physics midterm tomorrow is not giving me a chance to write.

Can't wait for the weekend...

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Day 16: Kind of quiet...

Nothing happen anymore. I haven't gotten a e-mail from anyone for a week. Maybe I should have sent out a "query only" query last week so that I'd have some kind of news this week...

In the meantime, I've had more people on my floor edit my book. A sort of "experiment", if you will. I sat four of my friends down and asked them to read my novel to the point where they get bored. The results were very interesting.

A (boy): Chapter 2 midway, went to play Starcraft
B (boy): Chapter 3, started homework
C (girl): Chapter 5, had to go to class
D (girl): Chapter 20, it was 2 am in the morning...

They also gave me some helpful feedback, so it's back to editing. I think I've read my own novel enough times that I've memorized the first 5 chapters...

I wonder if there's such a thing as "over-editing"? While personally I can live with the quality and progression of my novel, I can't help but think that it can always be improved. Words rephrased, humor redone, dialog rewritten to give the character the extra flair that we value in interesting people.

Or it could just be 5-am in the morning thinking...

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Day 16: Two days, four hours of sleep...

I'm so glad no one but my lab partners can see me right now, especially since cute guys #1 and #2 both live in the next building. Round two of midterms are here, and this time they brought projects. At the rate this is going, everyone will look like Edward Cullen (giant bags under eyes from lack of sleep) by the end of the day. Even the girls...

Just once, I'd like two days to sit and work on my book. No distractions, no angry people screaming the F-word down the hall, no professors averaging 30% on a midterm with no curve. Why? Prof. Pang? Why?

I've started looking for research and realized how un-capitalisitic it is. Here are mobs of intelligent pre-med students fighting tooth and nail, practically getting on their knees and groveling for the chance to contribute free labor to an already established professor and his project so that when they succeed, said professor can become even more established. All for a piece of paper from the professor that basically tells med school that the kid isn't stupid. It's inefficient, it's outrageous, it's... something I want almost as badly as I want this book published.

Now I must leave. I promised my partners I'd help them finish the lab...

PS: I am curious. To all the writers out there: Do you feel comfortable sharing your queries with the public? Or do you feel there's a reason to hide it?

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Day 15: More queries

So I couldn't resist sending out two more queries, one of them being to another agent at CB (Nathan's agency, but not to Nathan. I'm building up courage to querying him...) I hope their policy isn't "no from one means no from everyone".

Still editing book... no matter how many times I do it, something can always be improved

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Day 14: I misread...

Chem midterm tomorrow. I'm nervous. Please God, give me an A...

Also heard back from another agent. No go =(

Funny thing happened today, so I apparently, I read the name of the full-manuscript-requesting agent wrong. It wasn't my partial-requesting-agent; their names are just similar. The partial the full-manuscript-requesting agent was referring to was actually the attached first five pages at the bottom of the email. So in other words...

Status

Queries sent: 8
Query Rejections: 3
Silence: 1

Partial Requests: 2
Whole Manuscript Requests: 2
Partial to Whole Requests: 0

Partial rejections: 1
Whole rejections: 1

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Day 13: Reply from partial

Lots of midterms lately, so I haven't had any time to deal with the querying process. I decided earlier this quarter that I wanted better grades, even if it means putting the queries on hold for a month and a half.

So today I got a reply from the partial I sent out two weeks ago. It asked to see the full. I have to say, it's a huge relief because my first few chapters are slower than the rest of the book. If she got through the beginning and is still interested in it... then maybe luck is on my side for once?

Status

Queries sent: 8
Query Rejections: 2
Silence: 3

Partial Requests: 2
Whole Manuscript Requests: 1
Partial to Whole Requests: 1

Partial rejections: 1
Whole rejections: 1

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Day 12: No More Queries for a While

Please excuse the poor structure and misspellings. I have not slept in 24 hrs...

Today my roommate pointed out to me that my query rejection to request ratio is 1:1, which makes her think that the query will fetch more requests as long as I keep sending it out. That being said, she also notes that my manuscript rejections were form rejections. We concluded that there's something off about the manuscript. When reading it through the first few chapters, we spotted a few places where the conversation is fun but pointless. Now I'm going through the thing again, assigning points to the pointless.

Moody guys on the floor going around cursing everyone else. Some of the girls and gay guys suspect that it's because the year is almost over and none of them have had a date. Too bad they don't like NyQuil...

Monday, April 12, 2010

Day 11: Another Partial

Another partial request, though this one's asking for an author bio. I'm a little intimidated. Writing-wise, I have very few achievements (except the ability to wrangle A's from teachers who start quarters with "I do not give A's" /end german accent and joke/) and the fact that I'm an undergraduate student can't help either.

I can draw, but I'm not sure how much that's going to help...



Status

Queries sent: 8
Responses: 4

Partial Requests: 2
Whole Manuscript Requests: 1
Query Rejections: 2

Partial rejections: 1
Silence: 3

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Day 10: Start of New Manuscript

While working on my other manuscript, I wrote detailed outlines for the rest of the series (4 books in total, follows concept not characters).
Yesterday I realized how much I hated waiting, so I started another book. I got about 13k words in before the day was over, and about 1/8th of the way through. Moving a bit fast, but I'll go back and edit later.
Today I realized I still hate waiting, and have decided to send out more queries. One of my friends asked me why I wanted to publish a book so much, and it got me thinking. I don't know if it's the right way to go about it, but I want to go to graduate school not as another statistic, but as something different, like Tiramisu at a cake-baking contest. Not the most moist or the sweetest, but still good.
In a way, I think it's okay to be both literary and scientific. It doesn't have to be an "either or" like the university has designed it to be. It doesn't have to be a contest. Why can't people diagnose patients during the day and paint a picture at night? Society preaches specialization because it's efficient, but not for the individual. Because personal happiness is less useful than group progress. To the individual, his happiness is worth X amount, but to everyone else, it's worth less. Just as having a hot date is good for those involved, but worthless to bystanders. Social progress benefits everyone, which then leads to the work of others benefiting the self.
By this logic, people are naturally selfish.
Money. What good is a pile of money if the only thing you do during the day is watch TV? Anyone can do that. Anyone can enjoy life. So what good is that money?
Freedom; that's the only I can think of that's useful. To buy what you want, to have access to resources, to alleviate boredom. That's the point of money. People constantly worry about being bored. And yet, if we learn to entertain ourselves with our minds, then all of that is worthless. Someone who can dream is happier than someone who buys dreams, each lasting only for a moment.

I need to keep editing my manuscripts... Manuscripts; the word still sounds funny.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Day 9: More Queries and Silence

No replies so far, so I sent out two more queries. More waiting.

I finally got tired of waiting, so I started another book. The more I write, the more I realize that reading is crucial. Many of my female friends are avid readers, and they seem to be able to hold an intelligent conversation. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the guys. I'm normally not a feminist, but a few (not all) are starting to make me feel I should be one. The average conversation topic ranges from the type of girl they wish to "do" (blonde, thin, buxom, ect...) to why the rest of us are not improving ourselves.
I would rather not comment on a person's outer appearance past "pretty" and "plain", but at one point, I felt like pointing out that as "unappealing" as "the rest of us" are, they themselves could a) use a shower, b) use a shave, and c) hit the gym. Or at least try not to fail out of school. Again, this goes back to entitlement. I'm afraid, in twenty years, I will find my old college buddies in their midlife crisis, without hair or a job, whining about their shrew of a wife. Does common sense no longer exist?

As a side note: one of them, after I asked him to "at least not show up screaming drunk while everyone else is working," pointed out that I, along with the rest of the literary world, are "so snobby. I mean, you guys sit in bookstores and read for fun." What do I say to that?

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Day 8: Full Request, Names and Entitlement

First, I've been wanting to say this all day, so I'll say it now:



Okay, now that that's over, I can get back to my manuscript. This is the God-knows-how-may times I've edited this thing, and I'm still changing the wording here and there like it was a bloody rough draft. I feel like I'm getting into a car only to realize that it drives differently everyday. Today, it seems to be going sideways only.

The strangest thing happened today. My friend looked over at my computer, gave me a evil grin, and said "How's retirement, Blanche?".
She finally stopped when I threatened to call her "Scruffy" from now on, but I think it's her way of telling me the name sounds old. If anyone hasn't realized by now, "Blanche King" isn't my name; it's something I picked for brevity's sake. Now I'm thinking the name sounds old... but I still like it.

Another topic: Entitlement.

While visiting a friend's house during break, I had a chance to discuss the concept of entitlement with some of the better-off people of society. I've already heard the opinions of the middle and lower classes on social injustice, but the upper class had some interesting points to make. For one thing, some feel that they are all being judged based on the actions of a few, as in saying "all rich people are snobby " is the same as saying "all poor people are lazy". Neither holds any truth, but both are equally hurtful.
The general consensus is that, while some have inherited their fortunes, many have made their own, only to be later condemned for it. "We followed the rules and earned what we have. There's nothing shameful in either of those." I have to say they make a good point.
Looking around my university, I see different study habits. I see the ones who go out and get drunk every night (and puke all over the hallways...ew) and then the ones who set up a daily studying schedule and go to every class. As an economics major, I have to plead opportunity cost: effort made will pay, effort not made will not pay.
The concept applies to society in general (with few exceptions) and yet it is by the exception that we judged society. For example, a young man may have suffered a parental loss and had to drop out of school to care for his family. As a result, though he worked hard, he is not paid well for his effort. Similarly, a young man may not have worked at all in school, and using his parent's money, he paid his way into a brand name college and subsequently received a large trust fund. Both situations are statistically rarer than their counterparts (that man, after hard work, will achieved what he deserves).

So after much thought, I've decided to change my views to follow opportunity cost. Economically, it makes sense. There is no such thing as "no one deserves that much money". If they do not deserve it (most of the time) they will not have it to begin with. And even if they do have it, chances are they won't have it for long.

Teaching a man to fish is better than giving him a fish.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Day 7: Games, Chemistry, Query and Contest

Sent out another query. She's a popular agent, so I don't know how long it's going to take for her to reply. Oh well, es la vida.

I've been editing my manuscript and playing Sims all yesterday. The thing looked fine the last time I went through it, but I found more things I didn't like when I was reading it today. (Maybe it secretly changed itself when I'm asleep?) Either way, more cutting and rewriting for me.

As for today, the problem is Acetic Acid 5%. I have its formulaic weight, solubility, pH, specific gravity and density, but where in the world am I suppose to find "role as an explosion and fire hazard"? Isn't it enough that it is a fire hazard, and therefore should be kept away from the Bunsen burner? Anyways, back to work...

Check out this contest for YA writers. It could be your lucky break. =)
http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/

Oh, on a side note, I've discovered an interesting double standard while talking with some of my guy friends. According to them, it is acceptable for a man to look sloppy and/or fat, but not for a woman. Yet, similarly, it is okay for a woman to be unemployed and respectable at the same time, but not for a man. By their logic, the two balance each other out, and so illustrates (in the big picture) that sexism does not exist. I'm not saying I agree with them, but it is a new perspective for thought.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Still Day 6: Twilight Debate

Living in a college dorm practically screams mixed opinions. Many debates have arisen lately between the few who enjoy Twilight and the masses who don't. (Correlation of preference here: as age goes up, enjoyment goes down) The arguments on both sides are acceptable, but not always reasonable. For example, Edward Cullen is many things, but "retarded [censored]" is not one of them. As I type this blog, people around me are exchanging opinions.

My Thoughts:

I do not like Twilight, not as a book or as a movie. It is not the popularity; it is the buckets of corn it's managed to create out of modern teenage girls. People can no longer walk across campus without being lectured about "the ideal man", and anyone currently named "Edward" must now deal with the "reeeaaalllly?" and the "I'm sorry".
Unfortunately, many women have failed to recognize the fatal flaw in Edward Cullen: he is a cheesy prat. Pretend for one minute, ladies, that you are not Bella Swan, but one of her human friends. How would you feel if, after years of getting the cold shoulder from this guy, he instantly takes a liking to the new girl and starts spewing stuff about them being soul mates? Trash can, anyone?
That being said, I don't dislike Stephanie Meyer. In fact, I appreciate her. Quality characters or not, she's opened up the literary market to more Young Adult fiction. More people are buying books. More people are reading books. Education all around. So for that, she deserves a round of applause.

Day 6: Cover Trial and Rejection


Yesterday, I heard from one of my other queried agents, and she rejected my query. My first rejection; I was kind of excited. Now I have one partial, one full, one rejection, and one waiting. Patterns, anyone?

While taking a break from studying, I made this. I know I'm not allowed to pick my cover if I do get my book published, but it's something to look at while I dream.

Status
Queries sent: 4
Responses: 3
Partial Requests: 1
Whole Manuscript Requests: 1
Query Rejections: 1
Partial rejections: 1

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Day 5: Bad Grades, Manuscript Request

One of the misfortunes of not being forty is an inability to recognize when I've got too much on my plate. My grades came back yesterday, and I did wonderful in both English and Biology, but abysmally in Economics, my own major. As of now, I've resorted to begging my professor to reconsider the grade he gave me. It's with regrets that I now have to shut down my art commissions business. No income for a while, until I get my grades up again.

On another note, two more queries sent last night, and one came back requesting a full manuscript. No rejections yet, but the one I sent last week is awfully quiet. Strange ...

Status
Queries sent: 4
Responses: 2
Partials sent: 1
Whole Manuscript Requests: 1
Partial rejections: 1

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Day 4: Lots of Updates

Two weeks of no writing; I'm embarrassed, but at least Finals are over. Now I'm on Spring Break. In the past two weeks:

- Partial came back. No go. The plot was "Too casual", so I'm putting more content. I'm not really disappointed, since the manuscript was shallow, and I'm thankful for the suggestion. There are plenty of hormonal girls out there already; I don't need to add another. I'm afraid my book is about to turn literary... Hopefully not. Commercial fiction is my forte.

- Read a wonderful play, which is helping me with speech pattern and getting rid of excessive words. "Trite", "Sin" and "Carnal embrace". Wonderful.

- Finals happened. I will say this about it: my fear of getting bad grades is greater than my fear of query rejection. Maybe this is a good thing. I wonder if all student authors feel that way.

Status
Queries sent: 2
Responses: 1
Partials sent: 1
Partial rejections: 1
Whole Manuscript Requests: 0

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Day 3: Small Updates

Nothing exciting so far... sent out the manuscript on Monday, but haven't heard back yet. Websites say that it usually takes agents a month to get back to writers, which I suppose is good news. I have to study for finals.

In the meantime, my manuscript has shrunk a bit. I found some chapters clunky after another read, so another 3000 words hit the recycling bin between chapters 4 and 5. Now I'm down to 84,000. My roommate points out that Chapter 6, 17, and 20 need to slow down even more... maybe that's where I'll make up for the extra words.

An amazing new idea hit me yesterday. I was looking through my stack of feedback when I realized that my Spirit World ended up being "just funny". This is suppose to be a mystery...
After I worked in my new idea, I gave the revised story to some of the guys in the study lounge, and they agreed that it was much better. (My book is chick-lit, but I hope it won't turn into Twilight-chick-lit. Most of my friends are guys, and I don't want them throwing it at me later if it ever gets published.)

It's amazing how, no matter how many times I read it through, I can always find something to improve upon. I believe Tony Morrison said something about revision being a never ending process, but I wish she mentioned when it'd be a good time to send in the manuscript. Here's to hoping I didn't send it in too early...

I don't think I'm suppose to send out more queries until I get my partial back. I heard that partials are suppose to be exclusive...

Status
Queries sent: 1
Responses: 1
Partials sent: 1
Whole Manuscript Requests: 0

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Day 2: Reply!

If I knew how to cartwheel, I would. Yesterday, after sending out my query, I read online that the agent I sent it to normally does not reply within two weeks, if at all. I admit, that made me a little depressed.

But this morning, I received an e-mail from him, asking for the first 50 pages of my manuscript. Can this be true? I've asked my roommate to pinch me to make sure I'm not dreaming. So far, it hurts.

I'm not sure what this means, but I believe it's a good start. In the mean time, I should probably print out the rest of my chapters and find a manuscript box.

Where in the world would I go to find the box?

Status
Queries sent: 1
Responses: 1
Whole Manuscript Requests: 0

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Day 1: The search of an agent begins

Now that I've finally finished editing my manuscript for Sincerely, From the Other Side, I figured that I'd start a blog to monitor the progress of my agent search. Not that I expect it to end within a few days or even weeks, but it never hurts to be organized for once. Who knows? Maybe someday I'll look back at this and laugh.

As for today, I've decided to send just one query letter out; the rest of them still needs editing/ personalizing. I keep getting this nagging feeling that one of these days, I'll end up sending Agent Jones's letter to Agent Smith and vice versa. That would be terrible, worse than the angry bee that chase me today.

I've also been looking through agents' and writers' webpages. Someone has been looking for an agent for two years now and still has nothing but rejections. I wonder if that's normal, or if I'm going to end up just like him. I wonder if I should give up after two years...

On a side note, it's raining outside. My roommate is out getting takeout for us... she lost the game of rock-paper-scissors earlier.


Status
Queries sent: 1
Responses: 0