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
Showing posts with label agent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label agent. Show all posts
Friday, May 28, 2010
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
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
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...
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...
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.
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.
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
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
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
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