Received request for a partial!!

Well folks, since making this post I've received another request for a partial from Verna Dreisbach. And not only that, Pam Strickler has asked to read the whole manuscript.

Guess who's doing a happy dance???

That calls for a tune by the band too Jenny! Congratulations!

Thanks Pam.

Thanks, Shelagh.

I know I'm in for a long wait before anything else happens, but it's good to know that my query letter has caught people's attention. Here's hoping the manuscript does too!

While you wait, you could always write a short story for the anthology. It will be out long before your novel and it might find some new readers for you. "Always leave them wanting more." A short story might be just the thing to spark interest in reading one of your novels.

Is that some kind of put-down for short stories?

Oh Dick, how could you say that? Bad hair day? Short stories are much more difficult to write than full-length novels. If you can produce excellent short stories, then it as good an indication as there is that you can write and write well.

Don't worry, Shelagh. Ol' Stodgy is just being his normal crabby self.

I beg your pardon! I consider myself sweet and lovable. So does my hamster, provided I have a treat in hand.

Congrats on the requests, Jenny. You are liable to have people fighting over it!

Hi Zada,

What a lovely thought!

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd bring you up to speed on the submissions. I wish I could say that I'd received an offer for representation - I haven't. In fact, I'm still waiting to hear back on the partials and fulls that I've submitted. I know agents are busy people, but it's getting on for 3 months now. I've decided to give them one more week, then I'm going to send off a polite enquiry to find out what's happening.

I think that's wise Jenny. Sometimes they simply forget and a friendly reminder can only help.

Jenny, a polite enquiry certainly won't hurt anything, and as Abe said, maybe they just need a friendly reminder. I still have my fingers crossed, and boy, is typing ever a pain!!

Sometimes I wonder why we subject ourselves to this torture. Will we never learn?

One agent I queried replied back that she was leaving her former genre
and was specializing in another, so she actually wrote an email to two
agents and recommended my work. I was thrilled because I recognized the
two names. They were tops. Finally, I thought, I had a foot in the
door. One month later, the first agent sent the standard note, 'Not for
me.' I was disappointed, but still had hopes for the other one. Three
long months later, I received a short note from her saying she was just
too busy with her full client list to even read the three chapters and
synopsis, to try again later. I could've cried.

So did I learn? Yes and no. No, because I'm still at it, sending and
hoping for representation, going through the torture all over again.
Yes, because I realize more than ever that to attract the top names in
today's market, I have to write something so fantastic that no one
would dare turn it down.

So on to the next project. No matter how torturous this business is, I
can't quit. Like it or not, I'm compelled to write. And, I want to
submit a short story to the Writer's Digest contest. I may post it here
for feedback, if y'all would care to look at it. I know the odds of
winning, but to even place would be a nice credit on my query. So I'll
be going through another torture for several months until the winners
are announced next year. See? We never learn.

So Jenny, I'm pulling for you and everyone else who feels the same way, which is most of us here.

Best of luck to you with your Writer's Digest submission, Brenda. I think we all feel the same way, and the learning comes as you said, when we strive to write something so fantastic ...

Thanks, Zada. I hope, if I post the short story, you’ll offer some feedback. We have some darn good writers here and I value everyone’s opinion.

I thought about your anthology, Shelagh, but this story isn’t about friendship. It’s a mystery/suspense.

Brenda,
I admire your persistence. You would have been a great asset to me in my past business.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not;
nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not;
unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of
educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The
slogan “Press On” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human
race."
- Calvin Coolidge

Thanks, Abe. I wish I could say I’m determined in everything I do, but it’s a case of priorities. You should see my procrastination with other things. Well, actually, you shouldn’t see it. I'd be embarrassed. I have to wash dishes now because, in my quest to write, rewrite, and edit my short story, plus sending my novel to new agents, I’ve used all the clean dishes in my kitchen. Since I have my set plus my mother’s, that should paint a picture of priorities.

Brenda, my grandmother always said never give up and I plan on following her advice. I've just sent off a very polite note to one agent's assistance enquiring on the status of my manuscript. As they've now had it for some 15 weeks and the response time on the website says 8-12, I hoping that this is a good sign and someone else in the agency is reading it.

However, being the pessimist I am, I have my doubts.

Like you Brenda, I'm trying to use my time wisely. I've too have entered a competition - Mills and Boon - the closing date is friday. I'm also trying to work on book three, but for some reason I can't drum up much enthusiasm, probably due to the fact I've had such a good response to my query for book two and am longing to receive feedback from the various agents I've queried.

It's difficult, Jenny, to concentrate when you're hoping to hear something. I know. But we need to forge ahead and keep on keeping on. At least if the closing date on your short story is this Friday, you might not have such a long time to wait.

Please let us know when you hear from the agents. Talk about nail-biting time.

Brenda, if you post the shsort story in the forum, be sure to use the private section Shelagh set up for us. I would love to read it.

Thanks Zada. I appreciate the encouragement.

Jenny, here are two examples for follow up. Simply choose A or B.
Example A:

To whom it may concern:

I am pissed at your lack of courtesy in responding to my submission. Without writers, you have no job. Either you haven’t read my submission yet or you are already looking for other employment.
If I don’t hear from you within the next three days, I’m canceling my
submission and informing my network of writers that you are unemployed.

In case you forgot, the title of my submission is: “The Last Word.”

Without regret,

Your last chance employer

Or, Example B:

Dear Mr. (Editor).

I was pleased to submit my manuscript to your publishing house on the 3^rd
of February. I am waiting with anticipation for your review of my work.

Would you be so kind and let me know the status of my submission?
For your easy reference, the title of my submission is: “The Best Yet.”

Thank you for your response.

Sincerely,

Frederick the Great.