Sigh….
April 25th, 2008 by SaraSigh…
Today in the mail, I received the bane of a writer’s existence. “Your work was given careful consideration by one of our editors, and we are sorry to say that we do not feel like it is right for our list.” ARGGGGGGG!
The form letter has the power to derail you like nothing else. That’s because it is exactly that, nothing. You can’t fight back against it. You can’t rage against its harsh judgment. You can’t even scream ‘THEY’RE WRONG.” It’s pretty hard to argue against a non-opinion about your work.
And, of course as writers, we start imagining. Picturing the assistant editor’s assistant who looked at your pages. She sneered at them. She didn’t even bother getting to the second paragraph. She just cackled evilly to herself.
“I wouldn’t sully my pen by writing a single word on this manuscript. The ink would probably eat through those terrible metaphors anyway. How dare such filth be sent to this fine establishment! Ban the Sara-woman for life!”
I will not let the reality of my experiences and conversations with perfectly nice editors get in the way of my imagination either. The assistant is actually a dragon, sitting in her cave, surrounded by manuscripts instead of treasure. She roasts the truly despicable ones… I can even see the singe marks around the edges of my story now. Can’t you?
Whew. I’m actually feeling pretty lucky now. I’m sure the worst authors get kidnapped and skewered for dinner. At least, I escaped that fate.
Flap. Flap. Flap. Do you hear that strange noise?
AHHHHHHHHHHH!
Posted in Not-so-nifty happenings, Writing
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3 Responses to “Sigh….”
April 28th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Sara,
let’s take a little of that WHUMP! WHOMP! energy from the drumming and open up the can of WHUMP *$$ motivation they mailed you with that lame form rejection letter.
Think about this: the best revenge will be success, HUGE success!
You are a great writer, and they just lost out on something really special.
So, WHUMP! WHOMP! On to the NEXT prospect – you’ve got the gold, you just need to find the right editor, editor’s assistant, and assistant to the assistant editor who KNOW treasure when they’ve got it in their hands!
So take that rejection letter, put it on the floor, and STOMP on it!
WHUMP!
YOU ARE A DRAGON, TOO!
WHOMP! WHUMP!
And you’ve GOT the treasure, by golly!
WHOMP! WHUMP! WHOMP!
GIVE A GOOD ROAAAR, AND SOAR INTO THE SKY!
You’ll get there. I KNOW it.
Your fan,
Lee
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