Monday, October 20, 2008

The second cut is the deepest

So I got my second rejection letter to my query for Confessions, and while I'd like to say it was easier this time around I must admit that number two actually stung a little worse. This made getting back on the writing horse this morning all the more important, and I'm happy to report that if nothing else I was successful in this regard.

Although... I've noticed that the incidence of my fellow passengers reading over my shoulder as I write seems to be only increasing over time. Too bad I can't parlay that into a query letter: "9 out of 10 commuter rail riders agree -- 'Tom Bruno's writing is so good that I just can't mind my own business as he sits and types next to me!'"

I know I'm nowhere near enough of a critical threshold of rejection letters to qualify for a pity party, so the best thing is to keep on writing, keep on polishing, and keep those query letters going out. The silver lining is that this second letter was also encouraging, so maybe I'm just looking for the right fit for this manuscript. Hope springs eternal.

1 comment:

Edmund Jorgensen said...

Sorry to hear it, Tom, especially given my high opinion of the book.

I've been papering the proverbial walls with rejection slips for a while and it gets better once it becomes a process that you no longer associate with your work or with publication in any sense. Just some papers you send and receive, and then it's such a nice shock when something even gets a handwritten or specific rejection.