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Why Danish?
Feb. 7th, 2005 02:43 pmToday's two rejections are noteworthy, I think, and not in a good way. Oh no. No no.
One of them, on a short novelette called "Heart-Shaped Hole": "I thought the narrator should have described what she looked like." And worse: "Why are people speaking Danish in Greenland? I thought that was confusing." And on the list of "long-standing semi-pro markets I should never submit to again"....
Can I get a YARG out there, people? YARRRRG. Why on earth would they speak Danish in Greenland, anyway? How confusing of them! To speak the language thatYARRRRRG!!!
Oh, it's just too much.
The other was a book rejection. Someone who'd read an S&3* and asked for the complete manuscript of my children's book. (Middle-grade/chapter book.) Not a word on the pre-printed card except for the title of my book. Do I understand this behavior from their perspective? Of course I do. You decide you don't want a book, you'd rather spend the time on a book you might want. And in the long-term, I'd rather that you spend the time on a book you might want, too. It's just that, in all frankness, I'd rather you wanted my book.
Book rejections suck. Short story rejections are as a tap on the wrist compared to book rejections. A shower of warm rain. Etc.
I'm going to crawl under my desk and cry. Then after that I'm going to -- guess what? Work on a damn book! That's what! Because how can I get more book rejections if I don't write more books?
muttermuttermuttermutter
*S&3=synopsis and three chapters. For those of you who don't write or submit novels, this is one of the standard things you use to pitch a novel. Synopsis, or s&3, or synopsis and first N pages (editor's/agent's choice for values of N), or complete manuscript. Very often you don't send the whole book, just a smaller segment they can read and determine if it's worth their time and your paper, ink, and postage.
One of them, on a short novelette called "Heart-Shaped Hole": "I thought the narrator should have described what she looked like." And worse: "Why are people speaking Danish in Greenland? I thought that was confusing." And on the list of "long-standing semi-pro markets I should never submit to again"....
Can I get a YARG out there, people? YARRRRG. Why on earth would they speak Danish in Greenland, anyway? How confusing of them! To speak the language thatYARRRRRG!!!
Oh, it's just too much.
The other was a book rejection. Someone who'd read an S&3* and asked for the complete manuscript of my children's book. (Middle-grade/chapter book.) Not a word on the pre-printed card except for the title of my book. Do I understand this behavior from their perspective? Of course I do. You decide you don't want a book, you'd rather spend the time on a book you might want. And in the long-term, I'd rather that you spend the time on a book you might want, too. It's just that, in all frankness, I'd rather you wanted my book.
Book rejections suck. Short story rejections are as a tap on the wrist compared to book rejections. A shower of warm rain. Etc.
I'm going to crawl under my desk and cry. Then after that I'm going to -- guess what? Work on a damn book! That's what! Because how can I get more book rejections if I don't write more books?
muttermuttermuttermutter
*S&3=synopsis and three chapters. For those of you who don't write or submit novels, this is one of the standard things you use to pitch a novel. Synopsis, or s&3, or synopsis and first N pages (editor's/agent's choice for values of N), or complete manuscript. Very often you don't send the whole book, just a smaller segment they can read and determine if it's worth their time and your paper, ink, and postage.
