query / manuscript dilemma

[la_belle_laide]

So check this out, today is six weeks exactly since DAW should have gotten my query letter, and I hadn't heard back about it, (read: didn't get the rejection I'd been expecting, but then, didn't get anything, which was more frustrating.) Then yesterday the postage went up from 39 to 41 cents. SURPRISE! So I bit the bullet and called the publishers. Those of you who know me, know that I loathe--LOATHE--talking on the phone. It takes a lot for me to just walk over to that sucker and pick it up, and I cringe when it rings. But I did it anyway, because I had to find out how the SASE was going to work, since it still only had the old stamp on it.

I talked to a really young sounding guy who was very nice, and who informed me that the submissions editor had been out for a while and had recently come back to work. Now he's backlogged with tons of manuscripts and query letters. He also said that they basically are accepting unsolicited manuscripts and that those were first priority. And that although they were backlogged, he would get around to rejecting answering those before he even looked at the query letters. And that since he mostly said "yes" to all query letters as long as they were clearly in regards to fantasy or sci-fi, I could go ahead and send the manuscript anyway.

...

O_O

So now my first order of business is to freak right on out the door. My second order of business is to get cracking on tuning up the crappy manuscript. That means putting down the book I had been writing (part three, even though I'd been slacking on that, too, in part because I couldn't see, but mostly because I got lazy,) and picking up part one again. Which, for the record, I'm SICK of reading that thing. I've looked at it so much that I have blind spots, I can't tell what sucks and what doesn't anymore. It's like saying the same word over and over again, after a while it doesn't make sense.

Then there's the wait period. We're looking at months here, maybe even a year. Do I send it to the hugest company I can find and just hold my breath, go about my life, and probably have it get rejected anyway in the end? Or do I shoot for a smaller company in order to get a quicker response and move on?

Truth is, I'm going to send out a manuscript one way or another no matter what, so I know that I do have to try to make that first draft into a real manuscript. And I'm going to have to send it to some company or other soon. Question is, which?

What should I DOOOOOOOOO?

/angst

Comments

[skitty-kitty.livejournal.com]

Ah, the phone. What is it about the phone that makes it so damned loathesome? I break out in sweats when someone hands it over to me. ;)

Forgive my ignorance, but can you only send it to one company at a time, and not like multiple ones and see who gives you a yes?

Good luck either way, cuz that's so cool. xD

[la-belle-laide.livejournal.com]

Some companies let you send it to a few publishers at once, but DAW asks you not to. >_> Which I think is total crap, but hey. Like my 10 grade science teacher used to always say, "You gotta play the game. " :)

[d-r-o-n-e.livejournal.com]

Send it to DAW, then go back to writing part 3. Mention in the cover letter you send with the manuscript that you spoke with the man (did you get his name?) who said to send it on along, and that you understand they ahve a large backlog, and that you are at work on part three so will probably ahve that done or nearly so by the time they do get to the manuscript in their reading pile.

Why shoot low just because you are antsy? Writing is about discipline. Publishing is about patience.

GOOD LUCK! :D

[la-belle-laide.livejournal.com]

Thou hast spake wisely. And actually, I emailed my parents about this too, and they said pretty much the same thing. (With my Dad's added, "And if they're STUPID enough not to want your book, you can try somewhere else! And I'm not just saying that because I'm your father!" :D )

You're quite right. Also, I've waited this long, so what's a little longer? It's not like they're going to send be a chek for a million billion dollars next month. ;D

I didn't get the guy's name, though ... and then you said "cover letter" which gave me hives followed by convulsions.

[d-r-o-n-e.livejournal.com]

No worries on not getting his name, and i will help you with the cover letter. :)

[la-belle-laide.livejournal.com]

I hope you realize that there is leg-humping in our future. :D

idea

[davejackson.livejournal.com]

I am not sure if I have offered, but let me know if you need a proofreader.

I have a broad science background, but not so much in the fiction genre, but can follow a reasonable plot.

Just an offer to wade into the water ...

Dave

P.S. Tap into, and trust your intuition.

Re: idea

[la-belle-laide.livejournal.com]

You're quite right; I thought about this a lot tonight and then didn't think for a bit, and that seemed to work better. ^_^ I'm pretty sure I'm going to send it. :)