What was it?

The mysterious package turns out to be not one but two rejections. For some reason the post office had taped them together (!?) so they would not fit through the letterbox. These two were polite, standard form letters with the usual encouragement, but both managed to get name and story title right so that's a step in the right direction.

I did stumble on something in my research which got me thinking. I've seen several blogs where they say that if you get a publishing deal you should go back to one of the agents that rejected you and ask them to handle the contract. Now with some agents I can see doing this, but with others I think I'd rather go to a new agent who hasn't seen it. There are three reasons I would not go back to an agent I can think of:

1) Unprofessional: If they can't get the right rejection slip in the right envelope, for example, are they really likely to be paying the attention to detail that I want from someone working on my book? More importantly, what about the attention to detail for anything involved with a contract review? Working in e-commerce has given me zero tolerance for this type of mistake, since sending the wrong order form or credit card details to a user is an absolute no.

2) Rudeness: "How dare you send your piffling little manuscript to our great and glorious agency?" Personally I haven't run into this one, although there are several online horror stories you can find. Nerves, and total lack of self-confidence, do make me wonder if it's just a matter of time before I get one of these. The problem is you have to wonder who else they've insulted or alienated along the way. If you won't date someone who's rude to a waiter, why work with someone who's rude to aspiring authors?

3) Wrong skillset. One of the most common rejection letters states that the agent doesn't "work in that field" / "handle that type of manuscript". Just because you now have a publishing deal for them to negotiate doesn't change this, or suddenly grant them expertise in a field they've stated they don't know. It would be like hiring a PHP programmer to review Java source code: both programmers know the same logical structures, but the nuances and specifics aren't there.

That said, not going back to one who has rejected you just because they aren't looking for new authors, or aren't taking submissions at this time, would seem rather like cutting off your nose to spite your face. There are a few I'd happily turn round to if I got a publishing deal. Unfortunately the interested publishers are US-based which really narrows my options on UK agents since I'd need one that knew the US market and law.
 
On a side note if I resurrect my own imprint I'm not paying a third party to negotiate between myself and myself - that contract and licence already exists and the publisher and writer are both very happy with it!

Is this a hint...?

Last night I had another look at the rejection, and realised that there actually is something odd about this. The slip is dated, and the only way it could have got there by the date on it is if Royal Mail own a Tardis. Either that, or the agent saw me coming; right as I was putting it in the postbox someone was already writing the rejection slip out!

To be honest, the truth is probably that they got the date wrong as well as my name and the story title, but that's both boring and prosaic. The really hopeful thought is that it was someone else's rejection slip, but realistically that does mean my manuscript was still in the rejection pile.

Then when I checked my email this morning I had a contact from someone reminding me that I still own an imprint, that it is still a registered publisher ("on hiatus") and that it could start publishing again. Then another of our original distributors contacted us asking if we had any backstock of one of my earlier books and if we could ship some to them.

Now for reasons already covered - namely the whole new dimension of work that running a publisher adds which cuts into my writing time - I really don't want to go this route. But it's really beginning to feel like something is trying to push me into it. 

Ten days to go. By then hopefully I'll have a request for a full from an agent - which will let me go back to work on #4. If not, plan B is send it to the US publisher, resurrect the publishing imprint I own over here and start phoning old contacts again, like the copyright lawyer we used to use.

First response and it's not good news - just funny.

The first of my packets was waiting for me when I got back, so I opened it quickly to get the horror over with.

Standard form rejection letter: "Sorry but we are not taking on new authors at this time". It's a polite fib, since their website is requesting new submissions, but at least it is polite. And from the page order in the envelope I can see that the last two pages of the extract were read, which is better than some agencies managed with the last one.

So, responded in good time, read the manuscript, and sent a polite form rejection; what else could you want? What red flags could be raised by such a standard letter? The reason they may drop quietly off my submission list for future books is, to be honest, slightly petty. The rejection letter stands out and not in a good way. You see, the form letter has three spaces on it - room to write the author's first name and the story name. These are three very common english words.

They got them all wrong.

Now it may just be me, and I may be being picky, but that really does not give me confidence in their attention to detail - particularly since all three words were on the letter, the synopsis, and every page of the manuscript. If these weren't obvious typos I'd wonder if it was meant for someone else.

On the other hand it gave me a laugh, and is definitely a unique rejection letter to start my collection with.

More words, and more waiting...

55,800 words on Number 4. A bit of extra research needed on a type of flying I am not familiar with, but then not many are, so hopefully there aren't very many people who would catch a mistake. I could write more, but real life (i.e. work) is getting in the way.

Still nothing from agents, but then today is work so I'm going to be busy anyway.

And of course, Endless Ocean II is out, so I know what I'm doing to relax this evening.

Waiting is the hardest part

Still no responses. From most of the agents this is not a surprise, as they have four week turnarounds.

One however has a four-day turnaround, or so their website states. I sent my manuscript out to them on 21st January, first class with an SSAE for the same. So far I have heard nothing. You could drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what nothing means:

• Was it lost in the post?
• Was the return lost in the post?
• Is the agent ill/on holiday/ very busy? (OK, agents are always very busy, but hopefully you can see my point)
• Are they too busy laughing at my pitiful attempt at writing to manage a straight rejection? (I need more confidence)
• Did they love it so much they can't let go of it? (hope beats eternal...)

So, rather than drive myself mad wondering, my beta will be glad to know that No4 just gained a thousand words or so. They're still in my notebook and not typed up yet, but it's all progress. Unfortunately for his sanity, they are in the middle of the book and not the end...

A bit of research and a conclusion

Well, I have spent a fair amount of time wading through everything I can find on agents, what they do, and how to get one, and reached a few conclusions:

1) I need a agent
2) My chances of getting one are slim
3) If I get an agent my chances of getting published are still slim
4) If I get published my chances of getting a best-seller are pretty much slim to none

So, with those cheery thoughts firmly in mind, a complete lack of confidence, and a manic grin on my face, off I go! After all, if you don't try, you definitely won't succeed.

Be vewwy vewwy quiet - we is hunting agents!

Cost of writing

Something else they don't mention is the cost. Sending out Royal Mail first class is between £2-3 per packet. Good quality envelopes that take synopsis, samples, query letters and (sometimes) CVs are not cheap - although this time I used Viking and bought in bulk.

A few random thoughts on submissions, and speeding the process.

1) Don't bother with proof of posting - since the agent isn't expecting it, they can't tell you if it doesn't arrive.
2) If you really want to make sure it gets there used signed-for. However, this might cause problems if the agent is not around to sign for it. I can't imagine many of them have the time to rush down to the local Post Office to sign for (heaps of) unsolicited queries.
3) Second class post is cheaper, but it takes longer and may not get there in as good a condition. A few extra days on a four week wait may not seem like much, but I'm impatient, and as time passes you'd be surprised at how long it can seem.

Return of manuscript is a tricky one. Some blogs recommend you save money by not including an SSAE, and just let them shred the work if they don't like it.

I have included it, for a few reasons. First, if you've used good paper and spent time on a decent printer creating your samples then depending on length it might be cheaper to get the pack back and reuse it for the next agent (and boy, does that statement make me sound confident in my work!). Second, if they are polite enough to send a rejection, they can use your SSAE for it which saves the agent time and cost. After all, they have spent their time reading your manuscript so making it easy to reply is only polite.

Third, because even a form rejection is better than dead silence at the other end.

Why an agent?

With novel number #3 going out to agents, the question that comes up is why? Why use an agent? Why not publish small press as I have before?

I'm confident enough in the story to know I could publish it small press. I've published books before with small press (ignoring the freebies on lulu, there are also six formally published with ISBNs) which have sold successfully. Between connections, conventions and more, I could confidently say I would sell between 500 and 800 copies - not bad for a small press run in an area I don't usually write in.

So why try to go mainstream now? A mix of reasons:

The traditional reason, to get your name in print, really doesn't hold. I'd rather use a pen name; I'm better known under my pen names, and more importantly I've already got books in print (just not novels).

Fame, fortune? Again, not so much. After my rant about online privacy it should be obvious how I feel about fame, and as for fortune? I'm actually happy where I am right now.

On consideration I think it's mainly curiosity: I'd like to see how one of my books does with some actual backing. Rather than just me and my informal network, how they do on a book store shelves, whether it stacks up against commercial fiction, and whether I can in fact break into a new area.

With #3 there is a strong story with more mainstream interest than many of my other works, which makes it the one with the most potential for this test and the highest chance of success. (#1 has issues, #2 is too focused on one interest and #4 is incomplete and produced in haste for NaNoWriMo, so it gets a sanity check before it goes anywhere!).

So, I have a manuscript with potential, the London Book Fair is in April, and most agents have a long turn around on whether they are or are not interested. Sounds like a good time to send it out.

Fingers crossed.