Excitement...a bite!!!

On Monday morning, I started out the day as I've started every day for the past week and a half. I sent out another couple of query letters to agents for my novel, Seeking Blue. I had already sent 11 others  and hadn't received any responses, so I wasn't expecting much.

The kids were still in their pajamas (they were off school) and flitting about the house, dancing or singing or doing some other activity to which I was clearly not paying attention. My mother called and I chatted with her for our weekly check-in, and informed her (as usual) that nothing very exciting had happened lately, just status quo in little old Fort Collins. A mid-April snow fall; Tanya's at work; I'm hanging with the kids and Ella's friend today; everything's fine at work; kids are good, you know the drill. I offered the phone to Ella.

It hadn't been an hour since sending my query. I scanned my gmail account and saw that I had a new email, with "Novel Submission" in the subject line.

Dear Andrew Kensley,

Thank you so much for your query.  Please could you send me the first three chapters of SEEKING BLUE as an email attachment in DOUBLE SPACING with the word REQUESTED as the subject line.

all best wishes

Caroline 

I nearly fell off my chair. Then I screamed at the top of my lungs. "I got a bite! I got a bite! Ella, give me the phone!" 

I told my mother the good news, but I'm not sure she heard what was really going on over my blubbering and panting. I gave the phone back to Ella and she chatted a few more minutes with my mom.

After Ella hung up, she and Sophia rejoiced with me, giving me lots of hugs and wishing me congratulations, which made me feel so proud, I can't even describe it. They shared in my joy, as Tanya and I strive to share in theirs. 

After we calmed down (slightly), Sophia asked, "What does it mean?"

I explained to her with details that a 7-year-old could understand, about the spirit-breaking, resolve-testing, thankless process of trying to get an agent to read your book, and then represent it. Without using phrases like "impossible," or "painstakingly difficult," or "energy-sucking," I told her and Ella that you send an agent (multiple agents) a letter with the basic plot of your book, a little about yourself, maybe a sample chapter and a synopsis (depending on their submission guidelines on their websites), and then...wait. If you're lucky, they ask you for some sample chapters, and more if they like what they've read. If you're like 99.9999% or writers in the world, you get a polite form rejection letter that begins with "Dear Author...," or nothing. Ever.

Honestly, I was thrilled that someone even read my letter. I got to work with an email reply, pasted the first 3 chapters onto a separate document an attached them, checked every bloody word about 15 times, and sent it off. I've been checking my email about every two minutes since then for another response from the agency.

Nothing yet, but I did receive my first rejection email from an agent to whom I submitted a query last week. In a polite, professional and personal response (they're not all chain-smoking, caffeine-sucking grouches, as I've read), he praised my writing's "poise and polish" but said he wasn't "connecting wholeheartedly" to it, whatever that means. 

I'm still excited that my query letter didn't suck, at least to those particular agents. 

The saga continues.