Hello rock. Let me squeeze in between you and that hard place

I did a rewrite for Publisher ‘B’. Then I thought, why don’t I offer the rewrite to Publisher ‘A’ as well. Since they came close to buying the first version, I thought this versions might push them over the edge (in a good way, of course). Not wanting to be one of those stalking writers, I sought some advice from the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. I decided to re-submit it and wrote a non-stalking letter something to the effect that ‘I get that you rejected me, but here are the changes I made and would you like to take another look at it? If not, I will crawl back into my writing den never to darken your mailbox with another manuscript.’ They were thrilled that I would offer it to them again and I sent the manuscript out.

About a month later, I received an email from Publisher ‘A'. They said they thought the voice of the characters would appeal to 12 year olds, but the plot would appeal to younger children who wouldn’t get the 12 year old humour or language. Hello rock. Is that you there by that hard place? Let me squeeze in between! She added that they had reached the end of the road with this manuscript. Sigh.

The week after, I received a letter from Publisher ‘B’. It said that they liked the rewrite, the manuscript had a great deal of promise, but they didn’t have editorial resources to get it there. They left the door open for another rewrite.  This is when I left a voice mail message on a friend’s phone that went something like this:  “How much rejection can one human being possible take before they go completely  mad!?” She never phoned me back, I think she might have even left town.

That weekend I came face to face with the possibility that this might not be the manuscript that gets published. I had to remind myself that many writers don’t get published until manuscript four or five. 

Next post: Frustration pumped perseverance through my veins.