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Mailbox. But first a short recap: In early January, I finished the first draft of the sequel, already contracted, called The Cracked Throne. So I sent it in, addressed to my editor, with a cover letter, and sent an email to my editor and agent saying it was in the mail and on the way. I immediately began fretting, but know I wouldn't hear back from DAW for weeks, perhaps months.
So in the mailbox today, I get a letter from DAW. I think, "Why is DAW sending me a letter? My checks go to the agency representing me first, and THEY send it to me, not DAW." So I open the letter.
It's a rejection letter. It basically states (and here I'm paraphrasing), "A first author must have a spectacular book to break in, and this is not it."
So of course I immediately smile and think, "Ha, ha! This must be a joke!" And then the evil, nervous wreck of a Josh that lives inside me and constantly give me acid indigestion pipes up and says, "Ha, ha! DAW hates your book!" Which of course is totally baseless because its OBVIOUS that somehow my manuscript--already bought and paid for--has fallen into the wrong hands and been placed in the slush pile, and has consequently not been read and immediately stuck with a rejection letter, more than likely because the manuscript was:
a) Complete, not a query with 3 sample chapters, like most initial submissions,
b) Did not contain return postage because, of course, I didn't expect it to be returned, and
c) Contained a cover letter that basically said, "Here's the book, hope you like it," which is so far from what a cover letter from a new author seeking publication should be.
I assume they thought, "This geek doesn't know how the hell to submit to a publishing house," then refused to look at the book. The turn-around time was WAY to short for someone to have actually looked at the book. So please, no horrified responses to this posting stating that you KNEW no one looked at slush pile books, because that's so not true. Ask![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
coolmajaka, who reads slush (granted for short stories, but . . .). Also, my first novel was slush at DAW, and even though they haven't published that one (yet), it did catch their attention enough to ask for the succeeding novels I wrote. So slush DOES get read.
In any case, I emailed my editor immediately, asking if this was indeed a formal refusal of the book (sort of tongue-in-cheek; although evil Josh was piping up again here), and whether I needed to send another copy of the book. Of course, they hadn't seen the book at all and (evil Josh vanquished) please send another copy.
In other exciting news, the book signing at BU campus today was great! I sold 16 books, which is 3 times what I was expecting. And again, half of the people were people I didn't know. In fact, unlike the previous signings, most of these people did not even know a signing was going on and were just walking through the bookstore, saw the excitement at the table, and joined the fun. I ran into a problem I expected though: many students were interested, but then saw the price of the hardcover and had to back off. But most of these took a postcard about the book, so hopefully they will either find it cheaper online and buy it, or buy the paperback whenever it comes out. So this signing did double duty: sold books AND spread my name about to people who probably wouldn't have noticed otherwise.
Some other interesting things of note about the signing: One of the students came up and said he'd been looking at the book in the store for the last few days, so was already interested before he found out about the signing; the signing pushed him over the edge and he bought it. One of the students had seen me at the previous signing at B&N, but I guess was too shy to approach me; she bought one. And most of the other students were just walking by, which again, is just so cool.
Let's see, other things of note today: I rocked teaching spinning tonight, the music just clicked and I pushed everyone hard (although my calf did cramp up during the last sets of sprints); I got totally killed playing Alhambra bypbray and jennifer_dunne, but stomped everyone on the game of Ticket To Ride.
So it was a very interesting, fun day. I feel so totally like not sleeping right now.
So in the mailbox today, I get a letter from DAW. I think, "Why is DAW sending me a letter? My checks go to the agency representing me first, and THEY send it to me, not DAW." So I open the letter.
It's a rejection letter. It basically states (and here I'm paraphrasing), "A first author must have a spectacular book to break in, and this is not it."
So of course I immediately smile and think, "Ha, ha! This must be a joke!" And then the evil, nervous wreck of a Josh that lives inside me and constantly give me acid indigestion pipes up and says, "Ha, ha! DAW hates your book!" Which of course is totally baseless because its OBVIOUS that somehow my manuscript--already bought and paid for--has fallen into the wrong hands and been placed in the slush pile, and has consequently not been read and immediately stuck with a rejection letter, more than likely because the manuscript was:
a) Complete, not a query with 3 sample chapters, like most initial submissions,
b) Did not contain return postage because, of course, I didn't expect it to be returned, and
c) Contained a cover letter that basically said, "Here's the book, hope you like it," which is so far from what a cover letter from a new author seeking publication should be.
I assume they thought, "This geek doesn't know how the hell to submit to a publishing house," then refused to look at the book. The turn-around time was WAY to short for someone to have actually looked at the book. So please, no horrified responses to this posting stating that you KNEW no one looked at slush pile books, because that's so not true. Ask
coolmajaka, who reads slush (granted for short stories, but . . .). Also, my first novel was slush at DAW, and even though they haven't published that one (yet), it did catch their attention enough to ask for the succeeding novels I wrote. So slush DOES get read.In any case, I emailed my editor immediately, asking if this was indeed a formal refusal of the book (sort of tongue-in-cheek; although evil Josh was piping up again here), and whether I needed to send another copy of the book. Of course, they hadn't seen the book at all and (evil Josh vanquished) please send another copy.
In other exciting news, the book signing at BU campus today was great! I sold 16 books, which is 3 times what I was expecting. And again, half of the people were people I didn't know. In fact, unlike the previous signings, most of these people did not even know a signing was going on and were just walking through the bookstore, saw the excitement at the table, and joined the fun. I ran into a problem I expected though: many students were interested, but then saw the price of the hardcover and had to back off. But most of these took a postcard about the book, so hopefully they will either find it cheaper online and buy it, or buy the paperback whenever it comes out. So this signing did double duty: sold books AND spread my name about to people who probably wouldn't have noticed otherwise.
Some other interesting things of note about the signing: One of the students came up and said he'd been looking at the book in the store for the last few days, so was already interested before he found out about the signing; the signing pushed him over the edge and he bought it. One of the students had seen me at the previous signing at B&N, but I guess was too shy to approach me; she bought one. And most of the other students were just walking by, which again, is just so cool.
Let's see, other things of note today: I rocked teaching spinning tonight, the music just clicked and I pushed everyone hard (although my calf did cramp up during the last sets of sprints); I got totally killed playing Alhambra by
pbray and jennifer_dunne, but stomped everyone on the game of Ticket To Ride.So it was a very interesting, fun day. I feel so totally like not sleeping right now.
