The mathematics of rejection - litchick?

[ninah]

I am at the point of sending out my ms to agents. I have been through the process before and am uncomfortably familiar with rejection letters. My question is, how many agents should you approach before you give up? I have finished this project to the best of my ability and begun the next one. I can understand you need a certain persistence, but when do you accept the project in question is actually dead - 10 rejections? 20? In the past I have given up after about 5.
The book I am starting on now is my fifth. The first three were unpublishable. I think the fourth is OK. I am getting better all the time, but I don't want to delude myself.
Getting published is important to me, I need the validation. I don't want to kid myself, there is nothing more embarrassing than a bad story that the author believes is the dog's.

Spark plugs and a battery that has to be charged, that's it.

I don't know what some of these are after. I'm tempted to pop to ann summers, send them a rabbit in the hope that this will give them the 'necessary edge'

now that's a completely different kind of animal story ...
which one was this? the pig one?
I'd love to know what they mean by edge. I mean, it's a bit vague
multiculturalism? percy the postmodernist, bullied by his republican sisters? throws up hands

No, I sent her the very first one I wrote, about a football that they thought was an egg so they tried to hatch it, it's the most obvious thing to do with an egg The pig one has been sent to cornville & walsh, it's been a couple of weeks. I think this is the best one, it's rediculously funny.

I'm writing one about a phoenix at the moment, there's a bit on my blog. It requires alot of work though as is longer.

It appears that Twitter doesn't know what 'an edge' is either.

ok, that's the one you had useful feedback about also? and was on here?
a couple of weeks is nothing, apparently
any link to your blog?

Yes, I sent her the first version before I stuck it up on here. I'd forgotten I'd sent it to be honest I still have C&W to go, I quite like them, I sent them the pig story.

here you go

oh belle I am liking this one, i really am
it reminds me a bit of Feather Boy, which is about an ordinary boy who gets caught up in extraordinary adventures
I would make a few fine tune changes eg first line 'Jack Green was a hero. You?d never believe it to look at him though.' instead of the one longer sentence
and maybe a bit more detail - which London suburb? what kind of supermarket? just to give a sense of place
I love the diy first aid he does in the loo, I can picture this, it's genuis
can't wait to find out what happens!

Oh, bloody hell. Where did 6,000 words come from

Next: he goes to the seaside with his mum, he explores, gets stuck in the rain, seeks shelter inside a cave and finds an egg. I'm a fan of egg stories, you never know what's quite inside Is my writing OK? (flow etc)

yup I like the flow
oh and I raise you one very small scrap of paper smaller than a comp slip saying no thanks! number 4

Ah, but that was number 4 for me aswell so we are even! A scrap of paper is crap though, it equals the rejection email that someone sent within a minute of opening my email.

I need to fit in another character somewhere. I think he could do with a friend.

he could find a mysterious friend at the seaside
you could make a feature of one of the school bullies
am quite excited about this!
and in a way I don't mind the quick n brusque rejections. Best are the feedback ones. Worst the wishy washy ambiguous ones like your 'edge'!

I've finished it. 11k. I've just murdered his mother to make way for a sequel, I feel a bit crappy now.
The bullies do return and meet the wrath of a very angry phoenix.He also finds a friend at school and one in a book shop.

I'm a wicked, wicked woman!

jeez you wrote 5k today????! blimey
I have signed up for nanawrimo and am bricking it as I am very lazy a great procrastinator
good for you, belle

11k in 24 hours

I've not heard of nanawrimo, what's that?

Ohh, I could do that!

on other thread nanowrimo even
yup, you could do that
50k is perfect for young adult?
a month is too long for you though lol - give the rest of us a chance (slacker emoticon)

I just don't know where it comes from, it's embarassing really as I'm obviously not paying alot of attention to the shite I must be writing.

How's your book going? I've still not heard from the agent yet. They must either be really busy or like the book?? I sent in a SAE (with stamps) so they could throw it back at me. I sent them the skateboarding pig book, I love that one

ah the last 'far fetched' one is still out with 5 agents, so waiting for the confetti
now really horrified I sent it to my aunt, as I haven't heard from her since and I bet she feels she has to comment line by line, how awful
keen to start new one, done the notes and planning (not that I ever do much) and hoping to kick start it using nanowrimo next month, and then finish a first draft, say by easter
It's pretty far fetched too, I have to say, but I am trying to tone it down lol
I have applied for teacher training next Sept so I really want to finish by next summer in case I get a place
I'm in awe you can produce that amount of words. I think when you write in larger blocks the flow has to be better, but i really struggle. Sometimes the more I rewrite the worse it gets. Stephen King and in fact most professionals seem to be able to sit down and write reams, I am really v . You must be a born writer belle.

It's about time I found something that I am good at. I've been through endless dire jobs and very dire uni courses.

Penguin are accepting submissions at the moment, only until the end of November. They don't want a book though, just a synopsis.

I'll read your book for you if you want. I only write childrens stuff so you don't need to worry about me nicking your plot.

would you? tell you what I'd love that.
Funnily enough spoke to my aunt today, she was great and gave me some tips. Like my friend she thinks it starts well but the ending goes wrong (aka far fetched). She did give me some really useful pointers, actually! so what i'd like to do is rewrite the second half in a less sensationalist way - then can I send it to you? I am not worried about plot theft in the least!
and thanks about the penguin tip
I'll look at the synopsis of the old book this week when I have opened my aunt's jiffy bag with all her comments in full.
I'll get the new one off to a flying start during Nov/Dec using nanowri
I'll rewrite second part of the old book some time in new year, and send you first half of new one and/or whole of old one? would that be OK? sometimes something is really obvious, but you are too close to see it, don't you think?
oh, and I finally bought a banger car today so am feeling v relieved!
dire jobs, snap. I do like working with children though, so OK atm.

Anything you want.
I did train as a paediatric nurse for a few years before I became unwell. It was fun, alot of neglected children though. I'll alway remember a little boy who had an operation to put grommets in his ears. He woke up and looked so afraid. I asked him if he was OK and he replied that everything was just so loud. He was quite happy when I played with him for a while though. The difference that two little bits of plastic make is huge.

I also read very quickly

I'm trying to find my best book to write a synopsis on, I love them all though. The skateboarding pig stands out.

Hey guys, how's it going?

I see you're keeping your chins up. Don't be disheartened by rejection. We all get them.

Most recently I had my one of my books published in Eastern Europe and had an email from a reader saying they didn;t really like crime fiction but mine 'was not so terrible'. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

I have just signed off with my UK publisher on what will be book five. It's been a hard road this one. Lots of disagreements. Glad to see the back of it TBH.

Keep on, keeping on.

That's a compliment Litchick!

Well done on your 5th. You wouldn't happen to know a lovely agent who likes childrens books do you?

litchick good to hear from you and many congratulations on your book I will keep my eyes peeled for new crime fiction. When's it out(approx)?
Belle I like your grommets story. It was like that for me getting glasses as a child, felt like I'd been slapped in the face by the world and it wasn't a blurry white in the bath it was individual bubbles!
synposis - is that for penguin? i wonder why they want them, bit odd? I've sent one but will be in a bit of a fix if they want the actual ms ...I like this next book though. If this one is no good I really have to stop.

I want to write some books for children that are having treatment like grommets/operations. There isn't alot for them apart from Topsy and Tim. The synopsis is for penguin, they don't want books, just a synopsis so I think it's because they want the ideas first and will work with the writer if they like the idea to develop their work. I have nothing to lose.

You should go for it and see where it takes you.

yup, I did synopsis for new book and sent that tonight
like the books for hospital angle, do you still have contacts from work? I bet you could set up some kind of scheme as a storyteller visitor? although it's all down to resources now isn't it
have got v little actual writing done this half term. Hope the thought of publishing word counts on the nano site next week helps! you seem v self motivated. Sometimes I am, other times I am v lazy