Query Update--Let the Games Begin

I haven't tried publishing commercially in close to 15 years, with my last novel, MEDICUS. Over the last couple of weeks I started sending out my submission package to literary agents for COME THE HARPIES, and it's bringing back painful reminders of how enervating the process can be.

So far, I've sent out 22 queries and have received 9 rejections. For you foolhardy writers out there who have taken on the publishing industry in the past, you know quite well that those numbers are hardly significant. Still, the absolute worst part of writing is rejection. Like all writers, I take my work seriously, and having it dismissed out of hand by a busy agent who has skimmed maybe a page or two of a 300-page manuscript, is depressing as hell. And even at my advanced stage in life, rejection stings almost as bad as when I was a fuzzy-faced 27-year-old trying to get my first opus published.

Of course, everyone's heard the stories of famous authors with slam-dunk books being repeatedly rejected. Publishers rejected CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL 144 times, ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE 121 times, Gevova's STILL ALICE got 100 rejections. And the list goes on.

That of course doesn't mean that my latest book is destined to be a classic if it starts racking up three-figure rejections. Maybe it'll never get a green light from a publisher. Maybe the world isn't ready for my genius. Maybe the publishing gate-keepers will all agree that the book simply sucks. But all a writer can do is keep sending it out and refining his submission package. Only time will tell if there's a home for my book. Rejection became so unpalatable for me that I gave up prematurely on my last two books, sending each out only a few dozen times.

What I will do differently this time is to invest in a professional opinion of my submission package if I reach a dozen or so rejections without a manuscript request. More details on this in a future post.