More Rejections... Deep Breaths...

The editor from Del-Rey took a pass on Spirit Quest after a read of my revise and resubmit. She clearly explained her reasoning, feeling she couldn't get behind the characters. Despite the outcome, it was a great experience. It was really exciting getting this far in the process. Painful that it ended that way, but also tells me that my novel isn't quite there yet.

As a first time author, I had no idea when my novel would be at that point and I'm currently lost in waves of revision. So, my next step is to get some professional help. I'm now in the queue at Chimera Editing to get a "Deep Crit Review" of Spirit Quest.

I've been so immerse in Spirit Quest that I'm thinking I need to put some distance between it and myself. Chimera should have the review done by mid-April and that month or so break will do me some good.

And to add to the list of rejections.. The Canada Arts Council rejected my grant quest. Sigh.

Will keep going. I've got the next set of agents I want to submit ready. I'll recover the edits from Chimera and keep trying!

The Roller Coaster Ride That Is #PitchMadness

Over a week ago I threw my novel, Spirit Quest, into the #PitchMadness hat. On the weekend, I was thrilled to learn that it had made the final 70 or so pitches out of the over 900 submitted.

Today was the big day where the participating agents placed bids on the pitches they liked.After a grueling hour-long plus process, I learned that my pitch didn't receive any requests.  Like the post's title state, it was a roller coaster ride. From the high on Sunday, to today's crazy level of anticipation and stunned disappointment.

I'm pushed aside my bruised ego and want to congratulate all those who did receive requests. You guys rock!

Now, to focus on the positives:

• My novel pitch had roughly a 7% of being picked and it was
• My novel pitch being selected gives me confidence that my idea is marketable
• Perhaps the participating agents weren't a good match for my story
• Made several new twitter friends
• Got some leads on some other agents

 The bottom line of this whole experience is that I know what I've got and I'm going to keep querying!