I'll start with Susceptible. I did some fun work editing and slaved over my submission packet (submission packets are the work portion of being a writer that's for sure). And then came submission time. That was an emotional roller coaster like I've never seen before. Excitement. Terror. Dread. Hope. Panic. Lots and lots of panic. Let's face it, when you're a writer, rejection is kind of the name of the game and that is what I got. And the most disheartening part was the slew of form rejection letters (for those of you not familiar with the industry, that means I got a pre written letter, that may or may not even have my name slapped on it, saying thanks, but no thanks). I shouldered through those without a single tear. As a person that cries at just about everything, I was proud. But I had prepared myself for it. I knew I stood little chance at being picked up right off the bat. Then came the letter from the agent of my favorite author and the agent that I wanted probably more than any of the others. This letter was personal and the rejection stung a little bit more. I'll let you read for yourselves.
Thank you for sending along your query and sample pages for SUSCEPTIBLE. While we enjoyed the opening pages of your project and thought your query letter was well done, we have decided to pass at this time. To be honest, the YA editors that we work with are simply not interested in dystopian stories at this time. Trends tend to be circular and we're sure that there will come a time when they will be interested in seeing dystopia again, but for now we are not having any luck selling these types of stories.
We encourage you to continue with your writing and perhaps even with this project. Your writing is strong and your characters are interesting. Another agent may feel very differently about the state of the market when it comes to dystopia and may be able to successfully champion this work.
I think the fact that I was being shut down because the market wasn't in my favor and not because I wasn't any good was hard to digest. It filled me with hope and pretty much shattered the dream in one fell swoop. Anywho, after reading several more articles that reaffirmed the fact that dystopia was not just a sinking ship but that thing was at the frigid bottom of the deep blue, I decided it was time to shift focus.
So came about the project I'm about to wrap up. I'm just over five chapters from the big finale. It is entitled Guardian and stars a character that is a little rougher around the edges than I'm used to working with. This book has already stretched my knowledge base and toyed with any confidence I have as a writer. I have a good list of things to edit and I'm excited to share more about it soon.
