the name of the game...

...is rejection. Sigh. I know, I know- I've barely scraped the surface of my querying process so far (only 8 sent), and I shouldn't expect anything to happen right away. That's not how this business works. But everyday I check my Gmail inbox just hoping, hoping, hoping for someone to answer a query with a "Hey, this sounds interesting. Let me see more." Maybe it'll happen. Maybe it won't. I have to be ready to accept the fact that In My Mind's Eye may end up a bust. And I'm trying to do that by throwing myself into my next novel- which I already feel has a lot of potential to be something really different. But, of course I'm going to think that, right?

I retweeted something from AdviceToWriters the other day- a list of 50 iconic authors who were repeatedly rejected. I'm not entirely sure if this made me feel better or worse, to be honest...I guess a little of both. It made me feel better to know that these crazy successful authors all started out just like me, with a dream to get their stories out there. But then, it made me feel a little worse because if their work was rejected, what kind of chance will I possibly ever have??

On the list:

Dr. Suess
Louisa May Alcott
Agatha Christie
Meg Cabot
Beatrix Potter
John Grisham
James Patterson
E.E. Cummings
Judy Blume (!)
Madeline L'Engle
J.K. Rowling
Stephen King

I was pretty shocked by some of those names. I guess it really does go to show how subjective the business is- all it takes is for one agent to connect with your work. Can you imagine being the agent that passed on J.K. Rowling or Stephen King?? But chances are, if the agent that rejected them had taken them on, they wouldn't have ended up as successful as they are.

Happy thought for the day:
Hanging out with dear old friends. :o)