How many rejection letters are too many?

I'm afraid I've been neglecting my blog again! I really have no excuses. Bold me!

Still no good news from querying so it looks like I'll have to re-do my first few chapters in an attempt to get some positive feedback. Last night I stayed up until 1am to fill in a form for Pan Macmillian's Manuscript Monday. Every Monday, between 10am and 4pm AEST, they accept queries for unsolicited manuscripts. As I live in Ireland and the form had to be filled in on their page it meant a late one for me. At least it is sent off now.

There is some good news on the writing front though. I won't be saying anything here until it comes to pass but watch this space.

All I can think of are the queries I have sent out and how many have not replied. Every time an email comes through my heart skips a beat. 

I have given myself the deadline of the end of August for Bleeker Avenue. If there has been no feedback by then I will re-access where to go next with it. Maybe a full overhaul is needed.

The big question is... How many rejection letters are too many? 

I'm planning on baking a rainbow cake for Beth's birthday. What do you think of my first attempt?

ABNA Results: Not This Time

The results are out for the Quarter Finalists in the ABNA and my name is not on the list. Sure I am a little bummed. Wouldn't be normal if I wasn't but on the whole I feel ok. In fact I feel pretty good considering. I know BLEEKER AVENUE wasn't ready (especially the first few chapters). I had only finished the book two weeks before the deadline for the competition. There had been no extensive editing done. This was pointed out in the Vine Reviews.

Every contestant who made it through the first cut got two reviews of their 5,000 word excerpt. These reviews were a little hard to swallow. It is difficult to read criticisms of your work. Any writer will back me up on that. The reviews I got were harsh but I can't fault them. My reviewers took the time to really look at what I had written and didn't completely slate me. Although, one of them did think this particular excerpt was intended for Woman's Weekly! I need to do a lot of revision.

It may seem odd but rejection spurs me on. My novel has only been rejected twice (both of those times were competitions) but I'm sure once I start shopping agents and publishers I'll be getting a lot more. My mantra is "What doesn't kill my writing can only make it stronger." BLEEKER AVENUE took a beating but it will come back stronger thanks to my reviewers.

My favourite part of the reviews:

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

The pitch for this story promises an interesting time-travel story; that's a common theme but there seem to be new aspects that will provide freshness and novelty.

The excerpt itself contains a most interesting lead character, and the first-person narration is a good choice on the part of the author, making the story more immediate and building our interest in the protagonist. I also liked the general pacing.


Good luck to everyone who made it through to the Quarter Finals.