Maybe This Time

I started querying again earlier this week.  I hadn't given up after receiving so many rejections and no requests but I had stepped back for a moment.  I took stock of what I had and got some great feedback on my query letter and my manuscript as a whole.  I thought shining a light on it again would help me make it stronger for another round of queries.

I've been sending a few queries every day for the past few days and today I got some responses.  One one was a form rejection letter after two days and the second was a form rejection after one.  These new rejections shook me more than even the first one had.  I couldn't explain why these latest ones hurt more than the ones in the past.  My confidence wasn't in overload but I was feeling very sure of myself - much more so than before.  Thanks to betas and CPs I knew for sure that I had something worthwhile - worth reading.  And yet more people don't want to read it.

One of the agents said it wasn't a good fit for their client list.  That almost sounds like my manuscript can't be trusted in polite company. It's going to run around the room and annoying all the other older, established manuscripts and no one will invite it to any more parties.

We're cool though - we can fit in with all of the other polite manuscripts without causing trouble - well, much trouble anyway.  Life without a little trouble is very boring.

So, I'm down a bit today but I'm not out.  Tomorrow is another day, after all.  There are still a lot more queries out there and others still waiting to be sent.  Today was just a tough one - two rejections within an hour of each other on top of a rough day at work.  My poor brain just wasn't having any of it by 5pm.

But, that day will come when someone, somewhere will see something special in me and my little manuscript that could.  And upon that day there will be some freaking out.

The Book Report

I was up until almost 3am writing the bibliography for my manuscript.  No one has asked for it or said I require it.  But, I thought I should put it together and have it available on the off chance someone did want to see a list.  And now I've decided to share it.  There's nothing spoilery about this.  Everything listed here is mentioned, sung, watched, or heard by my main character in the book.

Batman.  Dir. Tim Burton.  Perf.  Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger. Warner Bros. 1989.

Benetar, Pat.  “Shadows of the Night”.  Get Nervous.  Chrysalis\EMI Records.  1984.

Blackmore’s Night.  “Where are We Going From Here?”  Ghost of a Rose.  Ais.  2010.

Boublil, Alain et al.  “I’ll Be There”.  The Pirate Queen.  Masterworks Broadway.  2007.

Bowie, David.  “As the World Falls Down”.  Labyrinth.  Parlophone.  2007.

Brian Setzler Orchestra, The.  “Hollywood Nocturne”.  Dirty Boogie, The.  Interscope.      1998.

Carpenters, The.  “There’s a Kind of Hush”. Love Songs.  A&M.  1998.

Carpenters, The.  “Top of the World.”  Love Songs.  A&M 1998. 

Cash, Johnny.  “Folsom Prison Blues”.  With His Hot and Blue Guitar.  Sun Records.  1955.

Dusk, Matt.  “This Could Be the Start of Something Good”.  Live from Las Vegas.  Royal Crown.  2011. 

Eder, Linda.  “Both Sides, Now”.  Other Side of Me.  Verve.  2008.

Electric Light Orchestra.  “Evil Woman”.  Face the Music.  Epic.  1976.

Everyone’s Hero.  Dir. Christopher Reeve, et al.  Perf. Jake T. Austin, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg,    Rob Reiner.  Arc Productions.  2006.

Exit to Eden.  Dir. Garry Marshall.  Perf. Dan Akroyd, Rose O’Donnell, Dana Delany.  Savoy Pictures.  1994.

Fain, Sammy, et al.  “Secret Love”.  Calamity Jane.  Vintage Music, 1953.

Fillmore,  Henry.  “The Circus Bee”.  1908.

Fučík, Julius.  “Entrance of the Gladiators”.  1897.

Goodman, Benny, et al.  “Flying Home”.  A League of Their Own.  Sbme Special Mkts.  2008.

Gore, Michael.  “Miles From Here”.  Fame.  Rhino.  2003. 

Greatest Show on Earth, The.  Dir. Cecil B. DeMille.  Perf. Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Gloria Grahame, James Stewart.  Paramount Pictures.  1952.

Hamlisch, Marvin.  “Music & The Mirror, The”.  A Chorus Line.  Sony Classical.  1975.

Keeling, Derek.  “Broken Bridge”.  Long Road Home.   CD Baby.  2013.

Kelly, Ryan.  “Live for Life”.  In Time.  CD Baby.  2013.

Kerrigan, Kait, et al.  “How to Return Home”.  Kerrigan-Lowdermilk LIVE.  Yellow Label Music.  2013.

King, Karl.  “Barnum & Bailey’s Favorite”.  1913.

King, Karl.  “Melody Shop, The”.  1910.

Lauper, Cyndi. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”.  She’s So Unusual.  Portrait Studios.  1983. 

McGinty, Damian.  “A Bird Without Wings”.  Act Two.  Celtic Thunder.  2008. 

Men Without Hats.  “Safety Dance, The”.  Rhythm of Youth.  Aquarius.  1983.

Menken, Alan.  “One Step Closer”.  The Little Mermaid.  Walt Disney.  2008.

Moonlighting.  Perf. Cybil Shepard, Bruce Willis.  ABC.  ABC Circle Films, 1985-1989.

Nelson, Willie.  “On the Road Again”.  Honeysuckle Rose.  Columbia.  1980.

Parton, Dolly.  “Shine Like the Sun”.  9 to 5: The Musical.  Dolly Records.  2009. 

Proclaimers, The.  “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).  Sunshine on Leith.  1989.

Prom Night.  Dir. Paul Lynch.  Perf. Jamie Lee Curtis, Leslie, Nielsen, Casey Stevens. Simcom Limited.  1980

Queen.  “Another One Bites the Dust”.  Game, The.  Hollywood Records.  1980.

Queen.  “Don’t Stop Me Now”.  Jazz.  Elektra.  1979. 

Rodgers, Richard.  “I Could Write A Book”. Pal Joey.  Capitol Records.  1952.

Rodgers, Richard, et al.  “Most Beautiful Girl in the World, The”.  Jumbo.  1935. 

Rodgers, Richard, et al.  “Suzy is a Good Thing”.  Rodgers & Hammerstein's Pipe Dream (New York City Center Encores! Presents).  Ghostlight.  2012.   

Rodgers, Richard, et al.  “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”  Carousel.  1945.

Rubin, Bruce Joel, et al.  “Life Turns on a Dime”.  Ghost:  The Musical.  Ais.  2011. 

Santoriello, Jill.  “I Can’t Recall”.  Tale Of Two Cities: Original Broadway Concept Album.  Libra Verde.  2011. 

Schwartz, Stephen.  “Corner of the Sky”.  Pippen.  Ghostlight.  2013.

So Proudly We Hail!  Dir. Mark Sandrich. Perf. Claudette Colbert, Veronica Lake,     Paulette Goddard, George Reeves.  Paramount Pictures.  1944.

Sondheim, Stephen.  “Everybody Says Don’t”.  Anyone Can Whistle.  Sony Classical.  1964.

Sondheim, Stephen.  “I’m Still Here” Follies.  Capitol Records.  1971.

Simon, Paul et al.  “America”.  Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits.  Columbia.  1972.

Springstein, Bruce.  “Born to Run”.  Born to Run.  Sony.  1976.

Star Wars.  Dir. George Lucas.  Perf. Mark Hamil, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford.  Twentieth Century Fox.  1977

Stitt, Georgia.  “Big Wings”.  This Ordinary Thursday.  P.S. Classics.  2007.

Stitt, Georgia.  “If I Could”.  My Lifelong Love.  Sh-K-Boom Records.  2011.

Super Friends.  Perf.  Danny Dark, Adam West. ABC.  Hanna-Barbara Productions, 1973-2011

Superman: The Movie. Dir. Richard Donner.  Perf. Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman.  Dovemead Films.  1978.

Webber, Andrew Llyod, et al.  “As if We Never Said Goodbye”.  Sunset Blvd.   Verve/BMG.  1993.

Williams, John et al.  “Can You Read My Mind?” Maureen McGovern: Greatest Hits.  Curb Records.  2011   

Williams, Paul et al.  “I’m Going To Go Back There Someday”.  Muppet Movie, The.  Walt Disney.  2003.

Wildhorn, Frank et al.  “This is the Moment”.  Jekyll & Hyde.  Atlantic.  1997. 

Wonder Woman.  Perf.  Lynda Carter, Lyle Waggoner. ABC/CBS.  Bruce Lansbury Productions, 1975-1979

I Have Confidence

I know I haven't blogged in a little bit but there's been a lot going on.  Every day I'd say to myself  "I'm going to blog tonight" and then it suddenly be 1am and time for bed.

My sister is flying to California in a few weeks to visit our older brother and the packing has begun.  If I hadn't stepped in every single shirt she packed would have been a Disney t-shirt.  That's all fine and dandy for the day they go to Disneyland but something else might be better for other outings.  Now there's a little more variety such as Broadway t-shirts and a Celtic Thunder t-shirt.  And some nicer clothes as well.

#pitchwars came to a close for me on September 3.  I was not chosen by one of the mentors nor did I get much in the way of feedback.  However, I did make a lot of new friends and contacts.  New betas and new cheerleaders.  And I hope some of the participants found something worthwhile in me as well.

Yesterday was #pitmad where from 8am-8pm you can tweet a pitch for your manuscript twice per hour.  If an agent or publisher favorites your tweet it means they are requesting more information.  In the days leading up to the event I crafted more than thirty tweets.  After bouncing them off friends and other #pitmad participants I narrowed the list down to sixteen.  I had them open in an email so I could copy and paste throughout the day.  Some people scheduled their tweets but I opted not to do that.  I'd rather have the ability to switch things up if I chose to.  Reuse one that I had gotten some attention and such.  At the end of the day I ended up with four favorites though only two seemed useful to me.  One of them was a small Christian press and I know that would not work for either of us.  I've already sent off the requested materials to the two and now we're back to playing  the waiting game.

#pitmas is coming up in December and I'll probably take part in that.  Other than the two queries from #pitmad I've also sent two more to agents.  For now I'm back in the query pool - I had been holding back until the results of #pitmad and #pitchwars came through.  Now that they're over it's full speed ahead.

I go back into the slush pile with an updated query and edited synopsis in hand.  Hopefully now someone out there will see something they like and request a full or partial manuscript.  For now that's the goal - getting in the door rather than just being shown out.

Let's do this.

Roses & Rainbows

The announcement regarding #pitchwars is expected to happen at 12:00 EST on Wednesday, September 3.  Twelve more hours of waiting.  I'm feeling mostly ambivalent about things today.  I don't feel confident but I don't feel rejected either.  I'm just here.

It's only noon and my workday has already been very draining.  This might be way I feel so "eh" about pitchwars right now.  I feel so beaten down that I just can't find the energy to be excited about much of anything right now.  Even my usual "go get 'em" attitude seems to be MIA.

That all being said I am still very grateful to Brenda, the mentors, and everyone who made the #pitchwars feed a fun and educational place to be.  It's an experience that I will treasure always and I definitely did come out of it all a better person (I think anyway).

Whatever happens we have to keep on swinging and not worry about what's behind us.  We're always working toward to what comes next and at the end of the day we get out what we put in.  Let's all put in the very best we can.  We don't have to wait for someone else to give us good things - we can go out to get them ourselves.