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_News: School starts next week._
Valued Reader, I'm trying. I'm trying really hard to not be the type of person who needs to talk about everything that happens to me professionally, whether it be good bad or just plain ugly. But, seriously, I just got an awesome rejection. I loved it. It was the best.
[context]
I said in my last post that I had gotten published for the first time. Yes, true, but that wasn't the first time I tried.
*takes a sip of coffee*
*stares meaningfully out at the world at large, contemplating the bigger mysteries of life*
Once, Reader Dearest, I was but a child. And as a child just growing into a practice that would become a passion, I thought what most my age thought. I was invincible. Nothing could touch me. What a fool I was. *but seriously* When I started high school I really started writing hardcore. I spent all my study halls in the library at the computer working on what would eventually become my first three written novels. Yes, Reader, I was working on a series. That series was called Scrapper: The Connection Reborn. That title, it should tell you what you need to know about that particular project. But wait, it gets better. It was a Young Adult Paranormal Romance birthed from the era of Twilight. As I said, what a fool I was.
If I were to honestly grade it now, being a somewhat more seasoned writer, I'd give myself a solid C. It wasn't terrible, it had it's interesting points. The cast was diverse and I somehow managed to avoid most cliches. All the same, the prose was horrendous and it had so many holes it may as well have been a Manitowoc County police investigation. (yesIcanbetopical) (alsoI'mneverlivinginwisconsin) (I'malsoreallyproudofmyselfforthatjoke). But anyway, none of this was the point.
So, here I am, with a finished novel by the end of freshman year. Already getting to work on the second. What do I do? I try to get it published of course. What else do you do with books, read them? That's for babies.
As you can imagine, I got many rejections. Many. 'Bout twenty if I'm not mistaken. To be fair to myself and the agents that passed, it was a good call. That book should not be published. But most of those rejects were out-and-out we-didn't-even-look-at-the-book slush pile rejections. Ones that were automated responses. Ones that replied to my pen name rather then my real one. (yesItriedtohaveapenname) (nowe'renotgoingtotalkaboutit).
So now, seven years or so later, I'm actually decent at writing. And I'm submitting. And I'm getting real responses back. Responses that say "yes we've really read your work and we like it but it's not for us" type so. So I wake up this morning and I find one such email in my inbox this morning. It says this.
Dear Nikki,
Thank you for sending "The Great Oak of Hypothetical Nowhere" to [redacted]. While we appreciate the opportunity to review your work, we will have to pass on this submission. The story is delightful, but it's not quite right for us.
We hope you find a good home for this story, and we look forward to seeing more of your work when we next open for submissions. Thanks for sharing this one. It's got great energy, and the character relationships are fantastic. I fell in love with Aggie instantly, and Eileen is just as charming.
Best,
[Really respectfully editor who deserves nice things]
Senior Editor
Look at that! They read it! They liked it! It just wasn't for them! They also asked to see more of my things! It's all right there! What more could you want from a rejection? I tell ya, this just makes my day. I feel like I'm hugging a puppy right that, that is where I'm at.
In other news, The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness is the new book love of my life. Props to Friend of the People Faith for recommending the book and Patrick Ness for not making me cry. Plus, Friend of the Nation Darby lent me a book called Madman and, no joke, someone stabbed it. It came in the mail with a stab mark. In the envelope too, so she says. One of the more interesting things that has happened to a book, or so I suppose. Finally, I haven't been on Geeks Under Grace in a while. That's on hold for now. Stay tuned, I'm not done making videos.
'Til next time nerds.
Valued Reader, I'm trying. I'm trying really hard to not be the type of person who needs to talk about everything that happens to me professionally, whether it be good bad or just plain ugly. But, seriously, I just got an awesome rejection. I loved it. It was the best.
[context]
I said in my last post that I had gotten published for the first time. Yes, true, but that wasn't the first time I tried.
*takes a sip of coffee*
*stares meaningfully out at the world at large, contemplating the bigger mysteries of life*
Once, Reader Dearest, I was but a child. And as a child just growing into a practice that would become a passion, I thought what most my age thought. I was invincible. Nothing could touch me. What a fool I was. *but seriously* When I started high school I really started writing hardcore. I spent all my study halls in the library at the computer working on what would eventually become my first three written novels. Yes, Reader, I was working on a series. That series was called Scrapper: The Connection Reborn. That title, it should tell you what you need to know about that particular project. But wait, it gets better. It was a Young Adult Paranormal Romance birthed from the era of Twilight. As I said, what a fool I was.
If I were to honestly grade it now, being a somewhat more seasoned writer, I'd give myself a solid C. It wasn't terrible, it had it's interesting points. The cast was diverse and I somehow managed to avoid most cliches. All the same, the prose was horrendous and it had so many holes it may as well have been a Manitowoc County police investigation. (yesIcanbetopical) (alsoI'mneverlivinginwisconsin) (I'malsoreallyproudofmyselfforthatjoke). But anyway, none of this was the point.
So, here I am, with a finished novel by the end of freshman year. Already getting to work on the second. What do I do? I try to get it published of course. What else do you do with books, read them? That's for babies.
As you can imagine, I got many rejections. Many. 'Bout twenty if I'm not mistaken. To be fair to myself and the agents that passed, it was a good call. That book should not be published. But most of those rejects were out-and-out we-didn't-even-look-at-the-book slush pile rejections. Ones that were automated responses. Ones that replied to my pen name rather then my real one. (yesItriedtohaveapenname) (nowe'renotgoingtotalkaboutit).
So now, seven years or so later, I'm actually decent at writing. And I'm submitting. And I'm getting real responses back. Responses that say "yes we've really read your work and we like it but it's not for us" type so. So I wake up this morning and I find one such email in my inbox this morning. It says this.
Dear Nikki,
Thank you for sending "The Great Oak of Hypothetical Nowhere" to [redacted]. While we appreciate the opportunity to review your work, we will have to pass on this submission. The story is delightful, but it's not quite right for us.
We hope you find a good home for this story, and we look forward to seeing more of your work when we next open for submissions. Thanks for sharing this one. It's got great energy, and the character relationships are fantastic. I fell in love with Aggie instantly, and Eileen is just as charming.
Best,
[Really respectfully editor who deserves nice things]
Senior Editor
Look at that! They read it! They liked it! It just wasn't for them! They also asked to see more of my things! It's all right there! What more could you want from a rejection? I tell ya, this just makes my day. I feel like I'm hugging a puppy right that, that is where I'm at.
In other news, The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness is the new book love of my life. Props to Friend of the People Faith for recommending the book and Patrick Ness for not making me cry. Plus, Friend of the Nation Darby lent me a book called Madman and, no joke, someone stabbed it. It came in the mail with a stab mark. In the envelope too, so she says. One of the more interesting things that has happened to a book, or so I suppose. Finally, I haven't been on Geeks Under Grace in a while. That's on hold for now. Stay tuned, I'm not done making videos.
'Til next time nerds.
![About [span]me[/span]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0EYWxas7VzE/WHmH5CNN9fI/AAAAAAAACyI/M4pHtTrZ2ScMY3jaCE4s7F9-TOHjP6yjQCEwYBhgL/w280-h186-p/DSC_1128_1.jpg)
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