REJECTION WATCH I,II

DAY 11: Publisher's web page warned that appraisal could take three months or more. In the meantime, I've been rereading my manuscript, and have discovered about one error on every three pages or so. While this is discouraging, I made a deal with myself; in the interest of finishing the decade-long project, I'd finish each chapter and not go back. Returning to earlier pages bogged me down for many years.


DAY 20: Came home from vaycay to discover that my SAPC (self-addressed postcard) included with my manuscript was in my inbox.

The publisher now has my book in their slush pile.

I've been thinking a lot about the possible responses from them. In order of probability, and based on absolute speculation, I think the resolution may be one of the following:

1. 7/10: Form-letter rejection. By my dead reckoning, I've got a 70% chance of outright rejection. The question I'll be asking myself after this is obviously: "What could I have done better? What changes could make this saleable?" The problem with this is that a form letter will likely never tell me anything toward that. All you know is 'not fit for publishing' and that the manuscript is now so much seventh-generation toilet paper. Maybe it wasn't long enough, maybe I used "I," "is," and "and" too much, maybe they're just not looking for vast space navy stories. Maybe they'd say "It's not you, it's us," or something of that nature. Hard to know what causes a form rejection letter, but it's clear from it that you're not worth wasting any time or thought on.

2. 13/50: Constructive rejection letter. I'd call this a 26% chance, mostly because when I did some writing for IMG magazine, I was accepted outright. It was my first attempt at having my writing appraised outside of school, with the editor/founder saying I was a great writer. This was back in early '01/ late '00. I give this a generous chunk of probability mainly because my understanding of what a publisher does concerning a new work is to read the first three pages to determine if it's worth continuing, and in my novel, there's definitely something worth checking out if you base the rest on the first three pages.
If the style of my prose isn't good enough, the ideas are still pretty interesting, at least to me. It's certainly possible that a publisher would find value in my ideas, just have issues with my execution. A constructive letter may come with a way to contact an editor directly, to avoid the slush pile. It may also just be a different kind of form letter.

3. 3/100: Conditional acceptance. I'd estimate a 3% chance of them asking for me to rewrite the entire book to eliminate the present tense, first-person perspective of the novel. It may be that this would just be a method to influence me to walk away from that publisher. Then again, I may just be paranoid, but I find the chronicle perspective to be compelling for my novel.
DEFENSE OF MY STYLE: I didn't find past tense interesting because that would demand foreshadowing. The narrator, my main character, would know beforehand how the story ends, and given what happens, I didn't want that. The first person perspective allows me to focus on what's going on inside his head, because his own thoughts come out as narration. It seemed that a third-person perspective—omniscient or limited—would have been less focused on my main character. I use his blind spots and ignorance in a constructive manner, and I prefer the novel that way.

4. 1/100: Immediate acceptance. For a first-time novelist on his first attempt, 1% may very well be generous. I think, however, that after 14-16 years of growth and learning with and for this tome, I've earned the benefit of the doubt.

WHY DO YOU THINK YOU'RE WORTH MY TIME!?: I've been typing on computer keyboards for years, so much so that it's actually managed to warp my fingers and arms to a home-row setup without the carpal tunnel syndrome bends.Computer keyboards are now in my very bones. While most of that had little to do with my book, granted, I still have spent many hundreds of hours working on it, many times that doing research and education concerning my subject matter, online.
In between starting this book and now, I've finished high school, I attended two different colleges, earning a crapload of credits, I've been certified as an OSHA Firefighter, a NR-EMT, and as a phlebotomist. I've also spent about 3 years in the military, only to discover that I hit most of what it's like to serve dead on the head, before I joined.

In the end, accepted or not, I'll continue to work on the galaxy I've created.