Whew! There was some pretty stiff competition. And from the comments Ms. Webber left on other entries, I thought there was no way I'd be a winner. I'm so excited because the prize is a 30 page critique. That's such a valuable prize. That means no matter what happens, I'll get something out of it. You know?
And this was a boost for me because I've been wallowing. At the end of last week I received the dreaded R. Yep, that's right. An R on my R&R. I was devastated. Heart broken. Embarrassed. Ashamed. The list goes on. My crit partner told me she read somewhere that an R&R is called "the slow no". Slow and painful as they crush that knife into your vulnerable chest.
The upside is that I have a better manuscript. I also had two other agents who knew I was revising. One has asked for the revision and has it now (fingers crossed!) and the other asked for a synopsis to view the changes. I hope the synopsis is strong enough. It's hard to really make your writing show through a synopsis, but I suppose she already knows my writing - she's trying to make sure she likes how I changed the story.
Well, that's my Wednesday post for you. Not very informative for all of you, but it's been good for me to share. It's good for me to say to myself, and to all of you, that I believe I am a Winner.
What's your Wednesday news?
47 comments:
Yeah! Congrats! That's a big deal and I'm sure you deserve it.
So thrilled for you! Congrats and best of luck! That manuscript will be picked up SOON!!!
Wow Laura - that's fabulous! Congratulations.
Great news, especially when you're wallowing. I think I'm beyond wallowing. :)
Laura -- Great news about winning the contest!
As for the rejection after the R&R -- do not despair. I had two of them. Yes, count 'em -- TWO R&R's followed by TWO heart-breaking rejections. And yet, the revisions I made for those 2 agents resulted in a manuscript that eventually won MY agent's heart. Yup. It was worth it.
Keep your chin up. It will happen.
You got the R but this news trumps that big time! YAY! Congrats. Crossing my fingers that things will work out better.
Thank you! I'm still really surprised about it!
If it is, I owe so much to you!! You realize if I had listened to you to begin with I probably wouldn't have had to do that R&R? :)
Thank you! I'm excited :)
Ha ha, I think I was doing more than wallowing myself. It was a deep dark place that very few things come back from.
Dianne - That really makes my day. I so appreciate hearing that the road to success is not a straight path. Lots of times I'm convinced that if it hasn't happened already then it isn't going to happen with this manuscript. Thanks again for the encouraging words. :)
I don't feel like it trumps - I have that cautious feeling now. You know, like I can't get myself excited about anything now. I hate that. I want to enjoy the ups as much as possible because I'm sure feeling the downs. Thanks for the good thoughts. :)
Congrats on winning the Snark contest!
I understand that comdensing the novel into a synopsis is hard, but consensing a revised novel into a synopsis to show the changes made in such a short space? Sounds mega-hard. More power to you, Laura.
I so appreciate that you can understand my wo! But it's been emailed off now and whatever will be will be.
Congratulations!!
I'm gonna assume this is publishing lingo I don't know but... R&R? I'm assuming that doesn't mean "Rest and Relaxation" in this case. help?
Congratulations! That is very cool. (Callie, I don't know what R&R is either.)
I'm such a bad blogger - assuming everyone knows everything. R&R means the agent read my story and suggested I make some Revisions and then Resubmit to her. It means they liked the story enough to suggest things, but they still thought it needed work. So after I got this agents invitation to revise and resubmit, I made the revisions, resent and then was rejected. Boo.
I suck at not being a very informative blogger, huh? R&R means Revise and Resubmit. Sometimes an agent will read your work and invite you to revise it and resubmit it. The hope is, of course, that if you revise it to their specifications that they will sign you. But, alas, it doesn't always happen that way.
You amaze me, Laura. Keep it up!
No, you amaze me!
Okay, that makes more sense :) I usually don't pay much attention to blogs focusing heavily on publishing, so I don't know all the lingo haha
I'm sorry your revision was rejected. That's a major bummer. You're right about the upside though: better manuscript!
Thanks, Callie. I have to remind myself of it over and over, though. :)
Congrats on winning the Miss Snark contest! All of my Wrahms continuously amaze me by how awesome they are!
Congrats, Laura! It's well deserved. : )
Congratulations, Laura. Fabulous news!
Congratulations on a very cool win - and chin up on the R+R - you'll get the right one for you. Ps - I've been haunting your blog for ages, but didn't realise I wasn't a follower - bad me!
Laura x
Congratulations on the win. I knew if I read the comments, I would see an explanation for the R&R. I understand the R too well. My Wednesday news? I was so busy I forgot to log onto the computer and just realized I can get messages on my FB author page? How's that for breaking news? Boy was I red faced for not responding to a message sent on Monday and again on Wednesday. Shaking my head.
Oh, no! That's awful! But not as bad as it could be. You have a busy life too. I don't think people should be required to respond to emails/messages/comments immediately. I often cannot do that with my schedule.
Thanks for the congrats! Hope your Rs are few and far between. :)
I've done that same thing to several people. (Smacks forehead). That's the problem of reading in Google Reader.
Thanks for the kind words!
Thank you!
Thank you, Emily!
I am so amazed by all of you as well, Amber! I'm so glad you stopped by. :)
Congrats on the win!
Congrats on your win! The perfect prize to help you right at this moment! How serendipitous! Sorry about the "slow no" - those are the worst because they get your hopes up. I had a situation like that once with a new editor and I think she didn't want my feelings by saying no. Instead I rewrote a story for her 9 TIMES! (it was a prestigious publishing house and I wanted to get it right.) But after all that, 8 months and 9 rewrites later came the regretful no. So I feel your pain. They have medicine for it. It's called chocolate :) But a 30 page critique is even better :)
Thanks, Nicole! And a late congrats on the baby. I enjoy pics on FB.
Can I have that chocolate with peanut butter please? I think the 30 page critique is better for my thighs! Thanks for sharing your story. I love to hear others tales of their own struggles. It's very comforting.
Congrats, Laura, on your big win. Think I remember the agent only selected two winners. Which makes your win even sweeter.
I'm not holding my breath on my RR either. But I did tell two agents who had my partial that I was pulling it because I was doing a RR and didn't want to waste their time. One read the three chapters I sent her and gave me some amazing feedback. Both want to see the partial again once I"m finished. :)
Way to go and you're on the way to being even better!
Weener Weener Chickén Deener! Congratulations!
Have a brilliant weekend.
Wow, that's awesome! I just won a 50 page critique and got my notes back and it was extremely helpful, sooo happy 4 u! don't sweat the R on the R&R--it's all so subjective. The other agent will snatch u up:)
Boo to the R and yay to the win. That's fantastic news. Well done :-)
Yay on the agents wanting to see it again! Good luck with your RR. It certainly is a very stressful process, but one that can do wonders for a manuscript.
I'm hoping! Thanks!
LOL!
Sweet on your win! Congrats. I hope an agent snaps up. It feels like it takes so much patience, when in reality I haven't been querying this book very long.
Thanks, Sarah :)
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