One Down

It's official.  Early this morning, I received my very first form rejection letter.

Many writers consider this to be a badge of honor – an inevitable milestone on this path we chose.  Me? Honestly, I spent a few hours upset.  This had been an agent with whom I believed I would genuinely want to work.  She, or an intern, rejected my query in less than 24 hours. On the plus side, that is a wonderfully fast turnaround time.  On the other side, I spent some time reviewing the submission guidelines and such, making sure I hadn't received the form rejection simply because I had somehow done something wrong.  Perhaps sending a query later in the evening brought it to the top of her inbox in the morning.

A few hours (away from the computer) later, the Twitterverse offered me a productive distraction: #MSWL, which decodes into "Manuscript Wish List."  Basically, editors and agents from all over were posting throughout the day what exactly they would like to see right now.  I found a few agents whose wish lists, I believe, include stories like mine.  Moving past my first rejection, I submitted 5 more queries. 

In a sense, every published author has a "magic number" – the query or pitch that turned into an offer of representation or a sale.  For many, that number is at least in the double-digits.  For some – in the triples.  I'd like to believe that each rejection – silent, form, or otherwise – is ticking down until my magic number.  

Here's hoping that magic is real.