Bad news first. I was rejected by Nelson. Oh well. I have a bottle of Arbor Mist Blackberry Merlot in the fridge to celebrate, because hey...I clicked submit.
Good news? I think I have a pretty good idea of why I was rejected. The Nelson Agency reads Science Fiction when they're romances. I didn't pitch a romance.
I bought the 2011 Novel and Short Story Writer's Market book today. It's already worth the expense. Not only did it discretely point out my Nelson research failure, but also my pitching failure. I've been calling JB a science fiction/coming of age story. It's in fact a science fiction romance. I may even have something special in that it's a young adult romance with a male protagonist. It means that my agent/publisher market may be larger than I was counting on. It also means that I have some work to do rewriting my query letter/synopsis.
I also have an update on my friend, Marie. Her query for Between Sinners and Saints got Nelson's attention. They asked her for 30 pages of her manuscript. I told you she sucks [wink + smile]. Seriously, brand new open bottle of Blackberry Merlot is on my living room table.
Well I hope the Merlot is good. :) Glad you found that book! I'm sure if you could get them to just look at your book, then they'd sign you. Trouble is getting in the door. Hope you get there soon!
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