Hearing no

For more than 15 years, longer than I’ve been a news writer, I’ve made my way through the fiction writing world. I’ve heard yes a number of times from publishers, editors and agents. But there’s always that “no” that comes down the pike. 

 

The first “no” I heard came in 1999, a one-page typed letter from an acquisitions editor. This came several weeks after she requested the whole 45,000-word manuscript after I’d mailed her a proposal in a big, fat United States Post Office envelope. This was in the old days, before proposals were sent electronically.

 

I sat down, pulled my “baby” out of the flat envelope (I’d sent return postage, too), held it tenderly (okay, so I’m being dramatic) and bawled. She liked my writing. But it was too similar to what was already “out there,” she said. “Please, send me another proposal in the future.” (I completely missed that part due to my shock and disbelief she didn’t send me a contract along with a big fat advance check.)