I always have so many author stories. And I mean the sort that make a person shake their head and wonder how they got here from there. Less often, I have editor stories. But, they do come up. And in the interest of fairness, I’m sharing this one. Because it made me laugh. And it’s only fair, right?
In the giant 30+ pound box of post-vacation mail that I received (and, boy, was that a lot of queries), there were also a couple rejections for my clients. *grumble* So, I have here a rejection dated 8/16/2004. Twist the 1st – the material had already been rejected. In February. During a phone conversation, during which I was told the concept was interesting but the writing wasn’t “fresh” enough. (I took notes.) Twist the 2nd – the reason for the phone call was that I had an offer from a different publisher for the same work and was asking the other editors who were considering it to make a final decision about any counteroffers. That phone call was made 2/4/2004 and the deal with the other publisher was made 2/6/2004. The letter, now sent some 6 months later, says the tale is “fun and refreshing” but that the character was too modern for the setting.
No – I’m not naming names, and hopefully I haven’t put out any details that will give anything away. But, what, I want to know – do we learn from this? Other than the fact that only agents are superhuman and editors make mistakes. *tongue in cheek*
Et in arcaedia, ego. 