Received request for a partial!!

Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 1784 Location : UK

While you wait, you could always write a short story for the anthology. It will be out long before your novel and it might find some new readers for you. "Always leave them wanting more." A short story might be just the thing to spark interest in reading one of your novels.
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Shelagh Watkins
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Thu Jun 26, 2008 8:14 pm

Is that some kind of put-down for short stories?

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Mystery Writers of America, Private Eye Writers of America
www.dickstodghill.com

Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 1784 Location : UK

Oh Dick, how could you say that? Bad hair day? Short stories are much more difficult to write than full-length novels. If you can produce excellent short stories, then it as good an indication as there is that you can write and write well.

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Shelagh Watkins
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Thu Jun 26, 2008 8:51 pm

Don't worry, Shelagh. Ol' Stodgy is just being his normal crabby self.

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www.brendahill.com
www.authorsden.com/brendahill

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Thu Jun 26, 2008 9:33 pm

I beg your pardon! I consider myself sweet and lovable. So does my hamster, provided I have a treat in hand.
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Mystery Writers of America, Private Eye Writers of America
www.dickstodghill.com

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:58 am

Congrats on the requests, Jenny. You are liable to have people fighting over it!
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Zada Connaway
Mother's Journals: parts 1, 2 and 3 ISBN # 1-4241-6969-0

http://www.zadaconnaway.com/

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:03 am

Hi Zada,

What a lovely thought!
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Jenny
Writing as Victoria Howard

www.victoriahoward.co.uk

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:55 am

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd bring you up to speed on the submissions. I wish I could say that I'd received an offer for representation - I haven't. In fact, I'm still waiting to hear back on the partials and fulls that I've submitted. I know agents are busy people, but it's getting on for 3 months now. I've decided to give them one more week, then I'm going to send off a polite enquiry to find out what's happening.
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Jenny
Writing as Victoria Howard

www.victoriahoward.co.uk

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:34 pm

I think that's wise Jenny. Sometimes they simply forget and a friendly reminder can only help.
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"To Beirut and Back"
http://www.freewebs.com/abemarch

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:23 pm

Jenny, a polite enquiry certainly won't hurt anything, and as Abe said, maybe they just need a friendly reminder. I still have my fingers crossed, and boy, is typing ever a pain!!
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Zada Connaway
Mother's Journals: parts 1, 2 and 3 ISBN # 1-4241-6969-0

http://www.zadaconnaway.com/

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:46 pm

Sometimes I wonder why we subject ourselves to this torture. Will we never learn?

One agent I queried replied back that she was leaving her former genre
and was specializing in another, so she actually wrote an email to two
agents and recommended my work. I was thrilled because I recognized the
two names. They were tops. Finally, I thought, I had a foot in the
door. One month later, the first agent sent the standard note, 'Not for
me.' I was disappointed, but still had hopes for the other one. Three
long months later, I received a short note from her saying she was just
too busy with her full client list to even read the three chapters and
synopsis, to try again later. I could've cried.

So did I learn? Yes and no. No, because I'm still at it, sending and
hoping for representation, going through the torture all over again.
Yes, because I realize more than ever that to attract the top names in
today's market, I have to write something so fantastic that no one
would dare turn it down.

So on to the next project. No matter how torturous this business is, I
can't quit. Like it or not, I'm compelled to write. And, I want to
submit a short story to the Writer's Digest contest. I may post it here
for feedback, if y'all would care to look at it. I know the odds of
winning, but to even place would be a nice credit on my query. So I'll
be going through another torture for several months until the winners
are announced next year. See? We never learn.

So Jenny, I'm pulling for you and everyone else who feels the same way, which is most of us here.
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www.brendahill.com
www.authorsden.com/brendahill

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:50 pm

Best of luck to you with your Writer's Digest submission, Brenda. I think we all feel the same way, and the learning comes as you said, when we strive to write something so fantastic ...
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Zada Connaway
Mother's Journals: parts 1, 2 and 3 ISBN # 1-4241-6969-0

http://www.zadaconnaway.com/

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Tue Sep 02, 2008 5:00 pm

Thanks, Zada. I hope, if I post the short story, you’ll offer some feedback. We have some darn good writers here and I value everyone’s opinion.

I thought about your anthology, Shelagh, but this story isn’t about friendship. It’s a mystery/suspense.
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www.brendahill.com
www.authorsden.com/brendahill

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Tue Sep 02, 2008 5:38 pm

Brenda,
I admire your persistence. You would have been a great asset to me in my past business.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not;
nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not;
unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of
educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The
slogan “Press On” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human
race."
- Calvin Coolidge
_________________
"To Beirut and Back"
http://www.freewebs.com/abemarch

Subject: Re: Received request for a partial!! Tue Sep 02, 2008 5:50 pm

Thanks, Abe. I wish I could say I’m determined in everything I do, but it’s a case of priorities. You should see my procrastination with other things. Well, actually, you shouldn’t see it. I'd be embarrassed. I have to wash dishes now because, in my quest to write, rewrite, and edit my short story, plus sending my novel to new agents, I’ve used all the clean dishes in my kitchen. Since I have my set plus my mother’s, that should paint a picture of priorities.
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www.brendahill.com
www.authorsden.com/brendahill