What? You What?

Well, dear faithful reader (that's you Mike) I got my first request for a partial today. That’s right. Someone, albeit a junior agent, wants to see the first 50 pages of my novel. Sweet! And double sweet, he's from Writer’s House, which represents: Neil Gaiman, James Morrow, Nora Roberts, Ken Follet, and Erica Jong, among others. I know this is still far from a sale, and light years from my being like the previous authors, but it’s one step closer to publishing a novel.
I guess that rewrite of the query worked.
When I saw the response in my inbox, I assumed it was another rejection. Then I started reading, and still thought that, because the first line was EXACTLY the same as all the rejections. “Dear Mr. Phillis, thank you for thinking of us for your query regarding BOB’S TWO HOUR DAY.” I was waiting to read the rejection next, but instead I got “I would like to consider your project.”
I’ll be sending that first 50 pages tonight for sure.
Writer’s House.
Sweet.

The rewritten query

That first batch of rejections, even though they were expected, prompted me to rewrite my query letter. I'm glad I did, not because it worked - I got my first rejection from that letter today - but because I think it's a better letter. It gets across the humor more and seems more conversational.
Still waiting for more replies, though.
Here's hoping it works. We'll see.

2 More

Nothing stings quite like opening the mailbox and seeing an envelope written by me, addressed to me. The good old SASE. Rarely do agents or publishers send book contracts with my own envelope. Rarely.
Which brings me to:
I got my second and third rejections. They were both form letters, but so much nicer, almost like the agent felt bad for having to reject me, although, they may have gone through the exact same process as the one that sounded crass and mean.
I'm really thinking about redoing the letter now.
Perhaps a better lead.

Rejection

Just got that first rejection. A very polite, form sentence from an assistant. I knew I was starting at the "top," the best case scenario agents, but there's still a part of me that hoped/dreamed/wanted everyone to see how awesome my book is. Alas, alas, the trite biting words 'we're afraid your project does not seem right for our list' stings to the heart, the soul and the dreams of this writer. (that sounded so corny).
But I should remember, there's more out there, and like love, I only need to find one. The rest simply aren't right for my list.

The First Query

I sent out my first round of query letters today. I'm guessing my easily distracted mind will make it impossible to write tomorrow morning without checking my email for responses every 3-5 seconds.
I have enough trouble staying away from the internet when I'm not waiting for something like this.