Passing the rod

Sabrina has handled the query process for Hush since we first began shopping it, but is suffering rejection fatigue, so wants to hand off the baton for a while.  I prefer to call it "passing the rod", as in "spare the rod, spoil the child".  We've been none too sparing with the rod of correction on the ugly baby, and the manuscript has prospered because of it, but apparently the regular return of "thanks, but it isn't what I'm looking for right now" from agents we really wanted eventually feels like a beating.

This is to be expected. An agent is looking for low hanging fruit, and may well pass up the fat, ripe, and juicy if it involves too much climbing and going out on a limb for a new author.  This is particularly hard on Sabrina, who was the primary contributor of the underlying idea as well as word count.  This particular ugly baby was a labor of love, and hearing professional agents say over and over "it isn't for me" is disheartening.  I do understand.

I also understand, perhaps more viscerally, that these rejections aren't telling us the work is unworthy.  That may be hard for most people to hold in mind when getting another "no, thanks," but though I've contributed quite a bit, including chapters written, plot revisions, lots of technical consulting, and editing, editing, and yet more editing, I've always thought of this work primarily as Sabrina's.  It began as a vignette in her mind, and expanded through NaNoWriMo.  Yes, we've both worked on it for over two years where we could steal a few hours here and a weekend there, but I never tire of it.

I understand why an agent might be hesitant.  If I want to be a little facetious, it's true enough with just a sprinkling of hyperbole to call it a literary post apocalyptic dystopian science fiction horror thriller with strong elements of social commentary.  That makes it a little tricky to pigeonhole.  We've been shopping it as horror, but decided we should be calling it science fiction.  I think that it might even qualify as a psychological thriller, but you have to pick a single, simple genre.  Agents don't want complicated decisions; where do we put it on the shelf?

But it's not that complicated.  The stress is all caused by the effort to artificially categorize it.  Call it sci-fi and toss it on the shelf with Zelazny and King. "Under the Dome" isn't exactly horror. Sci-fi readers are used to browsing through disparate styles and types of content. What should matter is the quality of the story.  This book, as yet unpublished, has already made its way to my top shelf of favorites.  We wrote it, and I still can't read some scenes without getting choked up and teary eyed. Admittedly, I cry at some commercials (I love that bulldog with the sign that says he's not gonna cry...), but I've been having this reaction on these same scenes for two years, and it still makes it tricky to work together on them because I try to be the tough guy, and then my throat closes and I squeak.  My wife graciously ignores it (thank you , love), and we manage to correct a word here and a phrase there.

We're not heating, hammering, and quenching anymore; we're applying oil and slow strokes of the smooth stone to get the edge clean. To switch back to the overarching metaphor, the labor and delivery are done; now we're just breast feeding and changing the occasional diaper.  It's done.

It's not the best book I've read, but if it were published, I'd give it away and buy another, as I usually do with my favorites, to people I like and think deserve them. Maybe I'm just smitten, but I think it's as good as a lot of Stephen King's work.  Better than most of Dean Koontz, Michael Crichton, Philip K. Dick or any of several other authors on whom I've spent worthwhile money. Unfortunately, you can't actually say that in a query if you want to be taken seriously.

Bragging? Meh. Bree did all the best parts. I just helped a lot.
Well, maybe, yeah, bragging a little, on her.

So I took over the query process.  I took the same general query and synopsis she's been using, and the first few agents she suggested.  We now have a request for the manuscript.  It's not a sale, but it is a much needed boost in our self confidence.

Sometimes, you just have to believe.