In the winter of 2010, and into early 2011, I wrote a short story collection entitled "Love Always, Chessie."
"Love Always, Chessie" comprised ten personally favorite dog breeds. Each breed covered two chapters - the first being a nonfiction history of the breed and the second an entertaining, fiction story.
On completion, I submitted my collection to six literary agents and one educational publisher. All responded with a no (or simply no response at all). I was hurt. . .
Until I scrapped the idea of "Love Always, Chessie" being a short story collection when really "Love Always, Chessie" is children's literature.
I revised the layout of the collection - deleted the history chapters, wrote a fiction story for a new tenth breed. (Chessie's story, as the last, was a brief and personal memoir written by her owner - my grandmother.) I researched illustrators for both children's literature and dog breeds. I found two! Their wise advice led me to now submitting the newly titled "Bedtime Tails" as a children's chapter book.
Well, I first pitched "Bedtime Tails" as a picture book series. That did not fly. I hoped for each entry to be published individually towards the overall series. My stories, however, were too advanced for a very young reader. My projected range had long been for ages 7 to 10.
Then I listened to my illustrators (who also advised I not include illustrations as an illustrator is actually selected by the editor or publisher) and attacked the theory that in fact "Bedtime Tails" is a chapter book.
Wikipedia defines a chapter book as aimed for intermediate readers around the ages of 7 to 10. Each chapter or story is of moderate length and complexity. Chapter books are comprised mainly of text and sketch illustrations rather than heavy reliance on pictures. That's me! That has been me all along!
As of June, I have been submitting "Bedtime Tails" as a chapter book.
My first rejection came and was somewhat personal - "thanks for considering me. . .not the best fit for what I am looking for. . .best of luck"
My second rejection came two weeks later and was very personal. The agent and his assistant seriously considered my work, but in the end found "Bedtime Tails" not the best fit. Okay. My work was seriously considered.
My third rejection came with what could almost have been a yes. She responded to my query immediately with a request to see the first three stories. Holy dog was I nervous. She considered my work and the following day, wrote back. In both responses, she firmly believed that my concept could definitely sell. However, my voice was simply too mature for the age range she had in mind. So close!
My fourth rejection came today - as of this post. He requested a sample chapter. That's it. Two weeks later, I was still waiting. I followed up with nerves nowhere near of steel. He likes my concept but feels that my voice isn't fresh enough to capture publishers.
I once read a blog post on Guide to Literary Agents that said if an author tends to get a lot of personal rejections, as opposed to a lot of "Dear Author" rejections, that author and their work, whatever that may be, has caught the attention of the publishing world via literary agents. In other words, the author and their work is a sure fire to be picked up and published by somebody. A "Dear Author" rejection (and piles of them) basically means that publishing isn't going to happen for whatever reason.
So perhaps I do not get a pawfive in publishing. Perhaps I need to go back to the drawing board with the draft of "Bedtime Tails" I have now and freshen up my voice or age range. Perhaps I should hold off on submitting more queries (I have pages left to go).
I just. . .really want to be published. I thought "Bedtime Tails" was the way to go, considering my responses.
Pawfive in publishing for me? Not today.
