Getting numb

The wound is, I think, getting numb.  I received Rejection #4 today, and shrugged.  Eh, it's just another bump on the road to Publishtown.

Somewhere somebody is kicking a kitten over that horrible metaphor.  I only leave it in the blog now, in fact, because I'm sort of evil that way.

Regardless, it's true that I'm not as sensitive to this rejection as I was to the last.  Might be because the agent was farther down on my list, but that probably isn't a significant factor.  There's a Bookends, LLC, blog post today, in fact (http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2011/08/christie-craig-three-why-questions.html) that tells us aspiring authors to ask questions of our agents, to make sure they're "the right fit."  Frankly, at this point, what I think would make an agent "the right fit" is if he/she asked me to sign a contract.  I know, I know, that makes me into a literary slut, but that shoe does seem to fit my foot nicely. Thus, where they are on my list is really rather irrelevant at this point. 

Nah, what probably made this one suck a bit less than the one on Wednesday is that I've gotten a Plan B between then and now.  When you haven't created anything beyond Plan Uno, it sucks to see evidence that it's falling apart.  When you have options, though, it's much easier to smile and let the chips fall.

So--all that said, the one this morning was probably the nicest one I've received so far:

Stephen,

Thank you so much for writing me about your project.  I read and consider each query carefully and, while yours is not exactly what I am looking for, I would certainly encourage you to keep trying.  I know your work is important to you and I am grateful that you wrote to me.

All best,

Really Nice Agent

See?  Wasn't that nice?  She even spelled my name right and everything.  :-)

Onward to Plan B....