This is actually good news

The literary agent to whom I submitted a query about 3 weeks ago just rejected me.

This was really good news, because I had made a couple of mistakes in submitting:

1) I shouldn't have discounted the fact that this guy preferred funkier stuff than I write.

2) I shouldn't have given him exclusivity in reviewing it. That usually gets more and quicker attention from the agent when you submit your stuff. But you have to wait up until about 3 months without hearing from him before you can submit your stuff elsewhere, when you grant exclusivity.

3) I should have gathered my list of prospective agents ahead of time, to take the time to decide to whom it would have made sense to submit first. See, only a day or so after I submitted my query to this agent, I found another agent who would probably be a lot better.

Last week, at the 2 week point, I spoke with the author whom the agent loves, whose books he edited about 5 years ago. She said that not only does he prefer really funky, off-beat stuff, but that he is SLOW and could take up to the full 3 months to get back to me.

Yikes.

So, I resigned myself to submitting to publishers, rather than agents, for the next couple of months. But yesterday, I got an email from the first agent. He rejected me very kindly, saying that it wasn't anything he could see wrong with my book, just that he likes edgier material.

YAY! I'm free.

So today, I submitted to the agent I REALLY want to sell my books. Non-exclusively, of course...I've learned my lesson.

Fingers crossed. If she accepts me, it might mean that my Penn degree means something, for the first time in 18 years. (She went to Penn, too.)

And today, I spent a blissful 3 hours in the University of Rochester library, researching Washington Medals that were given to American Indians in 1789, 1792, and 1793, for the next book in the series. I even wrote a couple of scenes for this book, and planned even more. It was quiet. I need more quiet. (Not that I'm going to GET more quiet, but I need it.)

A good book day.