Jacqueline C. Thomas - Romance Novelist

Archives for March 2021

Querying, Job Hunting and Homemaking

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All ready for another job interview

I think I broke a record yesterday, four query rejections in one day! That’s gotta be some sort of record, right? The day before I set a record with three rejections and I thought that was something, but you know what? I’m not upset about it. I am honestly grateful. The speed in which queries are coming back is fast, and that is awesome! At least this way I know it is a “no thank you” and I can move on. After almost two years of querying different projects, I can honestly say I’ve developed some pretty thick skin at this point. I think one has to develop thick skin to do this, I mean this is only the query point. What happens when you make it all the way to publishing and the public doesn’t like the book? Thick skin is a must.

In the past week I’ve also done #PitMad- Twitter’s pitching competition where you pitch to agents via Twitter. I love #PitMad! I do it every time and will continue for the foreseeable future, until I land an agent. This past competition was a strange one though. It felt much bigger than in competitions past. I’ve always found moderate success when pitching, usually snagging a few “likes” from agents who I later pitch to. This time I got none. I’m not sore about it, I just found it odd. I talked to a few fellow authors who also thought that this past competition was a bit odd in feeling and activity. I also noticed for the first time ever that I kept getting “likes” from bogus accounts on my pitches. While this might not seem like a big deal to the average person, to authors who are glued to Twitter on PitMad, each like can be a potential agent. So when I saw a like, I was all excited in thinking it was an agent….. oh well! Fellow authors also encountered this phenomena this time around as well.

As a real glutton for punishment, I’ve also leaned into job hunting too. It feels like the right time to pick up the remnants of my career in marketing and PR. Job hunting has been a wild ride this go around, more so than querying! I was just telling my husband that my next book should be about my experience job hunting, entitled: A Year in Interviews: The Good, Bad, and Ugly. There really have been some ugly interviews, where I’ve walked away gobsmacked- and I am in PR! Obviously I won’t dish because I don’t want to shame, but man guy’s its been wild. It feels like working through Covid had stripped away a layer of professionalism that was always there.

I am also much more cautious when job hunting this time. I don’t just want any job, I want the right job. In one of my more recent professional experiences I encountered some pretty harsh gaslighting by a superior. I didn’t know what it was at the time, I’d been very lucky to that point and had always been well respected in all of my previous roles. That experience left me wiser in so many ways. So my strategy this time is to apply to companies that have a good track record with their current and former employees.

While I’ve been moving forward with querying directly to agents, and continuing to look for work, I will say my daily writing is not as productive as it could be. Right now, I am giving myself a pass, and really practicing self-care. If I need to step away for a bit, that is okay. I am reading a lot right now. I just got the new Christine Feehan book over the weekend, Lightning Game. I am reading it slowly, trying to devour and savor each word. Reviews for this book said it was one of her best thus far. I’ve read the whole series and I have not been a big fan of some of the books in the series, but I am hopefully for this newest one. I am sure I’ll write a review of it when finished.

I’ve also dove into other projects away from my computer. Over the course of the pandemic I improved on my quilting skills. I made a pandemic quilt, I call it, with over 300 tiny squares! The project took forever but I loved doing it. So, I finally took the plunge and set up a sewing spot for myself in my basement. I am so excited to dig in and work there. I also learned over the lockdown last spring, that sewing is great for writer’s block! It was fun to create a space of my own and I can’t wait to get to work down there on a new project.

All in all, that has pretty much been my week. To some it may look like a rough one, but I choose to look at the positives. I know that this is a time of growth and recovery and I embrace the journey, even if my natural impatience doesn’t appreciate it.

Shit.. this hurts!

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The full-manuscript rejection pothole!

Writing is a process, and everyone’s process is different. Just like writing, the road to traditional publishing is a process as well. Today I passed another milestone on my journey to being traditionally published- a full manuscript rejection. I started the querying process a little over two years ago for a different book, than the one that was rejected today. For those of you who aren’t familiar, the querying process is grueling and you truly are putting your work and a piece of yourself out there for the world. I remember when I started querying I wondered to myself if I would get a “bite,” on my first letter… LOL! I wondered this not in a vain way, but in the way that sometimes people get lucky. Oh, how naive sweet Jackie.

That first query letter was a train-wreck. The book I was querying was far from ready, even though I thought it was. It took time to perfect query letter and grow as a writer. And again if you haven’t queries before let me just say that the query letter is so much harder than actually writing a novel. I learned a lot when I started, and I remember the first rejection that came in. That hurt. I knew there was a good chance that my work wasn’t ready, and it clearly wasn’t. At the same time, I was blessed enough to be surrounded by cheerleaders telling me to go for my dream, try to get an agent. While that first rejection stung, it did not deter me. In fact it had the opposite reaction, it propelled me. I dug into researching query letters, agents, the querying process all while, writing, rewriting and editing.

Fast forward two years and lots of rejection letters later. I have to tell you that rejection, time and time again builds some pretty thick skin, and certainly puts one’s ego in check. With each rejection, I said to myself, this means you have more work to do, keep writing, keep writing, keep writing. I have followed my own advice and I’ve continued to keep writing.

This past January 6th as I sat and watched the insurrection unfold in real-time on my television, I got an email that I thought would change my life. It was a full manuscript request. I thought there was a good chance this was it, my chance to advance on my dream. I shot up from my chair screaming and jumping up and down. My poor husband didn’t know what to do. I sent my manuscript off to an agent who I’d always admired and crossed my fingers.

I had spent most of December getting another book ready to self-publish but everything paused while my manuscript was being read. I stopped querying but kept writing. Each day, I’d check the agent’s portal in Query Manager for an update. Eventually, I just had to stop checking, knowing that if the agent wanted it, they’d be sure to let me know. I also tempered my enthusiasm as best as I could as I saw other authors in Twitter’s writing community get full manuscript rejections. I knew I could very well be one of them in time.

Today my answer came as I was doing laundry. My Apple Watch buzzed on my wrist and I saw the agent’s name pop up. I gave a shout to my husband (who works from home) that I had an answer in my inbox. We ran to my office where I opened the email and we both read…. the word, “unfortunately.” Ugh, I am really beginning to hate that word. The agent said that they had failed to connect with the story but encouraged me to keep writing. I simultaneously had the desire to puke and cry at the same time. Yet, the biggest feeling was a sense that an answer, albeit the one I didn’t want, was what I needed to move forward. The rejection meant that I now knew what direction to head in- you guessed it, more querying, more writing, more editing! I was thankful that the limbo was over.

So with all of that being said, onward I go. I know this journey to being traditionally published is difficult, and a long process. I know that I have to work for it, and that there are no shortcuts. Yet my personal motto continues to rattle around in my head, be relentless. I’m made of tough stuff and so although it stings, I mean stings intensely, it just means keep going. I now have passed another milestone in my journey to becoming a published author-the, full manuscript reject. Yep, that one stings, but onward I go!