# I sent my first novel to a publisher **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 3, 2007, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sent-my-first-novel-to-a-publisher/417888 "2007-09-03T09:09:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sent-my-first-novel-to-a-publisher/417888/1 "2007-09-03T09:09:36Z")
Means nothing until I get the reply. I wrote it during Nano '06, got my winner’s certificate and edited the beastie from 50 to 75k words over the next six months. It’s had a good reception from readers - I’ve let it go out to a couple of degrees of separation to try and get honest feedback. This last month as part of a [Kiwiwriters.org](http://Kiwiwriters.org) I challenged myself to send it. Which meant writing the synopsis and query letter. Bugger, that was hard! Write the whole story in 400 words? Argh. Sum it up in a couple of sentences? Arghhhh! So I let the deadline drift closer, like Douglas Adams once said - I love the wooshing sound they make as they go past. But, unlike the late lamented, I always submit to deadline. So I had to do it. The computer died three days before deadline. Long involved story which ends with me stalking into the repair shop to inform them that if they’ve doubled up on the quoted repair price _again_, very bad things will happen. The tech sees me coming and rushes to tell me that the part they thought was FUBAR, actually works now, fine, perfect - minimum service charge! I get everything plugged in at home with 3 hours to deadline - and make it. After all that rushing about? Somewhere between 6 weeks to 6 months of waiting before I hear back. Can anyone cross their fingers for that long? Because all I want to do now is get back to the second major edit - of the sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sent-my-first-novel-to-a-publisher/417888/2 "2007-09-03T11:25:20Z")
Pretty cool! Good luck. Keep us updated. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sent-my-first-novel-to-a-publisher/417888/3 "2007-09-03T11:37:19Z")
[QUOTE=maggenpye] Means nothing until I get the reply. [/QUOTE] I see you’ve already grasped the key points of authorship. Make sure to keep a stack of your refusal letters to wave in people’s faces when you’re rich and famous. Best of luck. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sent-my-first-novel-to-a-publisher/417888/4 "2007-09-03T13:33:11Z")
[QUOTE=maggenpye] edited the beastie from 50 to 75k words over the next six months. [/QUOTE] Er, doesn’t most editing go the other way? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sent-my-first-novel-to-a-publisher/417888/5 "2007-09-03T14:49:45Z")
Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sent-my-first-novel-to-a-publisher/417888/6 "2007-09-03T16:03:52Z")
Congratulations! Keep us updated in 6 weeks/months/whatever. So… care to give us a plot summary? In 10 words or less? _flees_ ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sent-my-first-novel-to-a-publisher/417888/7 "2007-09-03T16:05:53Z")
[QUOTE=Dervorin] Congratulations! Keep us updated in 6 weeks/months/whatever. So… care to give us a plot summary? In 10 words or less? [/QUOTE] TEN? I’m not reading all that! Just tell me: is there sex and violence? ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sent-my-first-novel-to-a-publisher/417888/8 "2007-09-03T16:16:09Z")
Best advice I’ve ever heard about rejection letters was to name the file you keep them in “The Fools!!!” Which is exactly what I’ve done. Oh, and you think summarizing a 75K novel in 400 words is tough? Try my first novel. All 270K words of it. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sent-my-first-novel-to-a-publisher/417888/9 "2007-09-03T17:16:11Z")
[QUOTE=phouka] Oh, and you think summarizing a 75K novel in 400 words is tough? Try my first novel. All 270K words of it. [/QUOTE] Did you find a publisher for that book? That’s a really big first novel. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-sent-my-first-novel-to-a-publisher/417888/10 "2007-09-03T21:16:40Z")
270k? Even with the sequel and son of sequel, I’ll only be hitting around 230k. Jeebus **Phouka** , are you JK Rowling in disguise?? Has it been published? I don’t have a “The Fools!” file. I bury the rejections inbetween the hard copies of published things (yah know, the poetry, articles, short stories). The swear words scrawled in crayon all over them make them a bit hard to read these days. **Athena** > [@](#): > > Er, doesn’t most editing go the other way? You’d think so, wouldn’t you. \*\* Priceguy:\*\* > [@](#): > > Just tell me: is there sex and violence? Yes, but not very graphic in either case. I’m aiming for the ‘light’ fiction market. More humour and character growth - although the FMC does admit to being a screamer…