I had planned on talking about finally scraping up the courage to resume querying for one of my works of fiction. Though I received two query rejections I had sent that afternoon a couple of weeks ago, I saw a double-rainbow and thought, I just need to wait for the right literary agent to come along and represent me. The very next morning, I got a full manuscript request.
This post was going to be a message of hopeful anticipation.
However, since I first started writing this morning, I have received a full manuscript rejection. For those who know what that means, skip to the next paragraph. It means, an agent, after seeing my query, requested my full manuscript, allegedly read it, and then rejected it.
Receiving rejections on manuscript requests, whether full or partial, has been more difficult to stomach than query rejections, at least for me. This is not my first rejection on after a full manuscript request. Neither is it the second. And isn’t the third.
Without further ado, I’m sharing my poem, The Querying Death, instead:
The Querying Death
You’ve said, ‘no.’
Well, where am I supposed to go?
No one will see me through.
What am I supposed to do?
This is the furthest I’ve come.
Then why do I feel so dumb?
I can see the finish line,
but I’m not far enough to shine.
Some have told me I’m nearly there,
but none are standing with me as a pair.
The right agent will champion my work.
That person’s out there, I am told.
Will someone rescue me from the querying murk,
before I give up, crumble and fold?
What is it you want me to see?
Whatever’s the missing key?
You keep telling me the right fit will champion my work, get me there.
Fear not, this is the well-traveled process all authors all endure.
Endure the rejections and disappointments, keep hope burning. Fair?
Chin up, continue writing. For the imposter syndrome, what’s the cure?
Lily Chang
July 19, 2022
WAM - Writing and Art in the Making 