It happened, just like I knew it would. A few weeks ago, I sent a letter (on the advice of those I considered to be more knowledgeable than me) to the editor (actually, she's an ASSistant editor) who had requested the full copy of my manuscript for Night Cries. She had had the manuscript for six months, so I thought, you know, I have some right to know what's happening with it. It turns out that writing that letter violated the one and only rule that applies to aspiring authors after a publisher has requested a full cpoy of your manscript: DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, CONTACT THE EDITOR FOR ANY REASON. HER TIME IS VALUABLE. YOURS IS NOT. So, she rejected the manuscript because I contacted her. What's so sick that it's almost funny is that they spent $15 to send the manuscript back to me. The manuscript pages themselves were mutilated to the point that they are almost unreadable, but there were no markings of any sort on it, thus ruling out some editorial changes as the reason that they sent it back to me. It was almost as if someone had used the pages as hand-drying material in the bathroom or something. Appalling. To top all of THAT off, even after "mulling the manuscript over" for SIX FREAKING MONTHS, I got a FORM LETTER rejection. It was addressed: "Dear Author." Now, what do you think would have happened if I had addressed my query letter with, "Dear Editor" instead of using her title and surname? She would have wiped her nose on the rejection letter before she stuck it in the envelope that she forgot to mail for three years.
What's really galling is that, a few weeks ago, I sent a query letter to an agent seeking representation for Night Cries. Even though I clearly stated that the book was a FANTASY NOVEL set in 1066 AD, they rejected the work on the grounds that a historical novel is a hard sell.
Thus, I have come to the conclusion that many editors and agents are not only cranky, picky, and tempermental, but they are also certifiable morons. Not to mention rude (sentence fragmentation on purpose).
