Some of you were pretty skeptical of my reading speed!
John Davis Frain guessed 1
Steve Forti guessed 6
Lisa Bodenheim guessed 7
AJ Blythe guessed 8Some of you were pretty skeptical of my need for sleep, food, or water!
Sharyn Ekbergh, Melanie Sue Bowles and Karen McCoy all guessed 9
lamandarin guessed 42
Jennifer R. Donohue guessed 48
Amy Johnson thinks I'm the Tasmanian Devil Reader: 104!!!
Here are the ones closes to the correct number:
22 Dahcee Sahaydak
22 Adele
22 Kate Larkindale
23 April
25 Heather
25 Donnaeve
26 Jen
27 Megan V
28 Peggy Larkin
Jen was right on the money, it was 26.
30 MB Owen
30 Sam Mills
Then I looked at the more difficult category: the most common phrase.
It's very clear a lot of you have gotten enough form letters to recognize them
Cecilia Ortiz Luna There is a lot to like about your ms, however
Adele Thank you for sending me your work, however
Sharyn Ekbergh Some great writing here, but
RosannaM There is a lot to like about your work, but
Charlogo Just one agent's opinion
Jeannette Leopold Not quite right for me
Jennifer R. Donohue Thank you very much for the opportunity to review your manuscript, Regretfully
Jen "not what I'm looking for at at this time"
Dena Pawling Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to consider your work
Joseph Snoe I have to pass
Barbara Ellis not quite right for my list. However writing is subjective and I'm sure another agent will feel differently
Kate Larkindale While there's is a lot to love about this manuscript, I'm afraid
Some of you took the criteria literally
C.M. Monson Best of luck
Sam Hawke Very best wishes to you
AJ Blythe Regards, Janet Reid
Sam Mills Good Luck
Beth Carpenter Best of luck
Sherin Nicole I finished
Colin Smith Dear/Not right for me
April not a good fit
Some of you channeled the Hopes of All Writers
Amy Johnson (she of the 104!) love, love, love it
Craig F rewrite and resubmit
CynthiaMc I can sell this book!
Timothy Lowe I love this
And the best of the Optimist lot is Claire Bobrow's
If you have not yet found representation, I would be happy to discuss your project further. Would sometime next week be convenient for a telephone call
Some of you were pretty darn hilarious (no surprise there!)
BrendaLynn Have you any salt?
John Davis Frain This is how I define unputdownable. This is also how I define markupable
And of course, the all time prompt word wrangle champion Steve Forti:
They don't think it be like this but it dowhich is not something Marlo Stanfield says in The Wire, but should be.
I didn't express myself well enough on the blog post. What I was looking for was a word or phrase I used during this particular reading retreat, one I didn't use regularly.
Some of you intuited that was what I was looking for:
Curt David Please forgiveBut no one actually got it quite right: "I apologize for the unconscionable amount of time it's taken me to reply to your email of (date.)
Sherry Howard I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting so long
Megan V Thanks for/your patience/writing to me about your work/sending me your tears, they were delicious (JR: ok, 3 out of 4 here!)
Peggy Larkin I'm sorry for the long delay in my response (but I'm sure you've enjoyed a lot of exercise on your hamster wheel in the interim ) (JR:not the parenthetical, even if I thought it!)
Megan V and Peggy Larkin and Jen all came close enough in both mss count and common phrases that I think we need three winners today!
If all y'all will email me with your mailing address, I'll get a copy of Jeff Somers' Writing Without Rules out to you you. If you already have a copy, we can pick another book!
Thanks to all of you who weighed in on the question! Reading these made a nice transition back to the real world, and, sadly, leaving Intern Ty my fuzzy friend.
19 comments:
I loved reading the results of the tally - but Janet, you did so much work it's clear you're going to need a vacation from your "vacation." Fortunately, the blog readers provided many wonderful suggestions for future travel :-)
Last week I listened to a podcast in which an author said all writers should "find a way to cultivate stubborn hope." That's my new mantra, hence my optimistic response to part two of Question Seven.
Happy Sunday, all, and stay optimistic!
This was hilarious. Thanks, Janet! Very cathartic to read people's form rejection guesses.
Ty: Fuzzy headed thinking is the best thinking.
Pending apology accepted. And thank you again.
I loved this exercise. Congrats to Meg, Peggy and Jen!
But, oh, Lord. I really hope what Janet said about receiving form letters won't become a self-fulfilling prophecy because I haven't submitted my MS to anyone.
Yikes!
[Does happy dance]
My kids are staring at me like I've lost my mind. lol.
And, wow! 26 manuscripts is amazing! Janet, you deserve a glass of scotch and a foot rub.
And will we get to know the fate of the 26?
This was a ton of fun... but, Janet, I was sorta cringing over the fact that it was also more work for you. All that tallying.
Congratulations you three winners. Terrific!
Theresa Nope, not specifically unless the writers choose to share.
Congrats to the three winners.
Intern Ty looks quite pensive now that the week of sharing lap with manuscripts is done.
Congratulations, Megan and Peggy and Jen!
104 is perfectly reasonable. We all know the Queen has superhero powers. Why would anyone not think those powers include super-speed-reading skills as well as the ability to predict the future (i.e., if she requests material, she already knows she's going to love, love, love it)?
Congrats to the three who channeled Janet the mostest. It was a lot of fun reading everyone's guesses.
Will DoY suspect you've been cheating on her with Intern Ty? I suspect a truckload of catnip will be descending on your apartment in due course to clear the air...
Congrats to the winners and congrats to my Queen for surviving three manuscripts a day.
I keel good about downing one book in three days
Never in all my born days would I have expected the answer. An agent apologizing for keeping writers hanging on.
I had fun reading everyone's guesses. Like Jeannette, cathartic was the first word that popped into my head.
Congrats, winners!
Glad to have you back, Janet!!
Tis the last night before assimilation, mere hours before life resumes as it was, less the search, discovery, or discard of someone else’s dreams. A weighty task deserving ruthlessness with heart. I do not envy our queen her enterprise because truth begets both joy and sorrow. As noble as it is, as worthy as it may be, it’s an undertaking that has gotta suck sometimes.
Congrats, you three.
Janet, that's impressive.
Hope everyone had a great weekend. I miss the blog but I've really enjoyed the interim, too!
Congrats Jen and Peggy!
And I'm with Lennon: I've really enjoyed this hiatus, but I am also looking forward to the return of the regular blog posts.
Wowee zowee, what a delightful surprise - my greatest writing award to date! I'm honored to share it with Megan and Jen. :)
Can't wait to use Jeff's book to propel myself to the next level on the heels of this triumph! I'll send Intern Ty my contact information posthaste.
(Comment edited to correct an error I already corrected twice in the comment window - autocorrect, knock it off!)
I'm curious to know, of the 26 full ms you read, how many you're interested in representing.
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