Query Letters and other things

I've received my second form rejection for my query letter, so it's time to revise it. I don't know, I guess I thought it must be pretty good, since the first time I cast my line in I got a bite (a big bite, at that). But tightening it won't hurt. And anyway, I need to focus my search a little better. I've gone through the 2009 Writers Market and marked all the agents that appear to represent science fiction, which is the genre that LEGION fits in best -- though I don't even know if it's the sort of "science fiction" that agents looking for "science fiction" would want. Conundrum!

Progressing at a decent pace into a new novel, which doesn't have much of a name yet. I'm calling it NEPHILIM for now, but I don't think that's going to be the name. Maybe something more vague like "The Child of Renown." I dunno. Titling is the least of my concerns at this point. Getting letters onto the page (and making them sound purty) is higher priority.

Along those lines, I wish to give myself a tentative pat on the back, the sort you might give to a mourning coworker you regularly pass in the hall and you're PRETTY SURE works in Accounting. But not for anything sad: I've been writing regularly again. In fact, I DO find myself mourning, but only when I'm unable to sit at the computer. I don't know exactly where the story is going (terrifying) but I have some ideas. It's a matter now of making it compelling.

Supernatural Thriller? Yeah. At least I don't need to think too hard about the genre for this one.

Reject

Getting a rejection letter is kind of a weird thing for me. In a way, it's somebody saying, "Hey, appreciate you sending me your stuff, but I can't sell this. Sorry." On a conscious level, I understand that this is a subjective business. Not everyone will like my stories. Some people might even hate them. So in a way the agent search is preparing me for that inevitability, that first negative review that will keep me up at night, wondering "Why didn't what's-his-name like my book? What is what's-his-name's problem? What is what's-his-name's name?" Each agent that says, "Not for me," is just an agent doing me a favor. If somebody's "just not that into" my book (ugh), then why would I want them as my mouthpiece, the salesperson responsible for getting me the best deal? I wouldn't.

That's on the conscious level.

Deeper than that, I'm thinking "That's it, I'm a talentless hack, I've wasted my time, so freaking much time it's unbelievable, and I'm not going to make it."

I know that this industry is hard in order to weed out the weak. Persistence is key, or so I've been told. And I've heard the inspiring stories, of famous authors that were rejected by every agent, every publisher, everyone in the known universe before their work finally broke into the mainstream. But am I really supposed to be inspired by that? Should I look forward to rejection?

Because that part isn't much fun.