Why Your Story Was Rejected – The Query Letter Conundrum

December 1st, 2009

Hello –

“Thank you for your submission to “Yuri Monogatari.” We know just how much time goes into the creation of a story, and we appreciate your effort. Unfortunately, your story doesn’t really fit our criteria, and so we’re going to have to pass.

Of course we wish you the very best of luck in your quest to be published, and hope to hear from you again when you have another story that is suitable for the “Yuri Monogatari” series.”

***

There’s nothing fun about rejecting a story. I don’t enjoy it, the creator in question doesn’t enjoy it. We’re all unhappy. But it has to be done.

There are a zillion “so you wanna be an author” books and magazines, and all of them talk about the rejection process. They say it’s inevitable and that it isn’t you and that if you do it *just* right, you’ll get that magical request for more.

This is all true – and it’s all totally, completely untrue, as well. Like mostly everything, there’s an almost random combination of luck and hard work that goes into being published. When people receive a rejection, many want to know “why?” they were rejected. That conundrum obsesses most new artists and writers. I thought I’d discuss *why*. It won’t make you feel better, probably. It might even make you feel worse. But here’s what it looks like from my end.

Here’s some of the things that might help you understand *why* your story was rejected:

1) Have you EVER picked up any of that publisher’s books?

No? Why not? By actually reading a couple books in that imprint you might have a good clue what the publisher likes and dislikes. Your query letter may be making it plain that you have never read one of that publisher’s books. That’s not going to give a favorable impression. This is true for other media as well. Know what the publisher publishes.

2) Have you read and grokked the Submission Guidelines?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you have three lines to impress me. One line has to be, “Hello, my name is… and I am writing to you because/with/for…”

That leaves you two lines to be intelligent, polite and show you “get* what I want. No, that isn’t a lot of space. Almost without exception, that is more than enough. If you are sending me a story in which a character drinks herself to death over a breakup and nothing *happens* as a result of that, there’s a good chance I’ll reject your story. If your email is filled with typos – or a really poor grasp of grammar – I’ll reject your story. It’s not personal, I just don’t have any interest in teaching you how to write. Or draw, so don’t tell me that you don’t know what you’re doing. I’m looking for some sign that your work is *what I want to publish.*

3) Your vision is obscure.

No, I really do not understand what you mean when you say, “they work it out” or “there is a disagreement” or “wackiness ensues.” And frankly, I don’t think you know what you mean, either. Using a filler phrase or marketing copy is not the same as telling me what your story is about. Don’t be clever. Just tell me what I want to know.

4) You reply to my inquiry with a million questions.

“Here’s my story. How do you want that? In your guidelines you say this size – does that mean this size? Or can I use some other size? How about color? Can I do a color page? What about the artist, because I have a story but no artist and…”

Hold off there for second. We don’t have a done deal yet and if I do accept you into the publication, don’t you think I’d tell you some of that important stuff? Puppy-ish behavior is cute in some places – not in a query letter. It shows a lack of professionalism and an inability to understand the process that has to occur for things to happen.

5) I don’t like your story.

No, really. I think your story idea bites. It’s misery with no meaning to it. It’s not nihilistic, it just sucks. You had an idea and didn’t flesh it out, so any reader reading it would want to stab themselves in the eye after three pages of your character doing nothing but exposition on a situation that happened previously and basically has little to no relationship to the now.

Or maybe your story is over-complex, because you don’t really get that an anthology is filled with short stories that must stand alone and you’re convinced that your Prelude to the Prologue of the Great American Graphic Novel will work just fine on its own without any explanation of the characters or situation.

Or, you’ve sent me the 10000000000000th version of “Girl Meets Girl. They like each other. The End.”

Or, you’re 16 and you write like you’re 16. It’s no one’s fault. You just need a LOT of practice and polishing before you learn to write well. At 16, very few people write well.

Or you’re 40 and you write like you’re 16. Then you just aren’t the writer you think you are. If I can’t follow your story in 3-4 sentences or 3-4 paragraphs, I’m not inclined to try 24 pages of it.

I don’t have to like every story in our books. But I do have to stand behind them. I have in the past made exceptions – great story/bad art, vice versa or something else. But don’t count on me doing that for you.

6) It’s personal

This is REALLY, REALLY rare, but yes, there are times when I’m rejecting *you*. You rubbed me the wrong way by writing a jerky query letter and I don’t care if you’re Shakespeare and Rembrandt rolled into one, you blew it.

***

The best way to fix all of these things is to do your research. Actually pick up a book or two from that publisher (or that the agent said they represented.)

Look at what the publisher is not saying in their guidelines as well as what they do say. If the publisher says, “It doesn’t all have to be happy, but we prefer that” then when you send a Goth-dark wallow in angst, don’t be surprised if it’s rejected. Also, if the guidelines say “we’re only taking completed stories at this time” and you send something you haven’t even begun to write much less draw, then don’t be offended when the answer is “no thank you.”

Most agents, editors, publishers are as gentle as possible when they reject you. (Okay, some aren’t as gentle as possible, but most are) and yes, we are aware that it sucks to be you. I swear we aren’t chortling on the other end, glad to have crushed your dreams. And you may, yes, have to internalize the fact that you are not as good as you think you are. There’s no soft, nice, easy remedy for that. Hurtful truth is hurtful.

Honestly, knowing “why” I rejected your letter probably won’t make you feel better. But you can be darn sure that I take no pleasure in telling you no. What I’d like is to have a glut of amazing lesbian stories to tell. The answer to the conundrum of “why” is always “because we’re sorry, but you just aren’t doing what we want to publish/edit/represent.”

Posted in ALC Publishing, Now This Is Only My Opinion, Publishing Manga | 11 Comments »


Mikarun Cross Manga, Volume 1

December 1st, 2009

Man, have I read a lot of weird stuff recently. First it was Kiryuuin Saeko, Private Detective Agency (which I did not review because there is no Yuri in it) and then there was Assistant Denki Keika (which I did, because there was.)

In Mikarun Cross, Volume 1 (ミカるんX) Runa is a normal child who finds herself somewhere between here and there and is given a magical bracelet that grants her wishes. Her first wish is that her battling parents make up, which appears to work. Mika is the daughter of an archaeologist who is killed in a Hamas attack and is adopted by a powerful politician. (Are you with me so far? my wife asks)

Runa and Mika meet at an elite girl’s school in Shibuya. You can tell it is elite because it incorporates the famous Shibuya 109 building into itself and because the buildings make the shape of the Qabalistic Tree of Life.

Mika immediately starts to mack on Runa, but when a giant alien monster slices Mika’s head off, Runa loses it and asks her magic bracelet to not allow her to be left alone. At which Mika and Runa merge, so that a giant, naked Mika with Runa’s head in her chest takes on the giant alien monster over Shibuya. (Still with me?)

Turns out the giant alien monster is actually one of the girls in their class. And so is the leader of the army that later ties a giant, naked Mika up and helicopters her over Tokyo for “study” which appears to involve spreader bars and cow-patterned BDSM gear. About this time my brain crawled out of my head and I was reduced to the mental competence of the typical Champion Red reader and it all started to make sense. So, when Mika and Runa transform in order to defeat the giant soccer ball monster and Runa insists on being the giant one, it was completely sensible that she transform into a magical girl and defeats the soccer ball with her magical Mika wand.

In any case, there’s loads of nudity, bathing, giant aliens and giant naked Mika and a Yuri storyline that is quickly subsumed in all the other crap that passes for a plot. As Champion Red stories go, this was actually decent. There’s no specific “violence against women,” just a sort of overall skankiness that one quickly grows used to or one stops reading.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 3
Characters – 3, with flashes of 7
Yuri – Starts at 6, then tanks
Service – 9

Overall – 5

I’ve recently discovered Comic Ryuu and, unlike most of the manga mags I read, it does not make me feel filthy. (Comp Ace always makes me want to scour my brain immediately after reading.) I plan on reading more series without giant, naked women and alien monsters. It’ll be good for me.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments »


Yawara, A Fashionable Judo Girl Anime, Volume 1 (English)

November 29th, 2009

It’s that ole classic love-hate rivalry.

A mean, self-centered, usually at least borderline psychotic person, has their worldview shattered by a rival they cannot control through money or power or sheer force of will.

Typically, the hero/ine is wholly unaware of their “rival’s” feelings. Often they are unaware that they have a rival at all. No, the strong emotions live one-sidedly in the teeny little obsessive heart of the evil rival. Let’s face it, A-ko never gives B-ko a second thought.

In Yawara, A Fashionable Judo Girl, Inokuma Yawara is uninterested in her rival, Ho’onami Sayaka – indeed, she’s largely unaware of her until Sayaka makes her presence un-ignorable.

For old-school Yuri (and Yaoi) fans, this kind of relationship is full of nostalgia. Before we had actual GL and BL couples, we had this. And that was pretty much it. So, for a lot of reasons, slipping Volume 1 of Yawara into my DVD player was pretty nostalgic. That, and seeing AnimEigo’s logo being rained on. Anyone who started watching anime in the late 90s knows what I mean.

Yawara is from about 1989 and is mind-bogglingly based on a manga by Urasawa Naoki, better known now for such adult-focused series as Pluto, Monster, and 20th Century Boys. Everyone has to start somewhere, eh? :-)

The story follows Inokuma Yawara, a high school senior who wants, more than anything, to be a “normal” girl who goes shopping with friends and has a boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, her grandfather and guardian is a former national Judo champion who has trained her to international levels of skill. Yawara doesn’t really like doing Judo and has no interest in competing, but forces combine to bring her into the public eye.

In Volume 1, Yawara comes to the attention of rich girl Sayaka who has always excelled at everything she’s ever done. What she needs, she knows, is a real rival – someone to pit herself against in order to force her to strive. When she learns of Yawara she’s determined to make Yawara that rival – so much so, that she turns women’s Judo into a media circus just to force Yawara out. She even sets up a national Yawara “boom” in order to hound Yawara onto the mat with her. But the “way of Yawara” isn’t that easy for either girl and Sayaka’s just going to have to wait her turn.

The title of the series is a pun, by the way. “Yawara” (柔) is the same word as the “ju” in Judo, which means the way/path/road of gentleness. Yawara is a gentle girl with killer Judo skills.

For me the best thing about the series – other than the not-quite-hot rivalry – is the actual Judo. The techniques are well-animated and identifiable. There’s even a little booklet with description of the techniques mentioned. The martial artist in me loves that.

The worst thing about the series is Yawara’s grandfather who is a typical impolite monkey of a grandfather. He’s not a pervert but he is an asshole. His assholishness is supposed to be funny, but it isn’t really. There are also panty shots, which *really* makes me wonder about you guys and your obsessive need to look at women’s crotches that extends even to animation.

Other than Jigoro, this series has pretty great characters, which is a pleasure. The reporter who “discovers” Yawara really believes in her, Sayaka’s coach; who is a well-known playboy finds her skills fascinating; the president of the Judo club at her school is a great big, sweet lug and her friends look and sound like actual human beings. Even her mother, when she shows up, turns out to be awesome, reminding her that doing Judo does not make her less feminine, women should be strong and that any guy that disses her for doing Judo deserves an ippon.

The one physical extra is a booklet that contains all the notes for the episodes (which are also included separately on the menu for each episode) and the Judo techniques that are discussed in the series. The video menus are decidedly old-school – after each episode, you’re transported back to the main menu to choose the next episode. After you choose the episode, you’re offered scenes, then language choices. The soundtrack (finally!) defaults to Japanese with full subtitles.

Subtitles are a story all of their own, as it happens. They are taken from a fan translation done in college, I believe, by someone you already know – the translator of Strawberry Panic!, Ana Moreno. The same Ana M. who is our Okazu Superhero here AND the very same Ana M. who is the sponsor of today’s review. So, triple thanks to you Ana for allowing us to share in your fannishness!

Overall, this series is a lot of fun. It was back in the day when I first watched it and it’s no less fun now, if you can manage to stand characters that don’t look 6 years old and act their age.

Ratings:

Art – Old school 7
Characters – Also old school 8
Story – Typical sports anime 8
Yuri – 1
Service – 3

Overall – 8

Aside from everything else, it’s great to have a real sports anime with a female lead over here. Fergit all those baseball and basketball series – *this* is Japanese sports, with lots of style. If my Gift Guide had included anime, this 40-episode collection would have been included. It would make a great gift for anyone into sports stories, strong female leads, old school anime or anyone interested in Urasawa’s early work.

Posted in English Anime | 3 Comments »


Yuri Network News – November 28, 2009

November 28th, 2009

Yuri Anime

It is holiday time, so a number of Yuri Anime releases are right around the corner!

Ikkitousen DD is due to be released next week, so we can get our fix of great heroes of China turned into buxom, strong, yet largely powerless pawns of loathesome guys. :-)

For those of us who can’t ever get enough of this, a *new* Ikkitousen series has been announced in Japan – Ikkitousen XX (Xtreme Xecutor). Ryomou and Kanu are in it, so we can all relax. ;-) In fact, the last issue of Gum magazine I bought had a fabulous Ryomou on the cover, so hopefully she’ll get even more screen time.

Also scheduled for release in the next few weeks is the first Volume of El Cazador. Who wouldn’t want this rollicking tale of witches and gunslingers and mad scientists and bunnymen and sexy assassins?

Don’t forget the complete collection of Blue Drop, which was officially released this month. I was listening to a Blue Drop Drama CD a few weeks ago and I was reminded how much I really liked this anime prequel. I’m very much looking forward to seeing it again “officially.”

And, just to give you something to *really* look forward to, just after the new year we’ll see Rin: Daughter of Mnemosyne the complete series. I may just have to have a party where we all drink everytime Rin dies. :-)

All that *ought* to be enough to tide you over until the 4th season of Marimite arrives in English in the Spring. :-)

***

Yuri Manga

It’s a little too early for a link, but Yuri Hime Wildrose 4 is slated for a December 18th release, as is the next volume of Yuri Hime S.

Oh, and despite the apathy I’ve personally shown this series, Apple Day Dream is also getting a second volume. lol

Hakamada Mera’s Watashi no Taisetsuna Tomodachi is also getting a second volume in the next few weeks. I reviewed that first volume a little while ago and would like to see where it goes.

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Yuri Novels

I’ve been kind of disappointed that Ichijinsha’s Iris line hasn’t put out any more Yuri Light Novels recently. It’all been brooding boys lately. Bleah. lol Let’s write the editor and complain. But!

Mori Natsuko has a new novel out – Futari no Hitori Asobi. Her other novels have been such delicious lesbian crack that this has immediately gone into my Amazon JP shopping cart.

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Other Yuri News

Should you be heading to Winter Comiket this year, Media Factory is publishing an official Sasamekikoto fact file/magazine. Brave the long lines and get me a copy, will you? :-)

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Yuricon Contests

Just a reminder that the Yuri Studios AMV Contest is still on and still accepting submissions! The Contest Guidelines are on the Yuricon site. There’s been so much great (and not great) Yuri Anime this year, we’re really looking forward to seeing some wonderful AMVs celebrating them!

And…we’re getting geared up for a really *big* contest. We’re working on a redesign for the Yuricon website and we need a new image of our mascots Yuriko and Midori for the *Home Page*. We’ll be announcing the Cover Girl Image Contest in a few weeks, but start thinking about it now, because the winner not only gets their image on the front page (and maybe as the cover of Yuri Monogatari 7,) there’ll be a great Grand Prize! Check back soon for contest details! No “adult” images will be accepted for this contest, btw.

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Non-Yuri News

I think it’s worth noting this: Simon Jones of Icarus Publishing has announced that Comic AG, Icarus’ long-running adult manga comic magazine, is ending with issue 110. (Link may not be SFW) Jones is one of the most interesting and intelligent critical commentors on the economics of the manga industry, so his post on why this is happening and what the factors are that have changed the market should be required reading for anyone who has ever whined, “We never get anything good.”

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And, that’s a wrap for this week.

Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Posted in Ikkitousen, Yuri Network News | 3 Comments »


The Great Manga Gift Guide – Okazu Edition

November 26th, 2009

Here it is, my friends, the 2009 Okazu Edition of the Great Manga Gift Guide. These are my suggestions for manga that would make great gifts for the fan(s) in your life.

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Dogs, Bullets Carnage – This title is unbridled action. It’s a bunch of broken, violent people in a violent world. The art is *very* stark, which works totally for what little of the story exists. Mostly, the story is the frame for the fighting. There is a chick with a weapon, but don’t look for more than that.

Who Would Like It: Not for beginner manga fans, but if your gift recipient thinks they’ve seen it all – here’s something with all of it at once. :-)

Kimi ni Todoke – This is one of my wife’s favorite series right now. It’s got that thing that we westerners so often miss in manga – someone who just spits it out already. The protagonist is…nice. And the fun of the series is watching everyone else realize that, too. This female lead is no typical “he’s mean to me because he loves me” heroine.

Who Would Like It: Got a shoujo fan (or closet shoujo fan) in your family or friends? Give them this for something that is totally feel-good, without making you put your brain on hold.

Black Lagoon – Girls, Guns, Drugs, and loads of crazy. This is actually one of my favorite series overall right now. As there isn’t the vaguest hint of Yuri, I have no reason to review it here, but hot damn, this is awesome manga. It’s just chockful of loony women who are armed to the teeth and not afraid to pull the trigger. Yums.

Who Would Like It: Action fans, anyone who spends a lot of time watching Spike TV and anyone who likes women who kill first, then tell you to *^&# off! later will love this.

MW – There’s a reason why Tezuka is consistently held up as a master of the craft. In this volume, he deals with “Homosexuality” in nearly as insensitive a way as possible – and it totally works. In this fraught horror story in which a broken man seeks to punish everyone for his existence, the one stable, normal and happy person is a lesbian editor who appears on only a few pages. Hardcore angst and melodrama, a fistful of self-loathing and misanthropy.

Who Would Like It: This book is great for folks who like it dark, with an even darker background for contrast and horror fans.

Aria – Nothing happens in this series. But it happens beautifully, and with grace and humor and joie de vivre. And scenery porn.

Who Would Like It: Perfect for the jaded, the cynical and any fan that still wants to recapture a feeling of childlike joy at, well, everything.

Iono-sama Fanatics – this volume about a totally lesbian Queen of some small country who happens to love girls with black hair is a very pretty and very sweet fantasy. It’s not often we get to enjoy fantasy romance that’s almost entirely angst-free.

Who Would Like It: Readers who love their manga cute, sweet, harmless and did I mention cute, will love this. It’s charming, as in “Princess Charming.” :-) (I guess that would be Queen Charming, huh?)

WORKS – I haven’t given this book enough air time, really and I blame myself. Tadeno-san has been cranking out Yuri manga since long before you ever heard of it and, although these stories are early (and therefore a little dated,) they still stand the test of time as solid looks at lesbian life and love.

Who Would Like It: Self-serving, yes. Still, a great Yuri primer for an interested adult. A good choice for a lesbian who doesn’t know Yuri yet.

Kashimashi~ Girl Meets Girl Omnibus 1 and Omnibus 2 – This silly story of a boy who becomes a girl and suddenly find herself the center of a love triangle still stands as one of the best adaptations of a manga from Japanese to English I’ve ever seen.

Who Would Like It: Not for beginner Yuri fans, but for folks who can take a handwave or two in their lives.

Azumanga Daioh Omnibus 1 – This collection is a reworking of one of the funniest 4-panel comics to hit American bookshelves to date; there’s really no downside to this volume. It’s a nice chunky book, it’s got some gut-bustingly funny bits and a lot of “heh” parts and is overall a lot of fun. And hey, there’s Kaorin and her totally hopeless love for Sakaki.

Who Would Like It: If you missed this the first time around, now’s a *great* time to add it to your wish list, or get it for a friend, then “borrow” it. :-)

Hayate x Blade – Are you totally unsurprised that this is a Great Manga Gift in my opinion? First of all – funny. Crazy, stupid, funny. Snort-Laugh Out Loud funny. Then there is awesome action. And there are girls. Almost 100% girls, who are in romantic partnerships with darn little romance, honestly, but that doesn’t stop us from projecting.

Who Would Like It: I wouldn’t get this for a little kid, because there is a lot of violence, but for anyone who is getting jaded on service and lack of plot drivers in manga, anyone who longs for action and comedy and something intelligent, anyone who wants a story written by someone who can actually write – hand them this and step back if they are drinking something.

Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4 Volume 5

 

Ed Sizemore also suggested we all add a “piece of coal” book, one that was really not good and you’d give to someone you wanted to punish. Clearly, I’d pick Mariaholic for the role. In fact, I’d give you my copy, but I put it through the shredder.

Thanks to David Welsh for coming up with this fabulous idea – and thanks to all the bloggers and readers who participate!

Now, here’s where you come in! What I want to know is – what are your Great Manga Gift Suggestions – and what book is your piece of coal? Let’s have ’em in the comments!

Posted in Now This Is Only My Opinion, Top Yuri Lists, Yuri Manga | 13 Comments »