News fit to post. . .

June 24, 2006: As THE WAY OF DECEPTION receives three more rejections (58 in all so far), I am beginning to work heavily on SOMATIC , which has evolved from an okay horror book to a conspiracy thriller with a knife's edge of mystery. Salem Wiccar is a great mystery, who's running from his past. Brooke Kittrick is a conspiracy theorist with an extremely popular blog that she uses to spread her ideas. Salem is a conspiracy theory she never expected to exist - and learning the truth can be deadly. June 19, 2006: Two more rejections. That makes two more that won't represent me out of the way - - so that I can find the literary agent that will.June 17, 2006: #53 rejection rec'd today. Rollin'-Rollin'-Rollin'-keep those doggies rollin' - - - June 16, 2006: Rejection number correction: after recount, the number is 52 for the year. 51 just came in via e-mail. #52 by snailmail. Past half way to my 100 rejection goal! No word on the agent that asked for the first few chapters (I sent him four). I created a fourth blog inspired by my beloved Angels Baseball Team. It's called: Angels of Anaheim. - - Political Pistachio has gone through yet another facelift, but ooh is that blog lookin' good, and I am getting a lot of comments and hits - - seems like my political blog is becoming the rage of the blogging community - - and it'll be a great place to advertise my book once it gets published!June 13, 2006: During the weekend (two days ago) I sent out a handful of e-mail queries regarding The Way of Deception and one of them came back requesting sample chapters. Haroo, harrah, sending out a partial has my blood pumpin', and this guy is a real reputable agent. I am stoked. But, hey, that doesn't mean I'm accepted. It just means that he wants to see my writing. I'm ready. Represent me, I'll make ya a lot of money.June 12, 2006: Rejection number 48 for the year has come in. . . today a stack of query letters are going to be mailed out. Man, am I a glutton for punishment or what?June 10, 2006: Today my wife, Virginia, and I registered for the La Jolla Writers Conference coming up October 20-22 at the Hyatt Regency Islandia on Mission Bay in San Diego, California. We're pretty excited, and it'll give Virginia a peek into my world of writing. This is my first conference, and I will have to have my pitch perfect - - just in case I bump into an agent that could represent me. Also, my political blog, Political Pistachio is becoming quite the presence on the web, as is my baseball site. In fact, my baseball site is getting more hits than this site! So, on the mainpage I am pushing the links to douglasvgibbs.com and my blogs. Hopefully it'll make an impact, that is if there are enough fantasy baseball enthusiasts that are also interested in fledgling writers. We will see. June 8, 2006: After a week of silence, two rejections came in today. The total (I checked it) is now 47 for the year so far.May 30, 2006: Two more rejections received today for THE WAY OF DECEPTION , one by snail-mail, and one by E-mail. My wife and I are going through the manuscript and making it better. . . and then when it's to our liking, we will send out more letters, better this time, and hopefully good enough to peak the interest of an agent. Also, the blogs are getting better and better. My political blog, Political Pistachio has attracted the attention of other bloggers, and also I've added a really good graphic depicting 9-11. On my writer's blog, Defender of the Blahs , I've moved away from trying to give so much advice (hard to give advice when my publishing record is not quite stellar just yet) and with my last post I talked a little more about my writing history in the sense of as an enjoyment, and also about J.A. Konrath's influence on my drive to become published. My Christian Blog, Carried by Christ , is looking good, and my posts are feeling right - - the second to last post was the same as one on the political blog - referencing a short note by a pastor at my church - and my baseball game site, World League Baseball seems to be getting more hits than my www.douglasvgibbs.com site is! What's up with that?May 27, 2006: Three more rejections received.May 25, 2006: 5 more rejections received (4 by mail, 1 by e-mail)! Two of them stated that they no longer are accepting clients, the other three were your regular, run-of-the-mill rejection form letters giving the nicety that they are just not the right agent for my book, and that they wish me the best of luck in finding an agent. Remember, these old letters still reflect the old name of the book. Letters specifically targeting agents for the new title, THE WAY OF DECEPTION should be going out early next week. Oh, by the way, a new co-worker in my company claims that he's an avid reader and wants to read my manuscript. I'll be getting a copy to him as soon as possible. I always appreciate it when someone wants to read my work. Interestingly, I didn't used to like it, but I guess I it appreciate now because I am more confident with my writing. Um, I think these five rejections drives my count to 33 for the year. That puts me a third of the way to my goal of 100. Wow, I have become a master of the art of being rejected. Now, it's time to become a professional at the art of being published. Time will tell. A professional is an amateur who didn't quit. May 20, 2006: I viewed criticisms I asked for regarding my latest query letter, and in response to the advice I have decided to change the name of my latest novel from THE LEONARDO CONSPIRACY to THE WAY OF DECEPTION . This is designed as an attempt to divorce my novel from the gimmick of being like Da Vinci Code. I am going to sell my novel on its merit. It's nothing like Dan Brown's book, anyway. I still challenge a few principles addressed by Brown's novel, but I also allow my book to create its own ideas of conspiracy. May 17, 2006: Received a rejection by e-mail for The Leonardo Conspiracy today. Drives my rejection total for the year up to 28. Will I hit 100 rejections first? Or will I find a yes? Stay tuned. The plot thickens. May 13, 2006: Today I bought a new copier to help me with my workload - - and it's a laser copier/printer. Nice machine. Also, I created a new baseball website based on my SportsIllustrated Superstar Baseball Game. The website address is www.leaguelineup.com/worldleaguebaseball and has a pop-up that describes my book, The Leonardo Conspiracy. I also spent some money and bought a domain name that is easier to remember, and though it's a one page site (but I like it. The picture reminds me of the beaches near my house in Oregon). The site address for it is: www.douglasvgibbs.com . Easy to remember, isn't it? Eventually my website will move to that page, and it'll be even better, but for now, it is simple and quaint. May 9, 2006: Began mailing out the query letters to agents for Leonardo Conspiracy May 7, 2006: I have begun sending out queries regarding LEONARDO CONSPIRACY today and one of the e-mail queries have already responded and rejected me. Wow. I also have a new blog. I noticed that on my writer's blog, Defender of the Blahs , was getting a bit on the political side, so to keep it a writer's blog, I have created a blog that I can put my political opinions on called Political Pistachio , which should prove to be a lot of fun, and give me yet another avenue of self-promotion that will eventually help me with my marketing strategies once I am published. May 1, 2006: I woke up this morning with SOMATIC on my mind, and I wound up writing three pages of notes on the way to work. The book was completed in 2003, and four drafts have already been completed, but something just didn't seem right. It is as if the book was not what I had originally envisioned it to be. The point of it is for the past to be haunting the main character, but it winds up being one event catching up to him. I decided I must change that. Not only is all of his past catching up to him, but also I plan to tell his story through the eyes of another character, and to allow her own life challenges to play into the story, and I plan to use their different experiences to link them. LEONARDO CONSPIRACY is complete, and even though I am rereading it just in case I missed something, I needed to work on something else, so I am pulling SOMATIC out of the mothballs. I also plan to go over A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW again as well, hoping that with a little fix and polish here and there, it may make another run for publication as well. My wife is now reading about the conspiracy as well as my beta-readers, now, and though she has a few hang-ups on diction, she really likes the book. April 28, 2006: LEONARDO CONSPIRACY is finished! The beta-readers have their copies (except one, who's waiting for a hard copy), and letters to agents are going out within a week or two. I will keep you posted.April 17, 2006: Rec'd another rejection today = brings the grand total for 2006, so far, to 25.April 8, 2006: I am becoming fed up with A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW and have decided to retire her for the time being. I have received 24 rejections out of the 28 queries I sent. It's not that I don't believe in the novel, it's just that LEONARDO CONSPIRACY is a superior effort, and more in tune with what is selling at this time in the industry. I feel that I need to finish its final proof-read (polish) and get it out there while Da Vinci Code is still hot (since my book is designed to challenge the ideas put forth in the Da Vinci Code, using Christian evidence to combat Dan Brown's poorly researched project). My blog, http://douglasvgibbs.blogspot.com , has become a fun project, and I have discovered that my writer acquaintance (can you call someone a friend when you've only had dinner with him once?) JA Konrath ( www.jakonrath.com ) has a blog through the same provider - a link to Konrath's blog - and it is quite informative for the new writer (as is his website). I expect to get together again with him this July (when he's on his book tour), and this time I'll remember to get a picture with him. He's been inspirational, and I plan to use the majority of his techniques when it comes to marketing. Konrath's third book, Rusty Nail, is coming out in June. I'm looking forward to it. Anyhow, hopefully I'll have an agent for LEONARDO CONSPIRACY by then and he'll be able to give me the blurbs for it he's indicated he'll give me. Ciao for now. March 24, 2006: Began one more proof-read/polish of my work in progress. I don't know, it just seemed like it wasn't completely right. Also, I signed a petition to try to keep the atheists from kicking God completely off the radio and television. See my blog for the details on the story, and how you can help.March 16, 2006: Completed proof-read of CONSPIRACY this morning. Now I have to make the changes and corrections in the computer and print out a new copy of the manuscript. By the way, I forgot to tell you, on March 2nd I started a new blog. Check it out at: http://douglasvgibbs.blogspot.com March 10, 2006: More rejections have been received. The grand total is up to 20. As for my other book, I am halfway through the final proof-read and polishing session. More to come soon.March 4, 2006: Two more rejection letters have come in for A Light in the Shadow, bringing the grand total up to fourteen. I have finished a query letter for CONSPIRACY that I believe will knock the agent's socks off. The final draft is finally coming together. I hope to be ready to send out the queries in a couple weeks. Depends on how fast my beta-readers read the manuscript, gives me feedback, and I make any necessary corrections. It's not over yet.February 27, 2006: More rejections have come in from my latest flurry of query letters to agents for A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW bringing the grand total of rejections in 2006 to 12.February 22, 2006: Two more rejections for my book received today. The count is now four rejections out of 21 letters. A new list has been made of about 25 agents, and they will go out once all of these are responded to, unless of course that one of these responses is not a rejection.February 20, 2006: Two rejections from the 21 letters I sent out for A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW received today.February 14, 2006: Rejection #5 out of the seven E-mail queries sent received today.February 13, 2006: 21 Query Letters and related material if requested by Submission Guidelines mailed today to 21 different agents, all but one of them in the New York area, all of which are members of the AAR.February 9, 2006: I got to looking at my queries, and realized that the genre I call out is confusing, and the novel's description is not concise and tightened up enough, so I reworked it all and I am re-doing all of the letters. I'm dating them for February 13, 2006 because that's when I think I will get them out in the mail to the agents. I think there's a dozen or two or three agents on my list, or something like that. I was hoping for a minimum of 40, but it's hard to find that many quality agents that I think fits my genre. Research, research, research.February 8, 2006: I received four rejections today in response to the seven queries I sent regarding my book, A Light in the Shadow . The rejections are fine. First, it means that 3 out of the seven queries are still deciding. Longer is better. Besides, on the forum I am a member of, Absolute Write , I took the Rejection Pledge. I pledged to try to get 100 rejections this year. You can't get published if you don't submit. February 8, 2006: My book that had an agent for a short time last year, A Light in the Shadow , is on the move again. I sent out seven queries by E-Mail today, and plan to send out a mess of letters.February 7, 2006: Lights and Shadows of Mormonism by my Great Grandfather has become a topic for me, and today I sent a query by e-mail about re-publishing the book with an introduction written by me.January 29, 2006: Completed 5th draft of CONSPIRACY , and there is still a lot of work to be done on it. Reworking my outline in preparation for the sixth draft, I plan to add 7 chapters, and increase my time spent on six characters. Also, the ending has slightly adjusted.December 30, 2005: Completed the fourth draft of CONSPIRACY. Looks like I still have a few loose ends to bring together. December 13, 2005: Lined up a beta reader for CONSPIRACY once it is completed.November 12, 2005: Completed third draft of CONSPIRACY . Ordered postcards with story summary printed on them. Maybe this will help gain my next agent. Queries should be sent out in the next week or two.October 17, 2005: Letter received from agent with a list of the publishers my work was submitted to. They indicate: "...we are all very disappointed. You do have an excellent work and we understand the tremedous amount of time and effort that you put into producing A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW. Unfortunately, as you know, this is an extremely competitive industry. We had hoped that your work would have created an interest...if any publisher should contact us indicating a desire to see a work such as yours, we will send it immediately." What? No back-up plan?September 30, 2005: Agent responds to e-mail, indicating nothing positive to date. No mention of contract lapse.September 29, 2005: My contract with the agent expires today, and they have not gotten my book published. Now I have the unenviable task of either firing them, or taking another chance with them for another 6 months. Also, it's frustrating, but that's the nature of the business. J.A. Konrath fired his first agent, and then had to write 9 manuscripts with his current agent before his work got sold. Goes back to what I always say, "A professional is an amateur who didn't quit," and I am not about to quit, yet. Besides, I have two other projects going right now, and one of them should be ready before the first of the year. We'll see. July 13, 2005: Additional material sent to agent today.May 17, 2005: My bio was placed on my agent's website today.May 9, 2005: Mailed manuscript and other requested items edited and re-formatted to my agent today. If all is as they want it, the next step is looking for publishers. Yee Haw.May 7, 2005: The Literary Agency asked if I could send them a picture of myself, write a more detailed bio, and write a short description of my novel so that they can put it all on their website. Cool.April 21, 2005: Letter dated 4-18-05 I received instructions from my angent regarding copyediting and formatting requirements for A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW. Now the work really begins.April 11, 2005: In a letter dated April 7, 2005 the literary agency in San Diego indicated that they received my signed contract, returned my copy with their signature, and that now my manuscript, description, and synopsis will be reviewed for any possible necessary revisions that would apply to copyediting or formatting. They explained that the process should take about two weeks (or less).March 31, 2005: Oh happy day! Remember that Literary Agency in San Diego that wanted to see the manuscript? Today I received a letter from them dated 3-29-2005 regarding A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW stating that after reviewing my work they feel that I have done an excellent job and would like to go forward with representation. I have an agent. Now it's just a matter of getting published.March 14, 2005: received rejection for CONVICTIONS from a small market magazine in Canada, today.March 12, 2005: In a letter dtd 3-8-2005, the Literary Agency in San Diego advised me that they received my complete manuscript, thanked me for the opportunity to review A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW, and that they would contact me upon completion of their review, which generally takes about 3-4 weeks.March 6, 2005: Shortstory: LADDER LESSON rejection received.March 5, 2005: I mailed the complete manuscript of A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW today to the Literary Agency in San Diego, California. I was nervous putting that baby in the mail.March 2, 2005: Remember that agency in San Diego that wanted to see the first 50 pages of A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW? Today they responded, and they want to see the entire manuscript! I dropped it off to be copied today, should be ready by tomorrow, and then I will get it in the mail Friday or Saturday. Granted, it's not an acceptance, per se, but this is the farthest into the process I've ever gotten. I'm crossing my fingers and praying for the best.March 1, 2005: Wrote and submitted "Ladder Lesson" (Flash Fiction/Shortstory) to a magazine. Awaiting response.February 28, 2005: "Coma out of it" rejected. I plan to pursue other magazines.February 28, 2005: Submitted "Convictions" to a small press magazine.February 27, 2005: Re-wrote "Big Mac Attack" and renamed it "Coma out of it," as a creative non-fiction submission to a small market press magazine. The story touches upon my return to the world of the living as I come out of a coma back in 1985 - of course my welcome back was a seizure disorder that haunted me until 1993.February 19, 2005: The agency that contacted me by e-mail and requested more information by mail sent me a rejection. I received it today. Out of seven queries that leaves 5 rejected, 1 non-response, and the one in San Diego whose interest I tweaked in reception of the first 50 pages of my manuscript and deliberating at this moment over whether or not to represent me.February 17, 2005: I've been wanting to look over the manuscript (A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW), because in my mind I keep finding things in the book I want to tweak. If I do, though, I will wind up re-writing it all again...I must contain myself and leave it alone and wait and see what the agents think - However, since I am in such a mood to write, I am pulling SOMATIC out of the moth balls and working on it. Watch for the first chapter (remember, I have already written a full manuscript, but it's a first draft, so I need to do some work first) coming soon to this web site!February 15, 2005: Actually put packet in the mail for A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW to San Diego...hopefully I tweak their interest a little more!February 14, 2005: COMPLETED FINAL EDIT, again. Realizing not to trust the word count of my computer, I used the standard industry method or averaging it out to 250 per page. Taking the 250, times the number of pages (330) I came up with 82,500 words, which is a perfect number for a new writer. Now, all I have to do is re-write the synopsis and that sucker is in the mail.February 13, 2005: Edited 5 Chapters of A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW.February 13, 2005: Ordered Writer's Market and Agent's Market books from Writer's Digest -- after rejoining the book club. I have a dozen books from the last time I joined, over half of which I have read.February 12, 2005: Edited 13 Chapters of A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW.February 11, 2005: Because of rain, I am able to stay home and write. Worked on re-organizing my synopsis today, as well as reading and clipping and re-figuring my manuscript, A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW.February 10, 2005: I mailed the letter requested by the e-mail response. It was kind of nice to be able to start the letter: Thank you for your interest in my work. In response to your request...February 9, 2005: One of the e-mail queries I sent out responded today, thanking me for my interest and indicating that their process involves query letters by mail with author bio., and a brief summary of the work. Well, it's not a rejection.February 8, 2005: My fifth response out of seven queries was received today. The agency in La Jolla (with offices in New York and London as well) thanked me for my interest in their agency, apologized for the "form response," and indicated that they felt they could not successfully market my work.February 7, 2005: I realized that a simple overhaul is not enough - when it comes to editing A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW - during the edit of my manuscript I located needless words and phrases, so I infused that editing practice (meaning removing needless things) into my editing process.February 2, 2005: Response from an agent in the positive. After reading my query they have requested a basic package that most agencies want up front. Genre, a more detailed description of A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW, a 2-5 page synopsis, Number or words and pages, and the first 50 pages of my manuscript. It's definitely a lot better than a rejection letter, but that doesn't mean that I am for sure in...but it's a step in the right direction.February 1, 2005: ordered my business cards, should get them in 2 to 3 weeks.January 29, 2005: After not even as much as tossing a glance at my manuscript for a month, today I decided it's in need for a 13th draft. Major overhaul. I plan to change the chapters around so that the first chapter begins with Sara, rather than Damon, since the primary target audience is female. Also, I realized I have way too many "to be" verbs, and "tell what happened" too much, rather than capturing the poetic magic of true storytelling. Hopefully it won't take too long to do, since query letters are out indicating that the manuscript is complete. Added note, the manuscript is currently 110,800 words, which is a little long for a new writer, and most agents and publishers prefer a shorter work by newcomers. The first re-write of Chapter one (of the first two paragraphs, anyway) eliminated 8 lines of print, and is much more eloquent than the prior draft. Knocking this book down to 80,000 words of so should not be too difficult. I also decided to eliminate a character and a couple of chapters, realizing that the situations involved really did nothing to assist the story in its progression. Check out the A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW chapter's pages for the re-writes as they come available. Ciao for now. At least until the next news item pops up.January 29, 2005: Received my third rejection letter for my book (A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW). They thanked me, but felt my project was not a good match for their agency. Good, moving along towards that "yes" wherever it may be.January 27, 2005: Created and launched www.geocities.com/douglasvgibbs, as well as the new e-mail address designed only for correspondence with my fans . . . all 3 of them!January 24, 2005: Received my second rejection letter for A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW. This one didn't even have the decency to write me a letter, they handwrote their response on my original letter. That's okay, cuts down costs, probably. 2 down, hundreds to go until that magical "yes" vote. Okay, now, are all three of you devoted fans paying attention?January 24, 2005: Launch of Characters Page in A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW section on my website.January 24, 2005: Creation of News Page on my website.January 22, 2005: Launch of "Douglas V. Gibbs, Novelist" website.January 20, 2005: First Rejection Letter received. The first of many for A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW. Good, let's get the "no's" out of the way so that I can find a "yes." Oh, and this is the first rejection.January 17, 2005: Two query letters mailed to literary agencies.January 16, 2005: Three e-mail queries sent to literary agents.January 16, 2005: First proof-read of 12th draft of A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW completed. The proof-read increased the total words of the manuscript from 102,244 words to 110,702 words. My next proof-read will fine-tune this baby, and hopefully bring the word count back down a little, but you never know.January 5, 2005: second query letter mailed.January 3, 2005: First Query Letter to an agent mailed out.January 2, 2005: 12th draft of A LIGHT IN THE SHADOW completed.