Latest rejection

>Sigh<. I'm feeling sort of down right now, yet proud of myself for at least trying to do something different and positive.

Ever since I was told by GoComics that they were planning to cancel "Frog Applause" from their website, I've been taking more chances to promote myself and my creative ideas. 

Anyway, I recently contacted Andrews McMeel Publishing (the publishing arm of GoComics's parent company Andrews McMeel Universal) to pitch a book idea for young readers. The book was targeted for kids 7-12 and was called COMICS POETRY for Kids. I had hoped that AMP-Kids would be interested in my idea, but, unfortunately, they were not. Below (in blue) is the email I received earlier today. The editor is a very nice guy. I thought he turned me down in a very nice way, actually. Still, a rejection is a rejection and it doesn't hurt any less. Now I am faced with what to do next. Do I feel strongly enough about my book idea to self-publish it? Should I abandon the idea altogether? Or maybe seek out another publisher? Honestly, I can't see myself sending it to a another publisher and going through the usual, arduous process. With AMP-Kids, I was at least able to fast-track my proposal directly to the editor who would decide its fate quickly instead of having to wait for several weeks or months only be told, "No, thanks."

"Thanks for sharing your proposal with us. I enjoyed looking through it and think you have a great philosophy on teaching kids poetry through comics. Unfortunately I don’t think this is a good fit for AMP. I think we’d have a hard time getting placement for it in the marketplace since it’s not the kind of thing book retailers or outlets look to us for, either in terms of category or age group. It does bridge comics and poetry in a really nice way, and our children’s books editors gave it high marks for the way it addresses kids naturally and boosts their creative instincts, so I hope you’re able to pursue it with another publisher or even self-publish if you wind up deciding to get it out there in a different fashion."

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I've already decide to abandon this idea in book form. If I do a book about COMICS POETRY, I might as well self-publish a collection of my own comics poetry. "Frog Applause" has several examples. Or I could set up a Comics Poetry for Kids website. Or maybe a "Frog Applause" collection. Or maybe forget about a book or books altogether. My "Shoecabbage" partner and I are planning to self-publish a book, maybe that's enough. >Sigh<.

I just think I've lost my motivation, for now.  I didn't get where I am now (being on GoComics since 2001) without some dogged determination. I did start at The Kansas City Star first and spent hours upon hours learning Photoshop and other stuff so I could be a part of what GoComics was becoming. I was here when things were new and just starting.

I hear you, 6turtle9. I know what you mean. Maybe I need more time to think things through. As you can all see, I'm using this blog to think outloud. (Perhaps a mistake.)

I take it back. Thinking outloud isn't a mistake when the ears that hear me are the ears of my readers who understand me better than I understand myself. 

Editors are good at writing. Plus, when you sort of know the person there's the added burden of having to "be nice." That said, I don't really know if LW meant any of this. I know he's a nice person and would have wanted to be encouraging. I would have probably done the same thing. For all I know, no one other than this editor saw my proposal. I have data analytics and I didn't see multiple visits to my proposal pages, so there's that. That's okay. It's sort of like a "white lie"--meant to spare someone hurt feelings. Two specific things about the rejection letter, though. I am not an expert at assigning age to an audience, so that shouldn't be considered. Age assignment is something that can be corrected or remarketed. As for teaching kids "poetry" that's really far off. I wanted to introduce kids to COMICS POETRY, which is a hybrid of comics and poetry. As such, the comics component isn't a gimmick to use the comics as a pathway to teaching kids about poetry. That was probably the most disappointing part of his rejection. COMICS POETRY is not poetry disguised as the comics or a more "child-fun" way of introducing poetry. COMICS POETRY is its own category, not comics or poetry but a hybrid of both. (I realize that I'm being redundant. It's just that this was a very disappointing comment that I can't rectify. >sigh<.

#FB00103