Rejected
I can't believe I fell for the latest easy let-down rejection. The first time someone pulled this trick on me, I fell for the excuse hook, line and sinker. I had sent God's Eye to a Toronto theatre. The literary manager called me and told me she loved the script and thought it was almost ready to go. The only problem was that their space was programmed for two years. No doubt, I wasn't going to wait two years for this theatre to produce the play, so I said I'd shop it around. But I was on a total high, because someone liked the script enough to say it could be on stage.
The second company I sent the script to said they liked the script, but it just wasn't the right fit. I've heard this reason many times over, and I didn't care, because I knew the play was ready and I just needed to find someone to program it into their season. I was riding the high of someone basically saying if only we had room in our season next year or the year after, you'd be a shoe-in.
Well, the balloon popped yesterday when I received a rejection letter from another company. The comments about the play were effusive. The only problem was that the theatre was booked until 2010. At that point, I realized that this was the latest strategy in letting writers down easy. I'm fine with the rejection, but I'm kicking myself that I bought the excuse. Sigh. Here I thought I had been around the block enough times to have seen everything. My hat's off to whoever invented this rejection reason. It's an instant classic.
On the bright side of things, I just learned that the international 3 Day Novel Contest (NOT the Book Television reality series, but the official competition that draws submissions from around the world) has announced their winners and shortlist. Sadly, I didn't make the cut, but to my joy, one of the 12 contestants from the Book TV reality series did make the shortlist. Hearty congratulations to Gayleen Froese!!! She's smart. She's personable. And she's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. I'm thrilled that she landed on the list.
Comments
Hey, at least they thought enough of it & you to bother trying to let you down easy. Better than a no-reason given PFO letter or no response at all, maybe?
Posted by steph on January 16, 2008
No, you misunderstand my point. I'm not upset at the people who rejected my play. I'm kicking myself for falling for the compliments and for buying into the reason. If the companies were really booked up until 2010, they would have known when I first sent the script, and they could have told me then.
Normally, I can see a rejection letter for what it is. This time, I misread the rejection and thought it meant an easy ride to getting a production for my play.
Posted by Marty on January 16, 2008