disappointment

In October 2007, I sent a novel, Angels in the Flames, to TouchWood Editions, a publisher located in Victoria, BC. I heard back from them in April 2008 that they had received the novel and that it was with a reader. In October 2008, I received a 3-page single-spaced critique of the novel, asking me to rewrite it and resubmit. By April 2009, I had completely rewritten the book and I sent it back to them on April 15th, I think. September, I emailed a query concerning its status. No answer. I emailed again a week or two later. No answer. I emailed them a third time in October, asking if they were receiving my emails. They wrote back saying the manuscript was still with a reader. November 9, 2009, I received a rejection from them. The publisher said she thought the rewrite had greatly improved the story and she enjoyed it. But they don't do books for younger readers. Now, of course, my first reaction was: "Why didn't you say that a year and a half ago?" But I'm really grateful that they didn't, because had they done so, I would not have rewritten it as carefully as I did. That being said, at the age of 71 years, I don't have all these years to spend sitting waiting for readers to take as long to read a book as I took to write it, only to tell me that their house doesn't do that kind of book. I find this experience really frustrating!! It's bad enough to get a rejection (even a "nice" one) but it's very upsetting to learn that it never stood a chance to begin with. BTW, yes--I did look at what they published and it seemed to me that my book might fit in with their list. But I was obviously mistaken.