They always say, "No news is good news," but that's not necessarily true - especially for a writer waiting for news about a book query.

Who are THEY, anyway? Don't THEY know anxious writers are drooling over emails that don't appear, or reply envelopes mysteriously not in the mail box? All the while, the poor writer's wondering...

Did the publisher/agent get the query? Or is it lost forever in (cyberspace, the blackhole at the Post Office, take your pick)?

Waiting is the hardest part of writing. Hopeful writers pour their heart and soul into a story, then wonder if it was a mistake to send that very special baby off to unfeeling strangers likely never to be heard from. Many editors and agents just don't bother replying if they aren't interested in a writer's submission. In those cases, the writer never knows for sure if the editors/agents actually got a chance to look it over. And sometimes they didn't. It may be sitting at the bottom of the proverbial "slush pile," never to be seen again - until, one fine day, some overworked, underappreciated assistant is told to "clear out all that crap and make room for the tons of new stuff coming in." Then, bingo! All those painstakingly, lovingly prepared submissions go straight into the recycling dumpster. It's not that they hated it, it's just that they didn't have the time to look at it. Or maybe they're in a playful mood and pin a bunch of query letters on a dart board. Whoever's letter gets a dart gets looked at. The rest? Dumpsterville. And sometimes it's just that simple. But meanwhile the clueless writer becomes convinced the universe has something against him and is playing a cruel, cosmic joke.

The writer's waiting game can be disheartening, and can force the writer turn to desperate measures - sending candy and other bribes with queries. But (I'm told) this never works. I mean, would you eat anything that came in the mail from a stranger? They say (again, it's THEY), "Never take candy from a stranger." Guess that's pretty good advice, even though I still don't know who in the heck THEY are...

Anyhoo ... the best way I can wrap up this mini-diatribe disguised as wry humor is to admit that, okay, maybe sometimes "No news IS good news." At least I'm not opening some curt email or form letter that says, "Sorry, not interested." Or worse -- "You SUCK!"

Ouch! Been there, done that. So, today, I'll take "No news is good news." But tomorrow, I expect to see that message - "YES! We love your writing and want to publish/represent you!"

Wow. Wouldn't that be great? I admit I'm a pessimist at heart - but how can that be true when I nuture the perenneal hope that one day I'll get that "YES!" Meanwhile, back to the grind of sending out more submissions. When I hear something good, I'll let you know right here!

By the way, the sign in the traffic picture above reads, "Some asshole talking on his cell phone got creamed." Take care.