The Nicest of Rejections!!

"I grew up long ago, though I remember it still,
my days beneath the blue prairie sky."

I wrote this story as a rather personal and reflective piece about growing up on the prairies of western Minnesota.  This story was inspired by me trying to find a sense of place in my life. I think a person can feel a certain spiritual connection to a region or place where they were raised.

The only problem was that a story like this has a rather limited audience.  I realized that your typical publishing house probably wouldn't even consider looking at it... not enough cute puppies and such.  But I continued working on it, mostly for personal reasons I suppose.  But then I discovered the Minnesota Historical Society Press and thought that maybe they might be a good fit for this book.

This publisher focuses on regional topics and stories and have been publishing printed material for years. They are a part of the Minnesota Historical Society and are funded by the state of Minnesota, so they really aren't what you would consider a traditional publishing house, but I felt pretty confident that they would at least give my idea a chance to fly!

So I checked out their submission guidelines, always a smart move, and proceeded to put together a good proposal package for them.  I focused on getting a solid manuscript and some illustration samples ready for submission.  Being able to submit online was wonderful!! Finally... I reached the point where I could confidently push "send "!!

And so then you wait...

It was a somewhat anxious yet exciting time of waiting.  I did in fact feel pretty confident that they might go for the idea! But then the email of reckoning finally arrived...

Greg...

Thank you for your patience as you've awaited a reply from me regarding your lyrical ode to the landscape of your youth.  I've enjoyed reading Prairie Sky, and I shared it with my colleagues as well.  However, I'm sorry to tell you that after careful consideration we have decided against pursuing your project for publication.

Our decision is based less on your work  - a beautifully written narrative, with evocative language that brings immediately to mind the prairie in all its glory - than in the realities of our publishing program.  We publish just two children's titles per year, and we are already booked through 2021! We receive many, many fine stories from talented regional writers and illustrators, and we wish we could accept more of them, but our limited list means we must be painfully judicious in our decisions.

Your pitch is detailed and quite appealing, your considerations of how different readers will respond to the text and how it will be useful in the classroom are strong selling points. I expect another publisher will be able to say "yes " without hesitation  - and I look forward to seeing Prairie Sky on bookstore shelves before to long.

Thank you for thinking of MNHS Press. I wish you all the best with this and other projects you have underway.

Warmly
Shannon

And so...there it was, the response I was waiting for. Well... maybe not the response I wanted,  but it was a response just the same. I got rejected!! But I still felt like in a way I got accepted. I guess one could relate this to the old break up cliche "Oh it's not you, it's me!" That seems like the less painful way of ending a relationship, but I do feel that they were being fairly honest in their rejection. I should have gotten back to them and said, "I can definitely wait until 2021 if you'd like to publish it then!" This was back in 2017, but I could have used that time to create illustrations of masterpiece quality!! But I didn't, and the book has sat on the drawing board since.

Also since that time my studio became my "home for the summer from college" daughters bedroom again. She hasn't used it for awhile, but getting it back in order has been a neglected project... my bad. But that letter did give me the confidence that this was worthy project to keep developing. And so developing I will do!! Thank you Shannon at Minnesota Historical Society Press for giving me the boot!!!

"It seems the wind blew forever, like the breath of the earth,
across the fields of soft grasses and grains,"