Just Because I Rejected Your Manuscript Doesn’t Mean I’m a Racist, Homophobe, Anti-Semite, etc.

Hi Angela,

I was deeply saddened by the article about the woman who made all kinds of assumptions about you because her manuscript was rejected. I want to say for the record that I’ve been working with BookLocker since 2003, and I have never found you or your family to be anything but friendly, accepting, and encouraging. Thank you for everything you do!

Best,
Debra Stang
HOSPICE TAILS: The Animal Companions Who Journey With Hospice Patients and Their Families
VISITING GRANDMA



Hey Ang,

I read your column today on not being racists for rejecting a book for X reason. Pretty funny. Having been in the writing biz (magazine and newspapers) my entire career I feel for you; as a reporter then editor I’ve been called every name in the book, none that I will repeat to a lady and I wish I had a nickel for every time someone threatened me with a lawsuit. But, that’s the biz and the challenge with nonprofessional writers, they don’t understand how the business works and, more to the point, that it IS a business and that business is to make money.

I think what authors (any writer, for that matter) must understand is that they can’t take their work and coddle it to their breasts as if they were children.

I. too. pitched a book to you that you passed on; you passed because it was based on actual events. You explained (very nicely) that you didn’t want to offend any survivors or risk litigation. I think this would make a nice additive for your readers to know that there are SOME of us out there who can take a rejection without rancor.

Hugs,
Peter J. Gallanis
Assignment Editor
Journatic