Damn You, Junk Mail!

Got back a couple days ago from a trip to Israel with my family, had a fabulous time made better by being able to bask in the knowledge that I'm getting my first novel published. Then I got this from a different publisher in response to a pitch I'd sent him for my manuscript:

Jason,

For some reason this got sent to my spam filter and I just found it while searching for a Urban Pulp Fantasy proposal from another author.

Anyway, I would definitely be interested in publishing Badge of Lies. If it has a sexual component that is more than just implied, it would work very well for the Spicy line, otherwise we could fit it as an original stand alone novel.

Blerg! Are you kidding me? My book proposal went to your junk mail? I check my junk mail religiously just in case something important slips through. Doesn't everybody do this? This is every aspiring author's worst nightmare. HOWEVER, at least he liked it.

I had sent him my pitch about a month before the one I sent to the publisher that accepted the book. So if publisher number 1 had read and responded in a reasonable amount of time, it is likely I would be signing with them instead of the publisher I ended up with. So is it all for the best? Well, after I explained the situation, that I'd since gone with another publisher, junk mail guy responded thusly:

No problem at all. I would say Pro Se probably has a better handle on solid detective fiction than we do anyhow.

Keep us in mind for any original work you have in mind for the future or if you decide to take it elsewhere.

So I guess everything worked out. I'm with the best publisher for my work, and another publisher is potentially interested if I need them. Still, when I saw that first email, I felt awful. But I guess it's all good.

In other news, I just finished a short story that I'm pretty excited about. It's all dark and macabre. Next I'll let the wife read it and then start subbing around, the usual game.

Other than that, it's back to posting the Dark InSpectre on Monday. The end of the series is within site! I know, I can't believe it either.