Positive rejections

I learned my first lesson about rejections in the publishing world this week. Anything personalized, even a rejection, is a good thing. Bless Andrea Somberg. I don't know the woman, but she took the time to write a very kind rejection letter and let me know that my story didn't pull her in the way she'd hoped. I was elated, because 1) she wanted my story to pull her in so the query letter must have piqued her interest, 2) the title must be okay, and 3) now I know that the first chapter isn't compelling enough, even though I know the rest of the story is. Time to re-tool the beginning.

On the upside, I discovered that I actually know a literary agent and she wants my manuscript tomorrow. Yea! I'd been told she was a retired author and visited with her hoping for a few writing and publishing tips. Then as we were talking yesterday, I find out that she's still an active agent. How did I miss that detail? She wants the manuscript and a two page synopsis by tomorrow, which I'm finding is amazingly difficult to write. How do I boil down 356 pages to two? I guess I'll find out.