Today is the sixth in a series of posts by San-Diego-based writer Thomas Shess who has decided to keep a journal on his journey to find a publisher for his novel.

WEEK SIX

The Marathon. My search for a literary agent and/or a publisher continues. I feel like I'm about at mile six on a marathon run. All the moving parts are working, but there's a long road ahead. I feel comfortable that progress is being made because I'm learning so much. It has been an invigorating summer.

The Apprentice. Last week, things seemed a bit slow, but that didn't last long. Recently, I received an E-mail from a publisher, who had contacted me after the first installment of this column. Back then he asked to see 100 pages of my novel. I sent him three chapters. After a month, he checked in with a preliminary analysis of my novel. It was a frank evaluation.

There's a lot he likes and much that needs to be done. He's asked me to keep bugging him about it and when his vacation before a vacation is over he'll update me.

That news is gold to a budding novelist. Because all beginner's write their novel at different times of the day, week, year, millennium, our moods change. What is written at one sitting may not be as tight as other times. Coming back to a work after you've put it on the shelf is especially hard. Writing is like being in an athletic zone. Words flow. The story takes on a life. But, if you've been sitting on the sidelines it is hard to get back into the flow of the game. As a result, the writing seems cold and your confidence hits bottom.

Having a professional read my work and say here's what's good and here's what's felt great. He didn't toss it back in my lap but assured me there's a lot of work ahead.

Deep Tonsilette. As a journalist I've only received a couple of those anonymous foreboding calls that put a chill into an otherwise perfectly nice night. One call came back in 1978. I was about to leave LA and take over the editor in chief's job at San Francisco Magazine. A murky voice about midnight woke me and warned: when I got to the City I had better not write about the People's Temple. Not one word..." The voice hung up. It wasn't long before the cult made international news by staging a mass suicide in South America. The other call wasn't as spooky, but it was curious. As executive editor of San Diego Magazine, I purchased an article by a Kennedy assassination buff, who had some interesting theories. We ran it because the writer was local and it was the 20th anniversary of the President's murder. A week after the magazine landed on the newsstand I received an anonymous call asking a question: "Why can't you leave it alone? The past is the past. Don't continue down this path. We know how to stop you." Click.

So, when I received an anonymous call last week, I was relieved that the caller was a woman and actually friendly. Something new. She said she couldn't identify herself because she worked for a literary agency that was rejecting my novel based on my query. She said for me not to give up because the agency discussion was negative toward me because of all the wrong reasons. She was unhappy because the worth of the idea was not considered. The no votes came because male fiction was not hot. It wasn't non-fiction how to chick and mystery novels were dime a dozen. She said she liked my idea and if she had her own agency she would have at least asked to see the first 50 or so pages. "I'm telling you this so you don't give up."

Wow. Thank you, whomever you are. I appreciate you picking up the phone.

Computer Wonderland. Last week, I began a search to upgrade my computer system. Being a long time PC user I decided to see what the Mac folks had going. I visited the local Apple store and was greeted by a wave of green T-shirted robomarketers. They were cheery enough and knew their stuff, but I felt like an escapee from the sci-fi flick Soylent Green.

I also came away thinking switching files might be iffy, especially since I do a lot of work with Adobe Photoshop. Tempted to move into Macdom I'm going to see exactly how much and how easy it will be to change my files from PC to MAC. Changing from Ford to Chevy is going to take some more study.

Fiction Software? While wandering computer store aisles I noticed a software package to help guide writing novels and screenplays? Anyone out there have an opinion on how effective fiction software is? Give me a scream.

Networking. Thanks to mediabistro I'm hearing from many local writers. I was buying a Ray Charles duets CD in my neighborhood and ran across a writer I hadn't seen in a long time. Small talk ebbed when he mentioned he'd been reading about my search on mediabistro. We decided to have coffee later last week at Claire de Lune Coffee House near the real San Diego Zoo. He too was in the midst of seeking a literary agent. We did a "show me yours, I'll show you mine." I'm still reading his. And, right away I saw in someone else's work how much a passive voice slows the action.

Round mound of rejection. The aforementioned fiction swap opened my eyes-once again with feeling at the importance of writing a great query. My friend brought along a manila folder of 50 or more rejection slips. He let me keep them overnight. Lots of cold form letters. But one stood out among the no thank you notes. It came from the Donald Maass Literary Agency. It was a business letter reply. No Xerox form. No multiple copy rejection note. Mr. Maass has instructed his staff to make rejections via a business letter. He realizes it is a jungle out there, but it's a business first. One phrase he used was important because it validated how important it is to write a first rate query: Another note that caught my attention was one that said "I realize it is difficult to judge your potential from a query alone, but please know that I give serious attention to every letter, outline, and writing sample that I receive..."

Again, so much is based on the query. I immediately went back to 2005 Writer's Market and reminded myself how nice a job WM editors do on basic query letter instruction. The query letter clinic for beginners on page 21 just may be editorial fodder for my first tattoo.

* Because it's a jungle out there.