Yesterday I received an e-mail from Blair partnership. This is what it said...
Many thanks for getting in touch with us in February with your submission. We are very sorry to say that we will not be offering you representation for this work. We are truly sorry for the disappointment and as this is such a subjective industry we would strongly recommend that you contact other agencies.
And then....
As J.K. Rowling's agents, we think it's worth noting that some of the elements of your proposed story line seem to bear some similarities to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter stories. That said, we and J.K. Rowling's office have not seen the full manuscript and hope that it is sufficiently different but wanted to flag for you, that if you intend to distribute your book commercially that you should make sure that there are no copyright issues in this respect.
I have no magic school, never mention the word wand, Jacob would not even know what a professor is, they travel in and out of mirrors as a broomstick is for sweeping the floor as far as Erica is concerned and the only thing that is fluffy in my book is Lilly’s pink cushions in her bedroom.
I have closed my web site down and started the process to remove the book from Amazon. I have also sent Blair partnership the full MS and asked that they look for themselves.. No copyright. This is out of respect for Ms Rowling.
It was as if the pathway to publication was paved in glass, no matter how gingerly I walked the floor was bound to shatter beneath my feet.
Like a demented wandering soldier my finger now hovers over the delete button, eager to extinguish all life from the manuscript. I then turn and read a quote. Do less and achieve more or do more and achieve nothing. “Who said that”? I did replied my conscience.
The pain of self publishing.
Damien
Hi all got this back....
Dear Damien,
You have not upset anyone and we genuinely appreciate your time and energy in contacting us, not to mention writing a book in the first place and liaising with us now, to make sure that everything with it is ok.
Because of the number of requests that we receive, it sadly isn't practical for us to check all potential book publications for copyright issues in advance, but we appreciate your assurances that the book doesn't infringe and suggest that if you find an agent or a publisher, that you have the agent or publisher just double check whether anything needs to be tweaked to ensure this on your behalf. In the meantime, we appreciate that you are removing the endorsement from J.K. Rowling.
We wish you and your son every success.
Kind regards
Thanks everyone Damien
HI Damien,
I had a read of your snippet and have no idea how they have related that to HP.
Maybe there is another part in the novel that relates to HP, I don't really know what to suggest without knowing exactly what it is they are talking about.
It really sucks that this has happened and it is a real shame to have to get an email like that but don't let it upset you just keep powering on, having a break sounds like a good idea, come back to it later maybe?
Try,Fall, Fall better, then stick it on Kindle and move on.
You have done all the heavy lifting so complete the job and go with Amazon Kindle. Either way good luck with your next project;D~