I sent out a query letter, synopsis and three sample chapters to Groundwood Books yesterday during my lunch hour. Everything was ready, so I was able to print everything off after the weekend. I did this mostly so I could say that Rosemary and Time is back in play again. It feels better than having no submission out there.
I also sent out a query letter requesting the submission guidelines from Roussan Publishers. Welwyn recommended this company to me, but their website seems to be offline. Not encouraging, but we'll see.
I hope to send out queries and sample chapters to about twelve publishers that have said that they're willing to look at simultaneous submissions. Simultaneous submissions means exactly what the name implies; a bunch of publishers look at your work at once, opening up more chances of somebody accepting your work and possibly saving you time getting published. Some publishing companies are okay with this, while others aren't. Those that aren't don't seem to like the idea of spending all that time looking over your manuscript, deciding that you like it, and then being told that it's already been sold to someone else. Even those publishers who do accept simultaneous submissions should be notified whenever that submission is accepted by another publisher, so that they don't devote any more time and energy looking over your work.
Considering Maggie DeVries' comments, I now see just how much Rosemary and Time straddles the line between juvenille fiction and young adult fiction. The story does feature teens and the beginnings of a teen love interest, but the story is rather episodically written, with concepts that supposedly appeal more to the younger set. (It's a bit unfair to say that episodic fiction is juvenille; that's like saying that Dickens is juvenille, but it is sadly true in today's publishing industry) At the same time, the resolution turns on that love interest, set in the background of meta-fiction -- something that might be a bit beyond the younger readers. Perhaps
Perhaps the most telling indicator: Orca Book Publishers' upper word count for juvenille books: 35000 words. Orca's lower word count for teen novels: 45000 words. Rosemary and Time's final word count: 40000 words.
I'm not sure how effectively I could turn Rosemary and Peter into twelve-year-olds. I'm left to wonder if there is a market out there for a book that has its foot in both camps.