As I near finishing my novel, In a Mortal Shadow, I have started researching cover letters, query letters, synopses, publishers, and statistics on rejections.  The numbers are downright scary.  Don’t get me wrong, I believe in my manuscript with all my heart….but when I read that Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone got rejected 12 times, that Herbert’s Dune got rejected 23 times, that L’engle’s A Wrinkle in Time got rejected 26 times, and that King’s Carrie nearly didn’t see publication because after 30 rejections, Steven King threw it out (his wife rescued the manuscript)…well, when I read those numbers, I think, what chance have I? This is why, in my head, my novel is both publishable and unpublishable all at the same time; it is my Schrödinger’s manuscript. Here is its journey.