Waiting Game

Back in June (the 11th to be precise) I blogged about my own stupidity in sending an e-publisher the first three chapters of The Color of Passion at 2:30 AM. By the light of day I inevitably saw a few errors in the copy and cringed at the thought of an editor radar-ing in on my ridiculous mistakes. I pictured said editor throwing back her head in a Cruella Deville cackle whilst touching a match to the corner of my sad little submission. I waited anxiously for the 'Dear Author, Thanks for your recent submission. Unfortunately ...' - you know the rest.
But alas, eight precious weeks dragged by and nothing. NOTHING!
I have a full blown case of carpel tunnel syndrome from obsessively hitting the 'check mail' button on my Yahoo page. As the days drew closer to the red circled number on my calendar, and I still hadn't had a reply, I checked, double-checked and re-checked the e-pub's submission guidelines to make sure that I'd read it correctly: "Initial submissions of a synopsis plus initial chapters are typically answered within eight weeks."
After week nine passed without a peep, I wrote a polite email to the submissions editor asking very kindly if they would check to see if my email with attachments made it through cyberspace and into their hands (secretly hoping it hadn't so I could resend a corrected copy).
Within two hours I had my reply.
It had indeed arrived and this is what she said: " . . . Your submission of The Color of Passion to (XXX Publishing) has been read by our initial editorial reviewer. She felt it showed strong potential and has placed it in queue for an acquiring editor to consider . . . "
YAHOO!!!! Hey - it ain't a sale, but I'll take it!
And thank the Lord above - I can stop checking my email with religious fervor.
Hallelluja.