Compliments DO Soften the Blow

Hopefully one day soon I'll be writing a post about an agent or publisher who wants to take a shot on the Olive Jooce series.  In the meantime, I'd like to share another nice rejection I received:

Hey there Michele,

Thanks so much for giving me a shot at your chapter book (and for your patience over these last several weeks while I struggled to keep up with my submissions). I'm sorry to say that I wasn't connecting wholeheartedly with your writing, despite its poise and polish, so I ought to step aside, but I truly appreciate the look, I apologize for the delay in my response, and I wish you the best of luck!

Not great news, but at least it didn't say "Dear Author."  Goes to show a little nice goes a long way.