Monday, April 09, 2007
Today has been a very interesting day. I've received several agent passes on my book, Raven's White Hart, which I know is pretty much par for the course and got the latest one today.
The most interesting thing to me is that they are all basically a variation on "I'm not excited enough to take you on." So, being the analytical type, I started to get into some sort of mental spiral about this. Most of these rejections have been based on the first 3 chapters. Some on less than that.
I'm SO tempted to see if I can make some bigger bang at the start of the book. But I really DO think it starts at the right place for the story. My test readers really like it - and no, they aren't my family and best friends since jr high. They are real, avid readers OF THE GENRE.
For some reason this has now turned into a great bout of "suckitis" and the thought that I could actually have a life again if I just gave up keeps coming up to haunt me. It SOUNDS like temporary over-reacting. But if I logically know this is very common and expected and to not take rejections personally, why am I?
43 is a little old to be trying the "I'm taking my ball and going home" now isn't it?
I tried to kick myself in the butt. It didn't have much effect. Sigh.
The most interesting thing to me is that they are all basically a variation on "I'm not excited enough to take you on." So, being the analytical type, I started to get into some sort of mental spiral about this. Most of these rejections have been based on the first 3 chapters. Some on less than that.
I'm SO tempted to see if I can make some bigger bang at the start of the book. But I really DO think it starts at the right place for the story. My test readers really like it - and no, they aren't my family and best friends since jr high. They are real, avid readers OF THE GENRE.
For some reason this has now turned into a great bout of "suckitis" and the thought that I could actually have a life again if I just gave up keeps coming up to haunt me. It SOUNDS like temporary over-reacting. But if I logically know this is very common and expected and to not take rejections personally, why am I?
43 is a little old to be trying the "I'm taking my ball and going home" now isn't it?
I tried to kick myself in the butt. It didn't have much effect. Sigh.
posted by Maura Anderson at 10:34 PM
Well, it's true that the opening of a book is important because you want to hook readers. So maybe the time the book opens is right but the way it opens needs to be different?
byOr, maybe not and it's not the right manuscript for right now. I had two of those books, by the way - Thrice United and the soon to be released Ascension. Sometimes a book isn't ready, or an audience isn't ready and the only thing to do is wait a while and work on something else.
The truth is, I never used to think about that. I just wrote and it worked for the most part but once I started writing for NY, that changed and I'm hyper aware of it now. But I've only sold one book to NY so far so who am I to talk?
Still, sweetie pie, it's early days. There are lots of agents out there. Keep honing your craft and keep trying. You will find the right fit.
Hm. This is the first I'm hearing about this! I'm sure if you sent it back around we could look at it with new eyes. I know I'm game!
byPS Don't be too bummed! Just another tick closer to the ol' Pubbed :-)