Bittersweet Rejection
So I got another rejection today on Dark Earth. It was on the full I'd sent out back in May. The bad part, of course, is the rejection. Though the good part is that she sent back the whole thing with notes on how to improve it and a recommendation of an editor in another line to whom I should send it after I revise it. I haven't read over her notes, yet. Just the letter which details major rewrites. Of course, doing the rewrites doesn't guarantee that the other editor will even like it. But it is very encouraging that she bothered to take the time to make notes and send the entire thing back to me when she could have just sent back a rejection letter. I definitely appreciate her doing that for me, and I should view it as she saw some potential in my writing to give me a critique. She is a top editor at a major house, so her comments carry a lot of weight.
Now I have to mention a weird coincidence.
At lunch today (before I received my manuscript back), I read an article from Romance Writers Report about receiving revisions from editors, even those who have rejected you, and how authors tout again and again to not be married to your manuscript and how receiving revision notes from editors have helped their stories, even if it was painful to rewrite. And most had huge rewrites to do like me.
Kind of coincidental, don't you think?
What to do ... what to do. I've started outlining my next story and written the beginning of it. However, do I want to spin wheels with this old one in the hope that one of the tires will finally grip and send me flying fast forward into publishing stardom? Or move on and put this bad boy aside until I'm finished with my next one?
In the words of the fly-man about to be eaten by the spider, "Help me."
Now I have to mention a weird coincidence.
At lunch today (before I received my manuscript back), I read an article from Romance Writers Report about receiving revisions from editors, even those who have rejected you, and how authors tout again and again to not be married to your manuscript and how receiving revision notes from editors have helped their stories, even if it was painful to rewrite. And most had huge rewrites to do like me.
Kind of coincidental, don't you think?
What to do ... what to do. I've started outlining my next story and written the beginning of it. However, do I want to spin wheels with this old one in the hope that one of the tires will finally grip and send me flying fast forward into publishing stardom? Or move on and put this bad boy aside until I'm finished with my next one?
In the words of the fly-man about to be eaten by the spider, "Help me."
posted by J.T. Bock at 6:13 PM
10 Comments:
Do the edits, cause you know it's going to bug you ;)
:D Awesome that she cared enough to send back comments!
Stacia—yes, definitely a good sign that she cared enough to send back comments.:) But I don't know if I want to revisit this story yet and if it's just finding the right publisher for my voice. The more I read over her comments, the more I believe that my style didn't fit her line.
*sigh* Okay, so at least I know what is in store and so do you. Rewrites, rewrites, rewrites! But, at least you got a helpful response. But, in the end, we all have to follow our own voice until we find the right outlet for our characters. They are our children and we just need to find the right caretaker for them, right?
That's fantastic news!! If an agent feels that confident about your book, then give it every chance to succeed. Do the edits, but keep in mind you only have to do the ones you agree with. You're not under contract, so you have more pull than you think.
As all the other people here I will suggest the very same. Do the rewrites! It is painful yes, but still the story deserves that much. After all you wrote it with the purpose of people everywhere reading it and get swept away by your imagination. You owe it that much.
E-Oh, I sooo know what's in store. :P I've been down this road before and many times before I even submitted the story with my fab critique partners tearing me a new one. I have a few friends who have moved on to the magical publishing realm and they have tales of pages upon pages of edits from their editors—after they've been accepted. Eeek! But it's worth it in the end. ;)
M—It wasn't an agent but an editor (though that would've been nice as well :) ), and and I'm wondering whether the story just didn't work for her house and, by her edits, if she was trying to find a way to make it work. Definitely, it's a compliment but some of her comments were to take away the sci-fi elements and focus more the romance. I'm not sure if I believe that it's the right direction for this work. Though some of her other suggestions were very helpful and, in the long run, whatever I do will only make it better.
Hi Daydream! Welcome to my blog and thanks for your comments. Oh, it is so painful. It's like watching my baby go under the knife for some routine surgery, you know they'll be better for it, but it's so hard to watch, especially knowing the recovery will be long. It's been through many revisions and several critique partners to get to this point, and I knew that it would have more corrections but maybe not so many major revisions. Ugh! But I've gotten this far. You're right that I do owe it (and myself) that much. :)
The best short-term solution to your problem is this:
MOJITO.
Just sayin.
Sounds like an excellent idea. :P
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