Road to Publication
Well, in the last few weeks I’ve sent out several partials of A Reason For Dying by request of several agents. I’ve also sent out full manuscripts to two agents. While that sounds all fine and good, I’ve received rejections on them all. However, the bright spot, THE PERSONALIZED REJECTION WITH FEEDBACK.
It’s sad to be working in a profession where your success is measured by the quality of your rejections. But that’s the life of the writer. You ramp up from form letters, to handwritten notes, to personalized rejections, to rejections with feedback, to invitations to send future work (still technically a rejection, but a high quality one).
So, both agents that read the full manuscripts (or at least requested full manuscripts) had the same feedback. I have two chapters near the beginning as part of the set-up that take place in China. They are very pertininent to the plot and tie in wonderfully at the end. One of the agents even noted that, so I know she read the whole thing. But both agents felt like the those chapters took the book off in a different direction and felt like a different book. Also, the comments from the small press editor hinted at the same problem.
“I would worry about straying from the main story for too long-possibly try to find a way to better intertwine the two storylines. This can be a very interesting device when done well. The author has two strong stories but needs to connect the dots for the reader a little better.”
So, as disappointing as this is, since I really like these scenes, I have to see the writing on the wall and take action. Afterall, this is what I’ve been waiting for-feedback. To ignore it would turn persistence into stubbornness.
I’ve already decided to “kill my darlings” by yanking three chapters and weave the equivalent of one chapter back into the main storyline. This is a major rewrite considering I have to go through the entire manuscript to avoid accumulating errors.
My motto is that all the praise in the world doesn’t make your manuscript better.
