A new theory

So I sent off submission #3 this week, to another local NZ publisher. When going through all the local publishers' lists, again, a new theory on why I'm being rejected hit me. (This is of course the back up theory, firmly behind the 'my book sucks' theory)

All of the books on the local lists seem to have some kind of reference to NZ in them - they're set here, or feature NZers in other parts of the world. As you may imagine from my literary tastes, my book is firmly set in England and has no connections to NZ whatsoever (except for the fact that I live here!).

So now I am researching UK agents. The publisher I would most like to target there does take unsolicited submissions, but not by email. The international reply coupon thing is just too complicated, so I am opting to contact agents who accept email queries.

Hopefully this will shed some light on which theory is correct...

If at first…

A few weeks ago I received the first rejection of my novel from a publisher. Although I had constantly told myself 'it will probably get rejected', nothing could prepare me for the moment I first found out. Sitting at my desk at work, putting on a happy face for mcolleagueses, I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach. It was just a form letter - we are too busy to comment, we only publish a few titles a year so why we recommend you try these other publishers...

So, moving on. Today my second submission is in the post. Stripping my synopsis down to the 500 words they requested was a struggle (it's still not 500 words, but it's less than a page!). They also only requested a partial rather than the whole thing, so the stakes are lower. Having experienced the first rejection a second one won't surprise me. Have to keep plugging on though, just in case.

Advice from a New York literati

All manner of tidbits for aspiring writers are liberally shared by an incognito New York Agent, Miss Snark, here. As you might expect from the name, each dose is injected with an amusing combination of satire, impatience and an unhealthy obsession with George Clooney. Quite addictive.

It is finished!

My novel is printed, and it is now on its way to the publisher with letter and synopsis in tow. It's going to take me a while to get used to not having that nagging guilt in the back of my mind all the time: "Should be working on my story".

Of course, if I feel like doing some more writing once I've had a break, I do already have 3,000 words written in various bits and pieces for my next novel. And they say that you shouldn't wait to hear back from publishers, that you should start working on something else straight away. However, I am sure I will spend at least a few months just kicking back and relaxing in my spare time. Starting this weekend - Warbirds over Wanaka, here I come!

Easter or bust

Meaning, it is my goal to submit my novel to #1 publisher on the list by Easter. I'm feverishly working on it at the moment, still changing out all the words I like to use all the time. Believe it or not, it's exhausting work. What I have got printed out and ready to go are: my letter, my synopsis and my title page. Yep, I'm very good at procrastinating with the fluffy stuff.

Better get back to it. One week to go!

Amateur Critics

I have a bit of a dilemma with regards to my almost-finished manuscript. I have given it to a couple of my friends to read. I’m anxiously awaiting their opinions, but I recently read (in Gordon Wells’ “The Business of Writing”) advice from a writer stating that you shouldn’t look for criticism from those not in the business. I don’t know anyone in the business, so I’m wondering if I should just use my own judgement – which is of course very subjective – and submit to the first publisher on my list. I’m torn between just wanting to get the darn thing out there and wanting it to be perfect.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Sending my baby off into the world

It’s a wild, fierce day. Even as I sit here in the office, the rain is bashing at the windows and the wind screams through any doors. The stairwell is dark, which only serves to increase my desire to get back to my bed and snooze. Apparently, the radio was warning this morning to remove anything from your backyard that could potentially be a missile. Oh yeah, did I mention it’s summer here in New Zealand? That’s slightly unfair; we haven’t had any real rain since December. I just wish it wouldn’t rain when I have to walk to work (from my car parked some distance away).

Now I’ll get to the real subject of this post. The ‘baby’ I speak of is my novel. On Sunday I worked on it fiercely, even foregoing a swim as it was then stiflingly hot. I made sure that I’d followed up on all my notes, and in between dinner at my parents’ I reconfigured the chapters. A final spell check, and after hitting the “ignore” button a hundred times I was finished. Then I emailed it off to a friend of mine who’s currently in England for a critique – a safe enough distance away that I won’t see him cringing through all of the sentimental passages. I’m really interested to hear what he has to say though, from an academic point of view.

Yesterday I printed it out, and late last night (après making cottage pie and banana cake) I managed to start reading it. I was shocked at the errors I found leaping off the page. Editing on screen is a world away from having all the pages side by side in front of you. In the early chapters, which granted I haven’t read in detail for quite some time, there were blatant inconsistencies and word repetition. How could this be? I wondered. How embarrassing. Just as well I did decide to do a hard copy check. Last night I also texted a local friend of mine who is an historical fiction fiend. She has also promised to give it the once over and comment. The copy she gets from me will be littered with edits and crossings-out, but oh well. I’m sure she’ll get the gist. I’m not going to print it out again until it’s the final copy.

I was very nervous about getting these people to read my story. No-one, not even my husband or mother, has even read a paragraph of it before. Being my first full-length work, I’m very wary of it being rubbish. I mean, how would I know? However, these two people have been so generous in assuring me they feel privileged to do the job, I feel a bit better about the whole thing. I just hope that I can take their feedback and criticism and use it to good effect. The outcome I’m dreading is that they highlight some weakness which I have no idea how to correct. Time will tell I suppose. For now I will continue my hard copy review and await the response of my first guinea pig. I’m also voraciously researching manuscript submission tips.

Oh yeah – my final word count was 102,500. So my original estimate a few years back of 100K wasn’t too far off.