Today’s post will be short. Maybe even sweet. Perhaps even a bit bittersweet. That depends on your point of view.
I have written a really sweet, touching novel. Hey, that’s a direct quote from someone who didn’t even know me when she read it! No, I didn’t make that up, and I’m not so vain that I’d make a claim like that on my own.
Well, maybe I AM that vain. But I didn’t THIS time!
I’m working on a sequel to that completed book, and have several other writing projects in process (somewhere between an outline and a bunch of chapters written).
I even have a literary agent who has agreed to represent me. He’s promoting my novel to a number of publishers right now! I have two rejections so far, but both editors had some very positive things to say about the book.
OK, maybe that’s just their way of being polite. But my agent assures me he thinks they’re being sincere in their praise. Of course I’d like to think so, so I do. Think so.
Now all he has to do is find an editor who falls in love with the story, recognizes the potential for profits in both that MS and all the others of similar style and better quality that will follow, and give it a shot in the bookstores.
That should be easy, right?
Right!
So where’s the problem?
Well, the problem resides with fiction readers. They’re not nice.
What do I mean, “not nice?” Well, since a picture is worth a whole bunch of words, let me show you a picture of a “nice” fiction reader.
Please click HERE to see how a “nice” fiction reader behaves.
There. If more people were like Zoe they would buy my book and read it just because I went to all the trouble to write it. (That comic strip is called Baby Blues, in case you don’t get it in your paper.)
That would be sweet. The truth is more bittersweet. Everyone responds differently to a book. Some love it, some hate it. Some have reported tears at a couple of places in mine. (And no, I don’t mean tears of boredom!)
That right editor is out there somewhere. If my agent can find him or her, maybe I’ll learn how many “nice” fiction readers there are out there.
5 comments:
I don't think you need 'nice' fiction readers, you just need to find the right publisher that wants to get your book out there. Once it gets published, people will read it because it's GOOD. They will tell their friends, and so on and so on... Don't get discouraged and don't give up.
I hear ya! But having an agent is half the battle (at least that's what I tell myself). As Lantz says, he has over 100 editors in his database. By the time he goes through all of those we should have something else written, right?
Oh, and cute cartoon...some people read them...others throw them across the room.
Discouraged? Give UP?
Moi?
Never happen! That was just a lead-in to share the comic strip wth everyone. It just seemed so appropriate to you fiction writers among my readers.
Nah, it took me well over a year of querying and then about two dozen major rewrites and revisions just to get an agent. I'll let him take as long as he wants to find that "right" editor!
I've also heard getting an editor is half the battle, something I failed at after writing my first novel. Best of luck!!!
The comments the two publishers made really did sound encouraging, John. Even though they were rejections, nothing was said about a lack of quality in your work. I'm really hopeful that your MS will resonate with the right publisher soon.
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