More Rejections
Me taking a break from all the writing drama!
Sooooo, it’s time for another update. I knew when I started this journey that it would be one rejection after another. What I didn’t know is how much it would effect me. As with most struggles in life, I find myself more determined. I think I’ll start with the most significant rejection and move on from there.
The publishing press that requested my full manuscript ended up rejecting my novel. They did so with what is called a form rejection. This means I received a cookie cutter email that they send to everyone. In some ways this would be discouraging. It usually means that they did not read enough to have any detailed complaints or praise of my work. The good news is, they didn’t reject me after actually reading the manuscript. They found something lacking in my actual submission or it did not fit into their body of published works, specifically romance.
Even more stressful was a rejection I received over the weekend from a fantasy writing critique group. This is a group where authors can share their works with one another and get advice. The lead of the group read my prologue and first chapter and declined my request to join. Her reason, I should not be classifying my work as Urban Fantasy. She stated that my work was less commercial and more literary. She suggested that my book was too speculative to be Urban Fantasy and should be classified as either Modern Gothic Fiction or Magical Realism. Am I convinced? I’m not sure. Check out the definitions below and take the poll to let me know what you think.
Urban Fantasy: a genre of imaginative fiction featuring supernatural characters or elements in an urban setting
Modern Gothic Fiction: can be defined as writing that employs dark and picturesque scenery, startling and melodramatic narrative devices, and an overall atmosphere of exoticism, mystery, fear, and dread
Magical Realism: chiefly Latin-American narrative strategy that is characterized by the matter-of-fact inclusion of fantastic or mythical elements into seemingly realistic fiction.
Why am I paying any heed to this genre confusion accusation. The group lead was an editor who works in the publishing industry. This gives her a lot more knowledge than I have regarding what a literary agent is looking for. She also knows what readers want to see. All I have learned from my readers so far is that I am the queen of tense shifts. No matter how many times I run through my text, I find that I have more. I almost feel blind to them at this point. Between these to problems I am ready to ask for help.
I’m hiring and editor! While I know how to change the oil of my car, it will take me a lot longer and make a bigger mess than a professional would. That is where I am at with these two problems. I’m ready to hire an expert. This process was wholly new to me, so I would like to share it with my friends out there who are curious or thinking about going through the same process.
I started on Fiverr, weeding through to find editors who were interested in reviewing entire novels. I sent messages to about ten of them, asking for both a quote and samples. The prices came back at being anywhere between $400- $2000. I don’t know that I really saw that the work displayed in samples matched the price. One of editors told me that her work is confidential and suggested that I read her reviews. Four more sent me copies of previously edited work with permission from the author. The five best, were the ones who offered to edit my prologue.
It was Christmas morning opening the polished copies of my prologue. They were so clean and sparkly and had so many less tense shifts. What I was specifically looking for was track changes (see picture below), the most tense shift corrections, and someone who could do this while keeping my voice intact. The editor who ended up getting the gig was the one who was able to do all three of these. The process took several days, but my manuscript is now in her hands and I’m excited to see the final results next month.
Here is the link to the editor I chose: Anna_Editor
Thank you everyone for following my journey! I have a fun gift for you! I Am Armageddon now has a Storyboard and a Soundtrack! I hope you enjoy!