Rejection

"Thank you for letting me look at your new work. I’m sorry to say that it’s not for us. I wasn’t able to get caught up enough in Melani’s situation to ask for more. I do wish you the best, and, again, thank you for sending those pages to me."


This was a rewrite of Arirang for which I received my rights back from PA. It was purportedly improved from the original...

This is the second rejection. The first indicated too much telling and not enough showing. I rewrote all 60,000 pages to correct that situation before the second submittal.

Sometimes, by the time I rewrite and rewrite I lose the passion for the characters and it probably shows in the product.

What do you think about rewrites?

Dear Diane,

One person's opinion.

I cannot re-write. The moment of writing is my best. Keep submitting. Your book is great. It just takes the right person view it. I would go back to your original and submit it to others who may have more vision and toss out the rewritten version. I agree, the passion is gone. Trust in your own self. Your book is worthy. Many people have very small minds and cannot see you.



Love,

Betty

I would upload the original file to Kindle, enrol into KDP Select and give the book away for five days. Stress the sexual content when you promote the free days (not everyone who downloads will read the book, but you will maximise the downloads). Ask for reviews and don't be upset with the one star reviews. If the negative comments outweigh the positive, consider uploading the rewritten file -- you might also consider splitting it into two parts.

dkchristi wrote:

"Thank you for letting me look at your new work. I’m sorry to say that it’s not for us. I wasn’t able to get caught up enough in Melani’s situation to ask for more. I do wish you the best, and, again, thank you for sending those pages to me."


This was a rewrite of Arirang for which I received my rights back from PA. It was purportedly improved from the original...

This is the second rejection. The first indicated too much telling and not enough showing. I rewrote all 60,000 pages to correct that situation before the second submittal.

Sometimes, by the time I rewrite and rewrite I lose the passion for the characters and it probably shows in the product.

What do you think about rewrites?

I love rewrites myself. You get to revisit old friends and places you hadn't seen in a while.

3/28/2013
Diane..
I was always told believe what you have written, as
Betty said keep the original, keep trying...
Cheers...Joe..

Dear Diane,

This was on facebook today. It says it all.



Snoopy and I live on the same planet of Delusion.
Love,
Betty

DK,
I like Shelagh's idea.

Wow - talk about a perfect Snoopy for this day!!! Thank you all so very much for your kind and thoughtful ideas.

Shelagh, that sounds like a good idea! I'll do it in about a week. It does have sexual content but not graphic. Things like, "he had the roadmap and missed no stopping off points" or "released an explosion of feelings never experienced with anyone before" sort of things.

I must say after rewriting major - I was a bit downish in spite of me telling everyone else not to take rejection seriously :-).... much improved :-)

Perhaps that's the "telling" and not "showing" part - the lack of graphic, detailed, sexual exploits.

I would keep sending it out. Two rejections isn't that many. And keep working on your next book while it does the rounds.

I agree with PrisonGuy. Personally, I only revise what I believe needs revision--sometimes many, many times over the years. Ironically, my poetry and short fiction typically undergoe significant revision over time, (though few read these and my royalties are at best negligible) but my traditional trade books and textbooks are all first drafts with very minor revisions and corrections. The same is true of my peer-reviewed articles. All would be better with significant revision; no doubt at all about that. But my output would be significantly diminished and the improvement in quality would come at too high a price for me.

The only critic you MUST please is you. This may not have been true when you were starting your career (as is true for all of us) but is most certainly true now. Nothing anyone will ever write will please every reviewer, every reader or every potential publisher. If you continue to be true to your unique voice, and if what you write passes your quality control standards and pleases you, the question is "so what?"

I just read my first post - that's 60,000 words, not pages! Still a lot of writing and changing. I did get a second hit from another publisher to try again in a month....so I can put Shelagh's idea in place and take a new look at my original.

Actually, the best was written in first person, present tense which no publisher would publish. It was the most alive and exciting. I lost so much converting to third person, past tense and then forcing dialogue with which I am not comfortable.

DK. I liked what you wrote in the first person. I do my best writing in the first person. Converting it to third person loses much of the intimacy the reader can feel. The first person also gives credibility to the story, especially when what one writes is from personal experience.

("...I know nothing about publishers, and have no advice to give you..." went the goblin, adding "...but first a hug now, and then, if you do follow shelagh's advice, don't forget to get yourself known across writer's forums too, because that's where increasingly readers go in search of downloadable ebooks, but don't forget that it'll be your posts rather than ads and links that will clinch it for your readers there...", in fact, nothing did one's prospects in quicker than doing a spam sandwich in the introduction section of some forum, adding "...it's hard but one has to put oneself into the readers shoes instead, they just want a quick read like a drag of a cigarette, then another drag, then another, on until they go "well I've read everything by dkchristi here, guess I'd better check her ebook now", yes that's how works it seems, and that is how Lin Robinson made a killing on writersbeat till his tiff with Jats the chameleon and his departure after that...", where the goblin's only other bit of advice was more simple, saying "...yes, best choose those forums that I am banned upon, for shelagh will soon second me in this, but I imagine that there's something rather suspect in those writer's forums that put up with me...")

Quote :

All would be better with significant revision; no doubt at all about
that. But my output would be significantly diminished and the
improvement in quality would come at too high a price for me.

During the production process of my PH book, when I was sending the proofs back because I didn't like the layout, my editor said, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." I had never heard that saying before (and have since learned it's a common one -where have I been?), but it's now my mantra. In everything. And it's true. Despite all the mistakes in my first text, people still buy it.

Of course, DK is writing fiction, tho. I guess that's a different ballgame.