"Any Sufficiently Analyzed Magic is Indistinguishable from Science!"
Gotta Love Girl Genius.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Sufficiently... Magic... Science
Gotta Love Girl Genius.
Rejectomancy Redux
Here's a link to a 1968 rejection letter of Ursula K Leguin's Left Hand of Darkness, which the following year was published and won a Nebula, and the next year won a Hugo.
AND, if you have read the book, you will honestly admit that every word of the rejection is true.
Yep. That's UKL, and that's LHOD. And many readers, including myself*, loved it that way.
The rejection is implicitly indicating that the Editor is looking for more action-oriented speculative fiction, whereas UKL's work is more contemplative and theme-oriented. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the editor or the book, they just aren't a match.
Don't engage in rejectomancy. "No" means "no", and that is all.
*Darn, I can't figure whether that should be "including [me, myself or I]", and I don't care enough to look it up. I think that me or myself are both acceptable. Tricia?
AND, if you have read the book, you will honestly admit that every word of the rejection is true.
Ursula K. Le Guin writes extremely well. [snip] The book is so endlessly complicated by details of reference and information [...] that the very action of the story seems to be to become hopelessly bogged down [snip]
Yep. That's UKL, and that's LHOD. And many readers, including myself*, loved it that way.
The rejection is implicitly indicating that the Editor is looking for more action-oriented speculative fiction, whereas UKL's work is more contemplative and theme-oriented. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the editor or the book, they just aren't a match.
Don't engage in rejectomancy. "No" means "no", and that is all.
*Darn, I can't figure whether that should be "including [me, myself or I]", and I don't care enough to look it up. I think that me or myself are both acceptable. Tricia?
Rejectomancy is for Losers
Over on BookEnds LLC blog, there's a recent post about how to decode an agent rejection.
Let's face it, folks, you don't. Rejectomancy is for losers.
Here's my reply -
For your own sake, do not engage in rejectomancy. "No" means "no", and so does every other rejection letter.
Look at it like dating - you ask someone out and they say no, are they really obligated to give you a list of your undesireable characteristics? Would you really want them to? Can you believe what they say? And if you did anything about it, would it mean anything at all to the next person you ask out?
This person might say "too serious", while the next might say "no sense of humour". It happens. And there's no reason that it shouldn't, because we all have different ideals for a partner or a book.
If you are looking for a critique or a review, then go to the proper venue for one. There are lots of crit groups out there. (For instance, check out critters.org for speculative fiction.)
There are also lots of pros who will do coverage on your book or screenplay for a small fee. Make sure to pick someone with industry credits and who's not on the Editors and Predators lists as a scammer. Also, figure out what kind of feedback you are looking for before you pick a reviewer. The closer you get to your actual target audience, the better.
Once you have a work that promises something in the first 1/6 of the work and delivers exactly that by the last page, then you can look at how to market it to agents. And even if it's destined to be a best-seller, it's still a "not quite for me" for 95% of the agents out there.
That's because it really isn't for them. And if it isn't for them, if they don't have that spark that makes them truly believe, then they couldn't make it a best seller. For that, you need the one.
Do the work. Keep the faith. Keep submitting until it sells.
Let's face it, folks, you don't. Rejectomancy is for losers.
Here's my reply -
For your own sake, do not engage in rejectomancy. "No" means "no", and so does every other rejection letter.
Look at it like dating - you ask someone out and they say no, are they really obligated to give you a list of your undesireable characteristics? Would you really want them to? Can you believe what they say? And if you did anything about it, would it mean anything at all to the next person you ask out?
This person might say "too serious", while the next might say "no sense of humour". It happens. And there's no reason that it shouldn't, because we all have different ideals for a partner or a book.
If you are looking for a critique or a review, then go to the proper venue for one. There are lots of crit groups out there. (For instance, check out critters.org for speculative fiction.)
There are also lots of pros who will do coverage on your book or screenplay for a small fee. Make sure to pick someone with industry credits and who's not on the Editors and Predators lists as a scammer. Also, figure out what kind of feedback you are looking for before you pick a reviewer. The closer you get to your actual target audience, the better.
Once you have a work that promises something in the first 1/6 of the work and delivers exactly that by the last page, then you can look at how to market it to agents. And even if it's destined to be a best-seller, it's still a "not quite for me" for 95% of the agents out there.
That's because it really isn't for them. And if it isn't for them, if they don't have that spark that makes them truly believe, then they couldn't make it a best seller. For that, you need the one.
Do the work. Keep the faith. Keep submitting until it sells.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
New Review up : Prom Dates from Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore
I just posted new review for the smart and funny YA novel Prom Dates from Hell over at Abandoned Towers.
It's the first in by Rosemary Clement-Moore's Girl Vs Evil series, of which number three, Highway to Hell, will be out in the spring.
It's the first in by Rosemary Clement-Moore's Girl Vs Evil series, of which number three, Highway to Hell, will be out in the spring.
Spin, Pitch and Roll by Faith Hunter
Over at Magical Words, Faith Hunter has this to say about pitches:
Did I really just cut out the answer? Well, yeah.
It's worth popping over there to read the whole thing, especially the part after the cut. Hunter goes through four different pitches for the same novel, based upon what genre the agent/publisher is really interested in.
For those of us whose default story is "cross-genre", like me with my dragon westerns and New Weird Southern Gothic romances and YA magical steampunk romantic adventures, this is a skill we need to practice.
My pal *Mary* has been trying to get an agent excited about her Southern Women’s Fiction Novel for months. Everyone passed. She changed her pitch and the *one* agent of her dreams asked to see the whole thing, wanting an exclusive *right away*. What did she change?
...(snip)...
Did I really just cut out the answer? Well, yeah.
It's worth popping over there to read the whole thing, especially the part after the cut. Hunter goes through four different pitches for the same novel, based upon what genre the agent/publisher is really interested in.
For those of us whose default story is "cross-genre", like me with my dragon westerns and New Weird Southern Gothic romances and YA magical steampunk romantic adventures, this is a skill we need to practice.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Book Trailer Contest for Holly Lisle's The Ruby Key
Awesome SF/F author and writing guru Holly Lisle has decided to have a 3-month contest for book trailers for her latest YA novel The Ruby Key.
Each month there will be two winners, one Adult Division and one Junior Division. The Current Contest, Rules and a partial manuscript are up at hollylisle.net.
The first month of the contest ends December 20th, so if your YouTube-foo is strong, you might wish to get a move on and leave your competitors in the dust.
Each month there will be two winners, one Adult Division and one Junior Division. The Current Contest, Rules and a partial manuscript are up at hollylisle.net.
The first month of the contest ends December 20th, so if your YouTube-foo is strong, you might wish to get a move on and leave your competitors in the dust.
Monday, December 1, 2008
HMH Hold is not for Children
No, I'm not talking about a choke hold.
According to Agent Kristin over at Pub Rants, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's hold on acquisitions is not in all departments, they still are acquiring children's books.
Good News.
According to Agent Kristin over at Pub Rants, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's hold on acquisitions is not in all departments, they still are acquiring children's books.
Good News.
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