Monday, December 19, 2011

An early Christmas gift

While I trudge along on my writing journey, I will share my successes and my failures. Today, The Bone Extractor, was rejected. While I won't go into specifics, I will say that they said the story has, potential. It will take a revision on my part. They also opened the door for me to resubmit when the revision is done. Do I go ahead and revise it, myself or hire an editor? Money aside, it would be a great learning experience, but I will nowhere near recoup the money. I really need to give serious thought.


I thank everyone for their continued support.


On the positive side, Robert Walker was kind enough to help me with my query for Armed and Outrageous. It turned out better than I had hoped. This is the book that gives me the goosebumps. I know I'm on to something great, and I'll keep you posted on the progress. It's currently submitted to a different publisher. Check out Robert Walkers website here.


That's all there is on my end. I hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas filled with good cheer and plenty of family, but don't forget the ones that will be alone this holiday season. Taking a plate of cookies to someone will brighten their day.

4 comments:

Gerald Hornsby said...

Hi Madison

For me, it all depends on what exactly they said. If there are technical issues, then try passing it on to a friendly writer for advice. If there are story issues, then you're probably the best person to fix those issues.

But you have to ask if the person rejecting the ms is, actually, correct in their rejection. Could you submit, as is, to another place? Like a second opinion? Don't forget how many people rejected Harry Potter.

Just my £0.02 from across the pond.

Unknown said...

The only technical part I thought was too many words ending with ing at the start of sentence. So it may sound unbelievable for agents to act unorthodox, but things do happen like that in real life. Bogged down with too many descriptions, I'm thinking she didn't like the gore of the crimes. I did try not to overdo it, but it is what it is. Thanks again for your comment. I was thinking earlier that I should just send it somewhere else. Cheers, and have a happy holiday's.

P.N. "Pat" Elrod said...

So long as you can get feedback from other writers, hold off hiring an editor. See if you can workshop it *again* with other writers.

I'm guessing that your in the place where you done want to be told how good it is, but rather "Tell me what needs to be fixed!" Other writers are better for than than friends! ;0)

If you're not on Absolute Write, get over there and join. It's got beta readers for all genres and a Share Your Work forum where you can post excerpts for feedback. You have to have a minimum number of posts up before using that forum, but a fast way to get 'em is a) ask/answer questions; b) give feedback to other writers.

Generally, giving feedback to others is a quick way to look at your own work afresh and tweak things. I found it improved my own work!

I can't recommend AW enough.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php

That said, I *am* a pro editor and I work cheap.

Details are on my website, but the short version is I usually work for writers wanting to self-publish on Kindle, etc.

I stick to certain genres, and if I don't think your work is ready for publication I'll let you know and turn down the job. It's hell on my bank account, but I can sleep at night with a clear conscience.

vampwriter-dot-com -- always open!

Cheers!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the tips. This is my one and only thriller, and I'd hate to not see it not get published when it did get feedback that it has a good story line and characters, and hook. Thanks, I'll have to check out Absolute writer. I'm not against self publishing, but I sure would like to save paying for a proofreader. I went the editor route already and feel it's worth publishing. Funds won't be there until the after the first of the year for anything more.