My darlin' dog made it until 3 a.m. before she had to go out so, despite that early hour, I am grateful. I had visions of getting up every hour all night. I might still be a bit blurry-eyed, but not as bad as it might have been.
So... I got my first rejection from The Wild Rose Press yesterday on a shortish story I'd submitted. It was from an editor I've worked with before and whose opinion I value, which is probably why it really hit me hard.
One thing about TWRP -- they try to issue constructive crits with their rejection. You won't just get a "it's not right for me" letter. Typically, they'll at least tell you precisely what didn't work, and many times, they will actually edit a few pages of your story or book to show you exactly what they mean. I think that's one thing that sets them aside from so many other publishers.
Still, ouch. Even this morning, I'm still bleeding a bit. Because, of course, I got all the information on why the story didn't work for her...and there was a lot! Too much passive voice, not enough emotion, an unsympathetic hero... and that was just the beginning. There was plenty more where that came from.
Wow.
Oddly, I really like this story. I don't think my hero is unsympathetic. The other stuff? I'll have to go look. In any case, it was pretty demoralizing. And what else should I do with something that makes me look (and feel) really awful? Well... share it with all of YOU, of course. Misery loves company.
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Going to go write, now. I suspect I'm writing about another unsympathetic hero, but c'est la vie. He is who he is, and we'll see how it goes. If I change him, the story changes dramatically. And, the only other men in the story are either out to kill the heroine or related to her by blood. Not a lot of romantic choices for her, there!
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OH! I almost forgot!! We're giving away stuff, again at LASR: a free autographed book, a free eBook and, on our reviews blog, ANOTHER free eBook here and here (and not your usual romantic fare, either). Go forth and enter!
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| Your Pilgrim Name Is |
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Yes... yes I do. Don't we all?
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8 comments:
I'm Constance Tilly. Don't know why.
Sorry about your reject. Can you fix it up and resubmit it or is that it, they won't look at it again.
I'm sure your new hero will be just fine. I'm still working on having a really good scene between my hero and heroine. They've had brief scenes, but nothing really huge. Maybe today.
Sending hugs. We've all been rejected and it stings, no doubt. Sendig BIG hugs. :)
Hope the doggie is feeling better. Poor little thing.
Hugs on the rejection. They really suck. But don't think what's wrong with that story is the same with your Nano project. Just keep writing away. And give yourself some distance from the rejection before you go back to that short story. Once emotion is removed from the equation, you'll be able to look at both more objectively.
Well Hi there. My name is Humility Rejection Crackstone. Let's commiserate!
*hugs* on the rejection!!!
I'm Patience Eaton. So not accurate. LOL! And no offense, but Desire doesn't seem like much of a Pilgrim name. *g*
Faith Tilly, here.
Huge hugs on the rejection. You've succeeded before, though, and you'll do it again. That's my faith in you.
Damaris Billington? Um, ok?
Sorry to hear about the rejection, it's never easy no matter the reasons. Hugs to you!
Have a good evening and keep on writing!
Sorry for the rejection. Don't let it stop you from writing your present story.
My Pilgrim Name Is Mercy Lester
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