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I would love to hear some of your stories, about submitting your writing to agents or publishers...
Whatever you’re willing to share, will help a lot.
like how many times you submitted and if you don't mind how many rejections you got back, what was the feedback, how long did the whole process take, who you sent to, why did you give up on submitting, why did you move onto the next story and leave the one you started submitting with?
Thx for any response you might leave... you don't have to answer my specific questions, feel free to answer anyway you wish.
Thx again.
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One time, there was a market whose guidelines essentially said, "We think most horror fiction is pathetic and not scary. We want you to send us the most horrifying, disturbing story you can possibly write." So I did that. They sent it back with a note along the lines of, "You are sick and twisted. Never send us anything again." And that story has collected a few more similar notes since then, along with a couple of "I like this, but it's too much for my readers."
ReplyDeleteSometimes following the guidelines is overkill. But it sure was an interesting exercise in writing.
My first novel (still unpublished) was rejected any number of times. I've saved all the letters, whether from agents or from publishers, and I plan to wallpaper my office with them some day.
ReplyDeletePretty much all the letters were form letters, standard thanks-for-trying-us-out-but-we-can't-see-publishing-this-stuff sorts of correspondence. I've never received specific reasons except with the Publisher's Weekly review on my Amazon.com entry last year--that feedback was AWESOME!!!
I know why they are unspecific (to avoid the dreaded hate mail in return), but I take criticism really well, and I wish they would tell me why. Then again, most places shovel through thousands of manuscripts or queries a month, and there is simply no time to deal with them all.