'Course, I did struggle with the "promo" part, which is how you get people to read it. And I got some really low rankings with no explanation that I didn't think were warranted (I should have gotten 2's and 3's on the strength of my writing alone, and that's just being objective). Also, the entry I thought would win it all was only ranked 69th.
OTOH, the winning entry is really good. Not much of a bombshell at the end, but the chapter itself is great. I may or may not try for round 3, depending on the prompt they post this afternoon. After a week-long hiatus, my inspiration for Elspeth is picking back up again. That's my primary focus now. But I'll have a weekend of leisure, so hopefully I can get quite a bit of writing in.
In other news, I heard back (personally!) from Kristin Nelson today. I had e-mailed her a question to her blog address. Basically, since time-travel romances to Scotland seem to be thought kind of cliche in a lot of circles anymore, I asked if agents/editors would even look at another one, or if I would be seen as "just another one of those." Her answer was quick:
So, woo for that. I'll keep plugging away, then, and just try to make my writing good enough to sell (which was the goal all along). I would have e-mailed her back to thank her, but if there's one thing I've learned from reading agents' blogs, it's that they get a crap ton of e-mail. I don't want to bog her down, since she's probably got a million other e-mails to get through today. My first message included the fact that I read her blog regularly and I thanked her for all her good advice. So that should suffice, right? Or would a quick "Thanks for the reply!" not go amiss?If the writing is good enough, anything can sell. It's really that
simple. Good luck to you on this project.
Anyway, day job is jerking my chain today. I'll be lucky to get home by dinner time. Ugh. So back to that.
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2 comments:
Remember that writing is subjective, and that there are far more readers out there who don't value the same things in works as there are people who submit terrible, cliche entries into the contest.
I know you enjoy Avon books, but you have to consider the whole range of the audience--remember that agents and editors are the ones to worry about, and that once your book is on the shelves, you'll likely find a readership.
... says the guy who just recently posted his only (nearly) complete short story in nigh-on three years.
Aw, I'm sorry for your disappointment. It's one of the things I struggle with too - the phenomenon of "Who Says???"
Ok, so there really is a good and a bad in this industry, but there is a lot of the subjective, as Jon said. I take poetry as an example - because I can't decipher what makes a poem good or bad. Seems like it's all up to the reader, and it's like that with longer works too, whether it's an ordinary reader, an editor or an agent!
Then there's Harry Potter, but don't get me started!
Keep trying!
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