State of mind matters
Last night I decided to pop open the submissions folder on my Sony (the main reason I love the Sony over the Kindle, because I can HAVE a submissions folder) and realized that I hadn’t loaded recent submissions on there, so most of them I could delete most of them. One I couldn’t remember if I’d read so I gave it a glance. After the prologue, I realized that I had already looked at it, and though the premise was interesting, the writing was unpolished, there were too many technical errors for me to consider taking it on (because while I’m willing to correct some in edits, I can’t afford to take the time to edit a book that’s flush with them), the dialogue was awkward, and there were some things that didn’t quite make sense within the story.
But I liked the premise, enough that I decided to keep reading just for the heck of it, and see where it led. About halfway into the book, I decided that, instead of rejecting, I’d offer the author a revise and resubmit letter. Which, if you know anything about me, you know I’m not totally keen on because I so very rarely see those books returned (and I do mean rarely). But I thought the author might have promise, could clearly craft a unique premise, and I’d do my part to help her along.
This morning, when I opened my spreadsheet, I found that I’d marked this book to receive a rejection letter but hadn’t sent it yet. When I read it the first time, the obvious errors and all the issues I noted above meant that I was going to reject it. Being in a more generous frame of mind last night, I decided to give the author a chance with a revise and resubmit letter. Let me tell you, that doesn’t happen very often and really, it shouldn’t have to.
Of course, every author hopes that every editor and agent will do this every single time with their book, but the fact is, it’s up to the author to make sure the book doesn’t need a second chance because it’s entirely likely it won’t get one. So yes, state of mind matters, but it’s the author’s job to make sure that the book shines through and wins despite the editor/agent’s state of mind. Because that’s the only thing the author has control over. You can’t tell the editor/agent to only read your book when they’re not overwhelmed by work, ticked off by some correspondence they’ve just read, or getting ready for vacation. Truth is, there is always something going on in the editor/agent’s life. Don’t make it easy for them to say no. Make it easy for them to say yes!
4 People have left comments on this post
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Nice information. I like it that you let us in on what makes an editor tick.
While I whole-heartedly and emphatically agree an aspiring author ought to avail herself of all the help she can find in getting her manuscript as perfect as it can possibly be, I can only hope editors and agents realize there are some things which are extremely difficult for the unpublished to figure out on their own before the query process. Where exactly is the dividing line between Young Adult and regular adult fiction? It seems to vary from person to person, publisher to publisher. Exactly how does Samhain, and perhaps each individual Samhain editor, define each Heat Level? If a story has mythological elements or is obviously inspired by mythology, will it be lumped in with Fantasy or can it pass for Science Fiction? Does the Heroine have to meet the Hero right off the bat or can she meet the villain first in order for it to qualify for the Romance genre? Are mommies absolutelly forbidden from being Kick-Butt Heroines? Etc…and so on and so forth. It can be very confusing, especially when we’re tossed about by all the other advice we receive elsewhere before that manuscript ever lands in your in-box. I have a novel, in fact, I’ve been thinking of subbing to Samhain, but I am so confused about whether it fits what you want I still haven’t sent it.
Kimber An….I’m not Angie but in reading your post I’m reminded of myself when I was an unpublished author, and all the what ifs? and questions I had about the publishing process and what could possibly be on an editor or agent’s mind when looking at a submission. All those questions bogged me down and kept me from focusing on the one thing that could generate a sale….writing.
Over the years, the one true thing I’ve learned is….write a great book. The heat level is your heat level. The level of fantasy is your level of fantasy. It really doesn’t matter who meets who first and when in your book, because if you’ve written a great book they will keep reading it. The key element is the way you tell the story, and bottom line that’s all that matters–your writing. Anything else can be edited and the rest of the details will take care of themselves. If you write a great book and your voice sings and an editor or agent loves it, they’ll want to take you on. Then you can have all those detail oriented questions answered.
^ what she said