And the verdict is...
10/02/11 21:49 Filed in: Writing
So the publisher said "No". Very kindly, very
politely, but "No". He also said, "I still like the
courtroom scenes, but I’m still not overwhelmed by
the rest."
I'm trying to figure out how I'm reacting. I'm still quite overwhelmed by how much time and energy this publisher afforded me and my book and I continue to be grateful for that. I can wish for a different outcome. I can feel disappointed to have come this far only to fail once again to reach my goal. But I can't complain that I wasn't given a fair chance by this publisher.
I can also understand why he would say "no" and yet still not take it as an assault on my skills and talents as a writer. Call it ego but I believe my book is well-written enough to be published. I just don't think the publisher felt the subject matter would sell. I've understood for a long time that a very well written book is not going to succeed if it doesn't offer a "sexy" plot, subject, or hook that will make readers want to buy it.
The Silent Goodbye doesn't seem to have those things. It's a good story. It's well told. But it doesn't stand out. It's a fairly homey novel about a small-time lawyer who finds himself in big-time trouble.
So it would seem that The Silent Goodbye isn't going to be published any time soon. And I'm left wondering where to turn next. I had been working on the next Phillip Gold mystery novel, The Final Curtain, and I might just keep going with that. I'd do so, however, not with the belief that this new novel stands a better chance of being published (it's too much in the same vein, the same flavour as The Silent Goodbye for me to believe that) but on the basis that I'm enjoying writing it, it's fairly well along and I think my nieces would still enjoy seeing their idea turned into a full-length (though unpublished) novel.
I'm toying with some other ideas as well, at this point. The one thing I'm not doing is considering giving up writing. I had feared, after sending the revised version of The Silent Goodbye to the publisher, that my reaction to a possible rejection might be such deep disappointment that I would discard my netbook and move on to some other pasttime. But I'm having no such reaction now.
Okay, I may die without ever having a novel published. Fine. But I draw too much enjoyment from the act of writing to give it up entirely.
I'm trying to figure out how I'm reacting. I'm still quite overwhelmed by how much time and energy this publisher afforded me and my book and I continue to be grateful for that. I can wish for a different outcome. I can feel disappointed to have come this far only to fail once again to reach my goal. But I can't complain that I wasn't given a fair chance by this publisher.
I can also understand why he would say "no" and yet still not take it as an assault on my skills and talents as a writer. Call it ego but I believe my book is well-written enough to be published. I just don't think the publisher felt the subject matter would sell. I've understood for a long time that a very well written book is not going to succeed if it doesn't offer a "sexy" plot, subject, or hook that will make readers want to buy it.
The Silent Goodbye doesn't seem to have those things. It's a good story. It's well told. But it doesn't stand out. It's a fairly homey novel about a small-time lawyer who finds himself in big-time trouble.
So it would seem that The Silent Goodbye isn't going to be published any time soon. And I'm left wondering where to turn next. I had been working on the next Phillip Gold mystery novel, The Final Curtain, and I might just keep going with that. I'd do so, however, not with the belief that this new novel stands a better chance of being published (it's too much in the same vein, the same flavour as The Silent Goodbye for me to believe that) but on the basis that I'm enjoying writing it, it's fairly well along and I think my nieces would still enjoy seeing their idea turned into a full-length (though unpublished) novel.
I'm toying with some other ideas as well, at this point. The one thing I'm not doing is considering giving up writing. I had feared, after sending the revised version of The Silent Goodbye to the publisher, that my reaction to a possible rejection might be such deep disappointment that I would discard my netbook and move on to some other pasttime. But I'm having no such reaction now.
Okay, I may die without ever having a novel published. Fine. But I draw too much enjoyment from the act of writing to give it up entirely.