Some days, you can't win

One of the agents that have read the full MS for Parrots just got back to me, rejecting it. It felt to me that she was on the fence, and the breaking point was the fact that I didn't grant her an exclusive read at any stage of the submission process.
Which is sad, but understandable. She comes across as a very hands-on agent, which I appreciate, and investing time into something that potentially will make someone else money must be frustrating, to say the least.
But obviously from my end, an exclusive is just not feasible, especially at this stage of the game.

Not that it matters. In the end all it means is that the book wasn't strong enough for her to take it on regardless. That's okay. There are still some fulls and partials out there, and after that, I'll just go the direct route with this project.

And I'm mailing off my romance re-submission request next week.

At least I've reached the next step, "not quite there yet, do this and send it to me again". Step by step... Getting there. ^_^
And I can't wait to start my next YA once the romance is on its way to London. Hooray for writing!

Remember how I was talking about finaling in two contests with my Blaze Wannabe?
Well, the results came back, and they couldn't have been more different.

The first-round judges of RWA's Selling Synopsis contest placed my entry first (yay!) at 92% average score. The final editor? Hated it. Thought it was the worst piece of tripe. Gave it 1s and 2s (of 5, and, in one case, of 10).
I won't lie. That smarts. A lot. She said there was no emotional connection. She ranked it 8th out of 8 finalists, not surprisingly.

What does that tell you? her and I are never going to be a good match. When there is this much discrepancy in feeling the love, it's not going to get better. I agree that this story needs work, but it's not as awful as this editor felt. And that's okay. I've noted her name down, and I won't submit to her. Why waste my time and hers?

The final editor at the great Expectations contest sung quite a different song. While she wasn't overly taken by the first chapters as they stood, she thought if I spiced things up a bit, she'd definitely want to see it again. She connected with the work. And you bet I'm taking her suggestions very seriously. I've noted her name down, too. on my "Submit to this person again" list.

The moral of the story? Don't be discouraged if an agent or editor or reviewer or critique partner slams your work. Have a tough skin. not everyone is going to like you.
Take the constructive criticisms and look at them. if you can't the day you receive them, stow them away and look at them again later. Don't take every piece of advice on board, but evaluate everything you receive.
Try and keep track of people's preferences. if you can, work with them. Don't work against them, it's not going to work.

Above all, keep your pride and self-respect. Success comes to the determined.
Don't give up. Keep at it.

Now if you'll excuse me, my manuscript awaits a hot, sexy love scene.

Last day of Late 20s...

Today is my last day in my 20s (let's hear it for birthdays!), and I have accomplished a few things just today that I am quite proud of.
Like, say, send my Parrot book out to the three agents that have asked to see the full manuscript!
it took me all day and at least half my brain to write up all the edits I made over the last week (and before that, month >_<), but it is a truly beautiful book to behold. Even if someone who judged it in a contest (it came 4th) didn't necessarily think so.

I've decided to take a small break from writing YA while I wait for the agents to get back to me. in the meantime, I've got revision requests on a romance novel that won third place in an American contest. The editor will look at the manuscript again if I make it sexier. All right!

Life could be worse, I can assure you (see icon).

Time management

There are a lot of things I choose not to do these days.
Go shopping (except for food). Go out in the evenings. Clean the house past the bare minimum (yeah, it's sooo hard. ^_<). Read more than a book a week (and mostly less). Read my RWA newsletters cover to cover and in the month I receive them. Podcast. Write stories with no intent of finishing them. Pick up a hobby.

I'm making decisions about my time budget. I prioritise. I choose things I absolutely want to accomplish (finish the latest edits & snatch that agent; starting a new book as soon as the old one is out the door again), and hobbies I don't want to give up (reading a book at least most weeks, playing games one day a week, going to kung fu five times a week). The rest of my life has to wait for openings, I'm sorry to say.

So if you're one of the many people I'm neglecting, I'm sorry. It's not you. It's me. And this book. I'll sign your copy when it's out. ^_^

You're not quite good enough.

I got another very nice agent email that left me rather down. This one read what I call a 'big' partial (the first 5 chapters, rather than the usual 3). She had a lot of good things to say about the work. She liked the voice, the characters, etc. her major problem was that she thought I edited the book so much, I broke some things, giving the story some major storytelling flaws.
Wham. Sucker punch.

I mean really. I know I suck at editing. But I've been holed up under a rock for the past three weeks working my ass off to make these edits. And I failed. Again.
This agent kindly offered to read more if I made some major revisions (where have I heard that one before?). And you know what? Of course I will.
Here's some of what she said:

I really like Jade's voice, and I'm intrigued as to where the story is going, but I'm concerned that you're skipping some of the action that's central to the story. That could be an after-effect of a revision, but, for instance, when Jade meets TF she talks about already having met Mrs. Friday, but I didn't read that. There's also a number of times where it seems you skip over some very interesting action or backstory. I'm a big proponent of "show don't tell," but I feel like there's several times where you've done neither, instead jumping right to what happens next. It leaves your reader feeling like they've missed some part of the story. I don't feel like these first five chapters tell me enough about the secret martial arts school to justify Jade's interest in investigating the birds, and her conversation with TF about the six birds is completely out of the blue -- up to this point, your readers have only heard about two or three.
Basically, I'm torn. I'd like to read more, as I'm drawn to the fish out of water lifestyle Jade leads, and I love her interest in detection (I'm a huge fan of "Veronica Mars"). You've also set up some fun ancillary characters in Gung-gung and Fazza, and two very attractive love interests. That being said, however, I'd need to see that some of these concerns about the storytelling have been addressed before moving on.

The thing that's really getting to me? She gets it. She looks at the things I care about most and liked them. that's invaluable.

These agents are offering suggestions that have nothing to do with changing my vision for the characters and the basic premise of the story. Because everybody loves those. It's the plot itself that just doesn't want to work.
Strengths and weaknesses have never shone clearer.

But for now, I'm sad, so I'm taking a break. I'll get back to work at lunch time, after printing the complete MS (which has expanded by a good 15 pages through the last edit). Then it's Donald Maass' workbook for this baby, and then we'll see if people still want me to kick it up another notch.

Oh, and to end on an upbeat note, this is where I'm going to celebrate once I find an agent. Oooh yes.