I made my first submission before xmas and it was rejected soon after. It wasn't surprising and didn't bother me much but I had hoped getting over the first submission and rejection would encourage me to go on. That hasn't been the case. More and more I find myself wanting to go it alone. Submitting my book to publishers actually feels wrong. And the only time my gut has ever been wrong is when it's said yes to an oversized chocolate fudge cake!
I just keep thinking this series has a different destiny. This particular book isn't meant to join the same race everyone else and if anything the wording of my rejection said the same... although perhaps I'm seeing what I want to see.
Comments anyone?
Let's just say my character has a certain style and I don't intend to disappoint my readers by not sticking to it in every aspect of publishing him. Thirty quid definitely won't cover it.
£30k? Blimey - thirty quid, it cost me.
Actually that's not quite true. It was fifty, though it's gone up a bit now. And I did the Kindle/Smashwords work myself, so that cost nothing. All that editing (and formatting) was a bit of a pain, but I'm a cheapskate ;)
Seriously, don't even think about Simon & Schuster.
I went to one of the biggest names first so my chances were very slim. They said I shouldn't be disheartened and that another agent may feel differently. It was the kindest possible rejection.
They didn't suggest it could work better as a self-published work, Jennifer. They said 'We specialise in commercial fiction and non-fiction tailor made for the mass market and therefore we have to be confident of substantial sales quantities before taking on a new project.' It may have been a standard rejection letter but I read into that they thought my genre either too new or just too risky. New Adult is still a bit of a hard sell, I think.
So why keep trying to sell it to a nervous industry when I'm the one who believes in it and can sell it to the reader better than anyone else? Hmm, I believe I just answered my question. Better check down the back of the sofa for the thirty grand I'll need. Lol
PS Mistakes should be learned from, not forgotten, but they are more fondly remembered when they are cake!