Eight rejections later...
I don't get it. I have been rejected by people who say they want exactly what I have sent them. Still the same old email comes through. 'It's not right for us.' (but it's what they say they are looking for?!)
I believe I'm getting rejected solely by my first 3 chapters. You literally cannot tell what is in store by the first three chapters. These agents are too quick to reject. Too triggerhappy to shoot you down. But I will not change my chapters, they have purpose, so what if they are not exciting enough. Character developement is important. I will continue to plough through, I just wonder, why.
Why reject something so quickly without finding out more.
Action is overrated and derivative. By the stress of agents and publishers breathing down our necks that something HAS to be exciting immediately, there has been so many books that start with a chase scene it is almost a cliche.
My story doesn't start happy either. But then, who's going to want to read a happy book? Not I.
It is sad to think that these people are depriving the world of future art. I am firstly a reader and do wonder, if I have been turned down for my own work that I love, then, surely, we must be missing out on so much more. It's a shame.
What do you do if you are being rejected constantly? What's next? And what if it keeps happening? I cannot improve my story. It is well written and exactly how I want it. I just feel someone else's personal opinion is getting in the way of my ambition.
Jimmy, if you knew how bad I am at reversing, you wouldn't suggest something that big!
Lorraine
@ Lorraine ("I want to buy a motorised vehicle. I want it to have gears and four wheels, and a petrol engine. I may narrow it down to a colour - let's say red.
I've described a vehicle that could be a go-kart, a clapped-out Mini or a Ferrari.")
Strange! You left out the obvious : fire engine. Or am I showing my ignorance here? Do all fire engines have diesel motors?
@ Cuppa: In case you're wandering around looking for Emilie's "shared threads"... it's "shared works". Roll on the edit function!
re: "I don't get it. I have been rejected by people who say they want exactly what I have sent them. Still the same old email comes through. 'It's not right for us.' (but it's what they say they are looking for?!)"
Sometimes 'It's not right for us' is a nice/tactful/cowardly (take your pick) way of saying: "Your writing style is crap".
Please don't jump to the conclusion that that is MY opinion of your writing style. I haven't read your 3 chapters. [Why not take Emilie's advice?] But would you prefer that sort of rejection from an agent to the ones you're getting. (Me, I'd prefer that they were honest... so I'd know just WHAT I had to improve.)
I want to buy a motorised vehicle. I want it to have gears and four wheels, and a petrol engine. I may narrow it down to a colour - let's say red.
I've described a vehicle that could be a go-kart, a clapped-out Mini or a Ferrari.
In fact, I could narrow it down to a Mini - I want a red Mini with gears and four wheels and a petrol engine. That could still be a clapped out Mini, or a re-sprayed Mini Cooper, or a new BMW version.
The point I'm making is that guidelines are vague, even when you think they're specific.
What the agents are saying is that yes, you're ticking boxes A-F, and so you are giving us what we've asked for up to a point; but you're not producing the sort of book we want, built upon that skeletal outline. Every single writer that fills those basic requirements will have written a different book - completely unlike any other in many ways, but alike in that they fit the brief as given. From those authors submitting work, many will be rejected because they can't write well enough, or their work lacks that special something that gives an agent goose-bumps.
An editor can tell from three chapters whether you have characters that grab the interest, a plot that will keep the reader engrossed, and above all, a narrative style that draws that reader on from page to page.
No, you can't tell what's coming next from those three chapters: but do they make the reader care enough to want to read Chapter Four?
You don't have to start with a chase scene - what if there isn't one in your book? - but you have to have a hook.
'I cannot improve my story.' Want to bet? You're stating that your story is perfect as it is, and that would be rare indeed.
'It is well written and exactly how I want it.' If you are unprepared to listen to anyone else's point of view, you are unlikely to find yourself a publisher or an agent who is going to waste his breath. Who says it's well-written? You have a couple of examples of poor writing right there in your post: 'But I will not change my chapters, they have purpose, so what if they are not exciting enough.' 'You literally cannot tell what is in store by the first three chapters.' - what does 'literally' mean here?
Has your book been edited, and by someone other than yourself? The whole reason why editors exist is that it is almost impossible to edit your own work. You are too close to it - you see what you think you wrote, not what's on the page; and if you don't know the rules of grammar or punctuation, how can you correct any errors?
'I just feel someone else's personal opinion is getting in the way of my ambition.' You are determined to find an agent - someone who will agree with your opinion of your work - when so far no-one seems to share your perception of it. If it is indeed perfect, and the agents (plural) can't see it, then self-publish. Prove them wrong by your sales.
The whole point of writing a book is that you expect other people to want to read it; so why not post an excerpt and let us give an impartial view, and possibly a few pointers as to why it is being rejected.
Lorraine