BellaOnline Forums Career Fiction Writing Are you writing your novel this year?

I feel for you, Lynn. When I was submitting my second novel to publishers, I kept getting comments that my heroine was too abrasive and no one would care about her. Then I'd get comments from other editors that they loved how edgy and tough my heroine was in the beginning, but she mellowed out too much by the end of the story. Arghhhh!

What a blessing it was to finally find an editor who "got" my heroine's trash-talking beginnings and appreciated her character growth over the course of the story. Best of luck to you to find your perfect editor!

It's a very subjective process - every agent/publisher/editor likes different things, and/or may just be in an off mood when they read your work. Eventually it will be your readers who will love the way you've written your book, or love the way your character develops. Editors always say they're looking for something different and unique, but they're always too afraid to take a risk on anything that is too different! LOL It must be the same as everything else that is popular at the moment so that it is likely to sell, but it must break new ground at the same time. It's enough to make you pull your hair out sometimes.

You are both so right.

I've had people tell me that they had a hard time putting my chapters down because they kept the people captivated and couldn't wait to read what happened next.

On the other hand I have sent partial manuscripts to publishers and they tell me that it is not what they are looking for and I think to myself, well tell me what you are looking for.

The first time I sent a partial manuscript to a publishing company, they sent a letter back stating they enjoyed the manuscript...however...they only publish magazines and have nothing to do with book publishing. GRRR...I just can't win. lol.

While it is important to research your target publisher or agent inside and out and upside down, that also only gets you so far. You may discover that they are on a drive looking for, say, paranormal romance with a Papua New Guinean protagonist, and that is exactly what you've written - so you send it off, but they received two like that yesterday...

It really is worth your sanity to keep that in perspective.

This is so true. I did forget to mention that when I received that rejection notice, I got very excited. It was my first and I was like " Yes, I am officially a struggling writer now". lol.

Can you imagine writing a novel about a paranormal romance of a Papua New Guinean protagonist and getting declined because the publisher received two of them yesterday? lol. Talk about frustration.

I will do research when I am ready to send a novel out. I will go through the Writer's Market and do some online research as well. That is very good advice Elle.
Thank you.

It took me about 25 years to write Corporate Wives, my first novel. OK, I only decided on the title and didn't actually write it until last year. It was released in November. Now, I am working on my next, The Colony. This time I am going to take my time when it comes to finding a publisher. I didn't have to pay myself to get Corporate Wives published but I might as well have. I went with PublishAmerica and there is practically no help with marketing. Their books are available on all the online stores such as Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobel etc but they don't get your hard work placed in real stores. I let people read the first 23 of 311 pages on my website, www.karenmusson.com and this has been some help.

There are numerous warnings online against signing with PublishAmerica, although for some writers their service is suitable to their needs because they just wanted the book printed. I believe PA's contract is harsh, though, and writers would actually be better off printing their books through Lulu or CafePress rather than signing a contract they can't get out of.

Always read the fine print when you're looking for a publisher, and check Preditors and Editors. Or do a Google search with the word "warnings".