Well, Fuck.

[taste_is_sweet]

After almost exactly a year of waiting to find out what the publishers at EDGE and Tesseract Books think of the first seven chapters of my novel (yeah, the first seven chapters), I find out that the main editor has sent it to another reader because she had some mixed thoughts about it. She assured me that was a good thing, because she's a nice person and didn't want to break my heart outright. But this isn't my first go-round on the turnip truck.

I know that sending it to another reader is a nice way of saying that she thought it mostly sucked, but wanted to make sure it entirely sucked before telling me thanks, but no thanks. Don't let the door hit your manuscript in the ass on the way out.

I always make the mistake of assuming that if publishers keep my stuff for a long time, it's a good thing. It's never been a good thing. Give me another four months or so and I'm sure I'll have the definitive no.

This is the same novel that my agent gave up on because he couldn't find a publisher worth his time who liked it. I thought I might have a better chance with a small, Canadian press, especially after I went through the whole damn thing again and cut fifteen thousand words. Guess not. Now I'll need to find another publisher to continue this exercise in pointless masochism.

I suppose I could self-publish it. Yeah, because I'm so excellent at marketing myself.

At least I know for sure that people like my fanfiction. There's just a problem with everything else.

Comments

[rinkafic.livejournal.com]

How disheartening. ~Hugs~ Are they at least giving you a concrete reason? Something you can fix?

I hope the new reader comes back with good news.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Unfortunately, even if they do, they'll still have to read 19 more chapters.

I think that if they don't like it, I'll take my chances with self-publishing. I don't think it could be any worse. :)

[rinkafic.livejournal.com]

I have several friends that went that route, it is slow, but you'll get your stuff out there.

Best of luck. And my little writer's heart aches for ya tonight.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

That is very sweet of you, Rink. And I really appreciate it. :D I would like to at least get my stuff out there, yeah.

[katden.livejournal.com]

Keep on keepin' on <3

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :D

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's incredibly kind of you, Merrilily. Thank you. I'll send you an email shortly. :D

<3

[amalthia]

Hugs. Wish they wouldn't keep you hanging for so long.

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Me too! :D

[kimboosan.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear that! Your writing is good, I can only imagine that they might have marketing concerns? Ahhh, who knows. :(

Self publishing isn't fun, I'll say that for sure. Have you considered epublishers like Untreed? They would at least take the formatting and distribution headaches off your shoulders, although you'd still on the hook for marketing.

I hope you manage to get this out soon! You deserve a readership. <3

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :D I will definitely be thinking of self-publishing if this doesn't end up working out. I really appreciate your kind words. <3

[niamh-sage.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear you've been getting the run-around. :(

A lot of people seem to be going the self-publishing route these days, and there's quite a bit of discussion of it out in the blogosphere. Maybe it's worth tracking down a few authors who've done it, and reading up on their experiences so you can get the best possible start if you choose to go that way yourself.

ps I haven't forgotten your novella! Have had a bit of a frantic time the last week, and now Emrys is on holiday, so my reading pace is a bit slower than usual. Will get back to you asap :)

[taste-is-sweet.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I just hope I get some kind of response I can do something with sooner rather than later. I will consider the self-publishing route, though I'm not thrilled with the self-marketing part!

I got your email. Thank you for reading the novella, especially when you're busy. I hope you like it. :)