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Friday 18 September 2009

Revise, Revise, Revise

My writing has been a little stalled over the summer but my brain has been getting back in gear. I've got ideas of where I want to go next and some different projects I'm excited to get started on. But then two things happened that are just slightly slowing down those other things.

First, I've been working on a submission package for one of my books. I nearly had it ready to go in the mail, but then I got called to sub for the week. Wednesday evening I ended up calling in sick as a nasty virus got me. During my breaks at the school and while I lounged around in bed wishing I felt better, I started reading another book from my large stack. Loved it, but realized as I read that many of the elements of the story mirror the one I was getting ready to submit. In fact, they are similar in so many ways I can understand one reason why the publisher rejected my manuscript this summer. So I need to rethink that one. I still love the story, and with some major work I think I can make it different enough, but for now I'll probably shelf it.

I'd submitted my other book to a different publisher a while ago. I got an email from the editor this week rejecting it, but also giving me a long list of suggestions, encouragement and inviting me to resubmit. I needed that. So many of the suggestions were 'ah-ha' moments - things that I instantly knew would make the book stronger. Of course, now I have an enormous amount of work ahead, but I'm excited to get at it. Along with everything else I have in my head, it should keep me plenty busy. It feels good to be back at it again.

5 comments:

Jordan McCollum said...

Woohoo! An invitation to resubmit! That's great!

Would you mind sharing which of your books that was on?

Josi said...

Editor feedback=priceless.

Finding out you wrote something so close to someone elses book--brutal.

I hope you're feeling better and I'm so glad you've got good ideas--that's priceless too.

Stephanie Humphreys said...

The feedback was on my book Finding Rose, a historical romance.

Brutal is right - so much time invested in it. Oh well. On to the next project.

Jordan McCollum said...

Stephanie, I sympathize with you soooo deeply today. I just read the blurb of a forthcoming book and it's EXACTLY like one of my MSs (the sequel to the one I'm about to submit). Worse, the book doesn't even come out till January, so I can't read it so I know how to rewrite until then.

Kathi Oram Peterson said...

Comments from the editor always helps with rejections. Shows they like your work, anyway that's what I tell myself. Thanks for sharing. You're not alone :)

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