I just got a ms. back from Candlewick. I was sure it wasn’t what hey were looking for when it was wrapped in barbed wire and had a skull-and-crossbones on the envelope.
I went through the usual Kubler-Ross stages: Denial — They must have confused my novel about a kangaroo who finds a portal in the outback and ends up as Shakespeare’s pet with another like it. But not nearly as riveting. Anger — My editor looks charming with a flaming sword buried in her sternum. Etcetera.
Basically what I really do when I get a ms. back or an editorial letter I’d rather not have is remind myself that all I want to do is tell a story. Something a reader would be glad to stick with for a couple of hours.
Thinking of the NOVEL never helps. Thinking of the story helps a lot. Terms like Novel and Novelist cast a very long shadow. Story teller not so much. We all tell stories all the time.
All I need to do is tell a long one.
Simple, no?
Change the kangaroo to a dingo, and, Voila! You've got a contract. Marsupials are so last season.
I love this clarification, Ron. It is what we all need to remember. And Christine any more tips on what's hot and what's not just shoot them my way.
I would take the flaming sword out of your editor's sternum and put it in the book. I'd totally buy a book with a flaming sword in it, even if it had barbed wire wrapped around it. The book, that is, not the sword.
P.S. NPR is having a short story contest (600 words) in which a character tells a joke and a character laughs. I am unable to give you more details because NPR is blocked at work (grr) but here is the link.
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/08/132744031/three-minute-fiction-round-6-laughing-and-crying
Use that rejection to make your book kick ass, Ron. It's the only way.
One of my favorite quotes of John Steinbeck was prompted by a newspaper reporter's question "How do you consider yourself as an author?" Steinbeck replied, "I've never considered myself as an author. I'm a writer because that's what I do–I write. I'm not sure what an author does."