"Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential or something to be casually ignored. The church is God's agenda for the world. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." The church is indestructable and will exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role in it."
- Rick Warren
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Actually, this is the first rejection of my current novel project, which is a feat in of itself, as it isn't even completed yet.
I didn't mention this publicly before (because I didn't want to make a big deal out of a mere possibility), but a couple of weeks ago a senior editor for a major non-CBA publishing house contacted me via e-mail based on my writing on the weblog(s). He said he has been given the go-ahead to pursue fiction projects for the imprint he heads that might appeal to Christian readers, and he wanted to know if I had any book-length projects that might fit the bill.
Surprised, highly hopeful, and scared witless, I sent him the promotional material for my first novel and the first few chapters of my current one (making sure several times to remind him that those pages are unrevised and the project itself is incomplete).
He let me know up front he probably wasn't interested in my completed novel, because it is supernatural fiction, and they just don't publish that genre. That wasn't a surprise to me, really, and I now feel like I've squeezed the last molecule of juice out of that turnip. It came this close to being one of four books used to launch a new Christian imprint specializing in speculative fiction, even making the single-digit list of finalists considered. But once that publisher rejected it, I now just sort of throw it out there at curious publishers like a pathetic Little League dad bragging about his marginally talented son.
But he did sound interested in my current project. Alas, it was not to be. Here's the message I just received from him:
Hi Jared,
I enjoyed your sample chapters ? you are a gifted writer and your passion for the craft really comes across on the page. And I agree that BLACK DOG MAN would be served best by a non-Christian publisher, especially one that grows and supports literary writers. Unfortunately, as I only acquire commercial fiction, and mostly for women at that, I?m afraid I won?t be able to pursue this. That?s not to say that your writing would not be accessible to a commercial fiction audience, but it doesn?t fit nicely into the categories that define commercial fiction. I?m sorry; I wish I was in a position to help more. But thanks for letting me see your work. I have a feeling you?ll find a publisher sooner rather than later.
A few things:
First, even though I've suffered nothing but rejections so far, I have been encouraged by the personal nature of the rejections I've received. With the exception of one editor, every person who has passed on my manuscripts has nevertheless gone out of their way to affirm my talent and say they really liked the book(s). A few have said variations of "I'd love to publish this, but it doesn't fit our needs right now." This obviously makes rejection easier to take.
I suppose also, in this case, that getting rejected with encouragement by a big-league publisher -- one whose editor made the effort of contacting me -- beats not even getting a hearing from one. (And the one editor who rejected me coldly was actually a guy who contacted me unsolicited, was from a "vanity press," and wanted me to pay him to publish my book. When I declined this guy actually started insulting me!)
It does sort of suck getting a project rejected before it's completed. That happened once before on my first project, and I immediately regretted submitting it before it was done. I'm already having that feeling about this correspondence. Maybe if I'd said, "Well, I've got something I think you'll like, but I'll send it to you when it's done," he'd be in a different place when I finally submitted it. Or maybe not.
I am both encouraged and concerned by his affirmation that a mainstream publisher would be the best fit for the book (even though it is about a missionary). I suspected as much, because I am not confident that a CBA publisher would be that enthusiastic about a story populated with assassins, Yanomamo warriors, prostitutes, drug runners, and a gay CIA agent. There is no explicit content, and the narrative is consciously Christian, but I could see an editor with an eye toward the blue-haired ladies frequenting the Christian bookstore fiction shelves balking at it.
So his confirmation of that suspicion is a good affirmation of my instincts. Moreover, his citing its "literary quality" is a great encouragement to me, as well. All along, I have tried to write a page-turning, genre-type story that is told with the substance of a literary novel. According to him, at least, I have succeeded in that respect.
But here's my dilemma: if it's too edgy for the CBA and too literary for the mainstream, how in the world will I get it published? Therein lies my concern.
Oh well. I'm disappointed in this rejection, because getting published by this company would have been something to put at the top of the Christmas letter.
;-) Heck, I would have embossed it on the envelope!
But I take some comfort in how he let me down, especially in his affirmation of my writing itself.
So I labor on. I'm one chapter away from finishing Part 2 of the novel (which actually approaches the 550-page mark). Two more parts to write, but Part 3 will be relatively short and fairly easy to write. After that it's all downhill, and Part 4 will be fun, I think.
I just hope I haven't spent three years on an unmarketable book.
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Comments on "One More Rejection for the Pile":
2. DLE
- 05/24/2005 10:47 am CDT
Jared,
A few comments from a fellow laborer in the field:
But here's my dilemma: if it's too edgy for the CBA and too literary for the mainstream, how in the world will I get it published? Therein lies my concern.
Mine, too. Already had this discussion over at Brandywine. The "just write your best book" mantra doesn't work like it used to. You almost have to pick a demographic and nail it between the eyes.
The CBA keeps telling us they are branching out, but I haven't really seen that breakout, yet. That said, my wife just completed a series of sci-fi books for women readers written by a Christian author on the Bethany House imprint. That's top-notch. The same author, Kathy Tyers, recently completed a Star Wars book, so she's finding traction in both markets. I'm considering contacting her--she'd be a valuable networking resource.
You really need to consider going to the CBA convention in Denver (July 10-14.) If you've incorporated or LLC'ed your writing business, you can write the whole trip off. My getting sick blew that opportunity for me, but with completed work you should do fine. Or in lieu of that, have your agent shop it at the CBA convention. The market is strange, but you never know, especially when you get everyone in one place. I know a guy who was getting no bites at all, but publishers started fighting each other for the title once one showed vague interest in it at a CBA convention. It got talked up and then everyone wanted it. That kind of buzz could make things a lot easier for you. Plus, at these conventions, even if someone takes a pass, the whole industry is so incestuous that you might get a referral by word-of-mouth that gets picked up by another publisher. These folks in publishing have big rolodexes and many have worked at multiple houses.
3. Shrode
- 05/24/2005 11:02 am CDT
Hang in there Jared! You'll be published. Of that, I have no doubt.
I remember Piers Anthony saying (my favorite Sci-Fi author when I was in High School) in the appendix of one of his books that the way he gets published now (of course, he's already established) was to show the publisher one of several concepts and then he lets them pick one, and he writes it. I wonder if that might help you? The next time you have a "bite" like this, to say, "Oh, you don't like that one?" How about this one? Maybe you can keep several possible concepts in a file, and be ready to write it if they say they want it.
I also agree that it's best to finish a project. Who knows? Maybe after you are published, established and a best-seller, then people will be clamoring for your unpublished stuff that you did as a young writer. If it's already done, you won't have to do any extra work! Just send it in, and set back and collect the checks. :)
4. Jared
- 05/24/2005 11:26 am CDT
Thanks for the encouragement, all.
---
Stacy:
I am definitely going to finish it. I'm too invested not to. And while this is a disappointing development, this is only one publisher. I'd be a fool to assume this means I shouldn't complete it and go through the official submission process.
I appreciate your kind words.
---
DLE:
I'm just not with you on the CBA approach. The reason I got an agent is so I wouldn't have to do stuff like that. And the CBA convention is not really designed for stuff like that. My wife has gone for the last few years as part of her job, and she's going this year as well. She finds the idea of an independent and unpublished novelist going to CBA to sell his work a little bizarre.
I think it's great that some folks have gotten bites that way, but it's certainly not something I'm interested in. I couldn't do it even if I wanted to, though -- if she's gone, who will watch the girls? ;-)
One publisher turning it down before it's completed does not a last-resort create. When it's finished I'm going to trust it with my agent, who is very well respected and regarded in the industry. Every time I hear his name, people in the know are talking about how incredible and influential he is.
I just have to get him a book to sell! ;-)
But I certainly wouldn't knock an aspiring author for doing what he can to get read. There's too many talented, undiscovered writers (like yourself) out there to expect the CBA machinery to find them all. Blessings on your adventure.
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Shrode:
I'm banking on selling my unpublished backlog once I get a name for myself! That'll show those morons for turning it down the first time! ;-)
Again, thanks everyone. Your encouragement means a lot.
Pressing on . . .
5. Alan
- 05/24/2005 11:45 am CDT
Don't speak too soon about selling that pile of unpublished stuff. It's critical to stockpile those writings so that some pseudo-friend can stake a claim to your literary legacy, i.e. revenue stream, and duke it out with your heirs.
As to the marketing stuff, frankly, I think you're already working too hard. Hooking up with some kind of illicit activity and then repenting seems to be the way to go. That is, since a stint in pro sports seems out of the question.
Thanks for the update, of course, and last I counted, I think your # of near-misses is more than anyone else around here.
7. Jared
- 05/24/2005 1:06 pm CDT
Brian, you're right. (And, Alan, thank you and very funny.)
I'm sorry to come across overly dejected in my post. I really do -- deep down -- feel positive about this. The initial fact of rejection is of course disappointing. But my genuine motivation for posting it was not so much "Oh, poor me, please share my sadness," but more of a "Here's something significant in my life worth sharing." There's also the curious "nature of the CBA beast" angle, the thing Christian writers like Dan (DLE) and I have been lamenting for quite some time.
So I hope folks get more out of it than just me whining. It's really not all that bad, and of course tomorrow I'll be considerably more positive, and the day after that considerably more than that, and so on.
Thanks to all the well-wishers and sympathizers. I have really been blessed by you, and I'm happy that you have reminded me consistently to remember just how blessed I am to get as far as I have. Even getting an agent is something I shouldn't take for granted. Published or not, just getting that far is further than other more talented writers than I have gone.
9. Manders
- 05/24/2005 9:09 pm CDT
If worse comes to worse, we could have a fundraiser so you could self-publish...there are enough people that read this blog that could hook you up with retailers and promote the thing by word of mouth.
Then again, my indie-rocker self is probably wishfully thinking right now.
10. Manders
- 05/24/2005 9:11 pm CDT
Oh, and one more thing: You might want to check out this year's edition of the Writer's Market. (For those unaware, the Writer's Market is this massive listing of publishers that accept manuscripts. Free in every public library.)
11. David Heddle
- 05/25/2005 1:31 am CDT
I feel your pain. But on one point I must disagree: I enjoyed the few nasty rejections much more than the nice ones. My favorite: "Your project failed to excite me in any manner."
13. Jared
- 05/25/2005 3:01 am CDT
Kevin and Manders, thanks.
You might want to check out this year's edition of the Writer's Market.
Manders, why? I used to do that before I got an agent. The whole point of an agent is to avoid having to do all that stuff. Plus, once you have an agent, it's considered bad form to be submitting stuff to publishers behind his back.
I corresponded with him all day yesterday after I got that e-mail from that editor, and he (the agent) has requested some more material so that he can go ahead and start working on a promotional plan for it. He wants to go ahead and start shopping "Black Dog Man," incomplete though it is. The only problem thus far is that it is on track to be beyond the CBA's preferred word-length. Because, you know, Christian readers are morons with short attention spans. Non-Christians might want to read gi-normous fluff by Grisham and Clancy, but Christians only want short, one-sitting novels (about Amish women falling in love, apparently). ;-)
We are working on where to go from here, and it probably involves holding off on writing Parts 3 and 4 until I can make some drastic cuts in Parts 1 and 2 to get it on track toward a novel of marketable length.
What's weird is that my first novel, at 340 ms. pages, was actually rather short for a shelf-novel. Now I'm cutting my way through a behemoth that's 525 pages at the 2/3 point!
---
David, you are a masochist, obviously. ;-)
Although I should have saved the e-mail I got from that vanity press dude who told me that I should publish with him because I didn't realize my dreams for real publication were silly.
Ooo, that dude torqued me off big time.
---
Nathan, please forward your comment to:
cowardlyCBApublishers@wethinkchristianreadersareidiots.com
14. Anastasia
- 05/25/2005 5:27 am CDT
along the lines of the piers anthony story, I've been told with academic writing that it can be a lot better to get a contract for a book concept based on a proposal and sample writing. That way you work with an editor all along and you can craft something the publisher is sure to want. saves headaches later. obviously, I don't know how fiction publishing works, but it seems like it could be a good idea to make contacts and be in touch before you finish a project, so you can steer it in a direction they will like. That saves you feeling like you've poured heart and soul into something that wasn't quite what they wanted.
Anyway, unreserved congratulations. You are making it. Please don't sell yourself short by self publishing.
15. Anastasia
- 05/25/2005 5:28 am CDT
also I agree with Nathan. I avoid christian fiction because it's so safe. I would love to read something a bit edgy with a literary flair.
17. Jared
- 05/25/2005 5:59 am CDT
Anastasia, thanks.
---
Manders, I'm sorry! I thought you were aware of that. That's why I found your advice bewildering. My bad.
20. DLE
- 05/25/2005 11:15 am CDT
Okay, no more CBA mentions! I relent! ;-)
It's funny, but back in the 1970s and 80s the average length of the novels I was reading was around 275-300 pages. Now it seems that everything has become a behemoth, with almost nothing going less than 375 anymore.
But as I read, I am also struck by the amount of bloat in today's novels. The rule today is to write in a more spare style, but I think that every novel I've read in the last three years has been 20% too long. All of that 20% could've been trimmed to leave a work that was less flabby. I book doctor and have been telling my clients that they should shoot for 400 pages or less, yet every one wants to be Michener.
21. anonymous
- 05/29/2005 3:15 am CDT
Jared:
I am writing as 'anonymous' because I have considered and submitted writing to different publishers within the Christian book industry. I got told the 'you have great writing talent' speech but I was rejected for the following reasons
(1): The content will be too controversial for the Christian Public.
(2): You are not a pastor or on staff of a megachurch with a rags-to-riches story (yes, I guess being a pastor or on staff at a large church is now a requirement)
(3): You are too blunt and honest.
You are exactly right about the attitude of the Christian buying public, the publishing industry loves to cater to their specific niche-market and refusing to cater to that specific niche-market will eventually call for boycotts and another Christian publisher will get their business.
#####################
Weeks after one rejection, I received an e-mail from a 'decent' Christian author with a middle tier Christian book company. He told me something that was revelatory and shocking at the same time.
He advised me that within the major publishing houses, the top selling authors with the most stroke has at least one of their associates on the book review and editing teams to the point where they decide who gets deals more soley on the personal opinions and theological positions of the highly influential author. Also, the book is reviewed again before it goes to print and if there is content that make these authors of stroke look bad or may affect their future book sales, it gets edited and revised.
###################
That is why I am seriously pursuing going a different media. The e-book method using Adobe e-book and/or Microsoft Reader and learning how to become my own publisher and striking deals with the online stores like Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million. That way, I can control my content, publish at the expense of a computer plus the software needed to make a e-book, and have little overhead with a web page on cheap web host that talks about the book but then referrs the sale of the book to Amazon or some other online bookstore.
22. Jared
- 05/29/2005 10:12 am CDT
Anoymymous, I (sort of) understand your final bit of advice, but what's to keep me from thinking you're just a shill for the e-book and self-publishing folks?
And I didn't really understand you "inside info" revelation. What's "stroke"? I never heard that before. I don't mean to be rude, but perhaps your writing skills could use a bit more polish?
Here's why I'm not interested in pay-for-publishing right now: I have an agent. Nobody gets an agent and then starts paying people to publish his books. That's pointless. I've only written one novel, so it's not like I'm a failed novelist yet. I keep getting these sorts of "last resorts" bits of advice from folks, and it makes me think I should stop blogging through the publishing process. Most published authors go through several unpublished books and countless rejections. One unpublished book and one rejection on a second manuscript does not put me at the end of my rope. If anything, I'm still at the beginning of that rope!
Here's why I'm not interested in e-book or other self-publishing in general. Because nobody really takes it seriously. Honestly. Only a handful of folks even read them, and the people who are the biggest proponents of self-publishing are the people who run the businesses and the authors who can't published traditionally.
It's just a high-tech form of vanity press. Anybody with money can get published that way, which means there's no prestige in knowing you were good enough to be published and printed. You just know your check cleared.
In my opinion, such as it is, self-publishing is for writers who lack either the talent or the fortitude for publishig the "real" way.
Sorry if that offends. But I'm not the only serious writer who thinks that way. Most of us do.
Jared, while I haven't seen your books, judging from the quality of your writing on this website, they will turn out well. I know this sounds cliched, but perhaps God knows that it (they) will be more effective if published later. At any rate, do complete your projects, because you never know when you will get an opportunity to use them. Plus, it's really discouraging to see deserted, unfinished projects on your hard drive. God bless!