Tuesday, July 3, 2018

A Writer's Angst


When I heard that British writer Preti Taneja (she won the Desmond Elliott Prize for her first novel, We That Are Young) was turned down by all the big names in the publishing industry, I realised that my angst over finding a traditional publisher for my book was misplaced.

Preti's novel was published by a small publisher in 2016, and the publisher could not understand why there "hadn't been a bidding war for the rights."

Preti's prose, according to the judges, contained "prose as sensual, perfumed and parti-coloured as a wedding basket of ladoo, inset with gems of pure poetry".

I do not consider myself in Preti's league, not by a long shot. Then why in the world was I resentful of publishers who did not bother to respond to my book proposal?

I did wonder whether my book proposal was good enough, although I did all the right things by reading HowTo articles. No one asked for the manuscript (in India traditional publishers accept book proposals directly from authors).
A friend, who was published by Harper Collins, told me that my book proposal was probably lying in a slush pile somewhere. Harper Collins hasn't responded even though it has been over 8 months.

I completed my first novel in December 2017. I had written the first draft some years earlier, but the manuscript had been lying around gathering dust. I finally took it up in the summer of 2017 and finished it in six months. Once the 300-page novel was done, I knew I wanted to write 5 more books, two of them non-fiction. God willing, I will do it. It could take years, maybe ten. That doesn't matter because all that matters is that I love what I am doing.


(This post was originally written for a writing group but as I am not a part of that group now, references to it have been removed)

Related Reading: The time it takes to publish a book and Becoming an Author and A Writer's Journey

29 comments:

  1. Yes you can do it. Read an Writer's Digest article years ago about the number of times best selling and critically acclaimed books were rejected by publishers. :-O Guess it's necessary to go through being rejected because eventually your work will be found by someone who truly believes in it and will support the hell out of it.

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  2. Enjoying yourself is the absolute key in this journey. The twists and turns can be overwhelming otherwise!

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  3. Yes, and I hope that the people who support it are the readers. :)

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  4. If I was writing a novel for the accolades I would have given up by now.

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  5. *Adds Preti's book to TBR* :) I wish you so much luck with your goals, Nita! Happy IWSG day!

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  6. Thanks Raimey. Happy IWSG day to you too. :)

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  7. Many authors endured long waits and rejection before landing the right publishing home. Hang in there and keep believing in yourself!

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  8. Enjoying yourself is the most important thing! Whether a book gets snapped up by a big publisher only has a little to do with its quality - there are lots of other factors involved like trends and just how a publisher feels on any particular day. We don't need that validation to know we're doing something worthwhile. Sounds like you've been bitten by the writing bug, so have fun with all your upcoming projects!

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  9. True, market trends are important. And also the state of the publishing industry. Today, the economics of the publishing world have changed, and publishers prefer safe bets rather than venture into the unknown. And I don't really blame them.

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  10. I would occasionally re-read my novel and think “this is better than a lot of big publishing house books I read.” I self published about a year ago, about 30 people have read the book and a dozen of those have expressed positive feelings about it. So it’s a success even though my daughter frequently tells me that I should “write another one and get it published for real.”

    That only hurts my feelings a little.

    I think you need to seek satisfaction from within. Even Harper Collins authors have insecurities. They must, don’t you think?

    Good luck with you goals! You most certainly can do it!

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  11. I absolutely relate to that. I also got tired of agents at conferences who started and ended every panel with how busy they were. Sigh.

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  12. I don't know if Harper Collins would respond to authors who send in their manuscripts or letters. The big publishers usually work with agents. Good luck with whatever path you chose.

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  13. Tamara, it's different in India. Harper Collins accepts direct submissions from authors. There are hardly any reputable agents in India, that is the reason, and the majority of authors work without agents.

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  14. The more I hear about agents, the more dismayed I am! I guess we are lucky here in India, in the sense we can directly communicate with publishing houses. But the downside is, they may be even busier than the agents!

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  15. Congratulations on the publication of your first book! And well, it is publishing for real, because finally it depends on the quality of the book, not a stamp of approval by a traditional publishing house. I think what is needed is marketing. Perhaps if you do that, your sales could increase. And yes, of course even authors published by traditional publishing houses are insecure. I have a good friend who has been published by HC, and she is most dissatisfied with her sales, and complains that the publishing house does not do proper marketing and distribution. Finally, it boils down to that.

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  16. I've heard so many stories of great writers being turned down over and over again by the major publishers. It's not an exact science, the way agents and publishers handle submissions.

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  17. It's subjective, and that's okay. But I doubt that all submissions are read with equal seriousness.

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  18. I always find it interesting to hear rejection stories from authors who have amazing books that thousands of people love. If anything, it gives me hope. Sure I may have gotten rejected by publisher A, but the next one might be the golden ticket I'm looking for just like another famous author.

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  19. Wishing you much success with your writing and your book, Priti!

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  20. mlouisebarbourfundyblueJuly 5, 2018 at 12:12 PM

    You have accomplished so much already, Nita! I'm still working on my first full length manuscript, although I have done other kinds of writing. Rejection is part of the game. Hang in there and keep writing for enjoyment! Good luck!

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  21. Thank you! And all the best.

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  22. Yes, me too. And I find it particularly interesting to know that when book publishing first started there were no publishing houses and no agents. Writers had to pay for the publishing themselves, or try and get finance from some source.

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  23. Congrats on finishing the MS. Wishing you much success. Happy IWSG!

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  24. Never say first and last! I did and I ended up with four books and countless anthologies...

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