On Not Giving Up

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Okay, so your submission to a publisher came back with a rejection. Not only does it happen to the best of us, it happens to all of us. The vast majority of writers have publishers reject one of their works at some point or another.

It doesn’t mean that you’re a bad writer, necessarily. There are many reasons for a publisher to reject work.

One of them is that the work that you’ve submitted isn’t exactly what that publisher is looking for right at that instant. Sometimes it’s harder to figure out what a publisher is looking for when they have a general call out. Try again. Just because that publisher rejected it, it doesn’t mean every publisher will.

It could be that the publisher has limited space, and that they can’t publish everything that comes their way, even if it is good. It might be just that they’ve decided to go with authors that they are already familiar with, or that your work is similar to another author’s, so they went with the other one. It happens.

And I know you dread to hear it, but sometimes it is because of the writing.

So, I have a couple of questions for you, if you suspect that this is the case.

How long have you been a writer, and how much are you practicing? I’ve been a writer since I actually could write, and I get feedback from fellow writers at regular intervals. Are you taking any writing courses or following any writing blogs? Getting advice from others who can give you critical feedback?

The only way to get better at writing is actually writing. I’ve looked at some of my old work, and it’s just horrendous. But that’s looking at it from now. You can only get better with practice. That, and reading. Please read as much as you possibly can, because that’s how you can tell if you’re improving.

Don’t give up on writing because you got one rejection letter.

Other questions to ask yourself:

  • is my story predictable or typical? What can I do to change it up a bit, to make it different from all the other stories?
  • did I revise my story? How is the pacing, are there unnecessary scenes, or did you leave any out?
  • how’s your opening chapter? Do you have a good hook? What kind of scene do you open with? A lot of editors judge a book by its first chapter, and if that doesn’t impress them, they won’t read any further.
  • did you edit properly? Remember when I said editors can tell if you didn’t edit it? Yeah, they really really can, and dislike it immensely.

Any way you look at it, you shouldn’t take a rejection letter as a cue to throw in the towel. It is not a sign of failure unless you give up afterward.

Never think that writers are born. Writers create themselves.

What I’m Working on this Spring (2014)

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The life of a writer can sometimes be quite hectic. Often, you get a new idea, and before you know it, you have five different projects, three of which you have writers’ block on. I have a list of things I have to work on, and that includes finishing the writing part, having them beta read by a couple of different people (fellow authors for the most part), revising (adding/deleting scenes), editing and submission to my publisher of choice (currently Less Than Three Press).

So, my list of things I am currently doing work on:

  1. The novel I started for NaNoWriMo 2013 that I didn’t finish in the required time. It’s a dystopian cyberpunk novel that’s looking to be between 50-60K words. I’m 95% finished that one and have at least two betas lined up for when I do finish it. I’m looking at a completion date before the end of February, beta reading by the beginning of March, revising/editing by mid-March and submission before the end of March.
  2. I started a novella before I started my NaNo novel, but that was put on the back-burner while I was writing Project#1. This one is contemporary, set in Seattle and is primarily a romantic comedy taking place in university. It involves a lot of cross-dressing and confusion. That one is only 5-10% done, but I’ve already done the plotting, planning and character design. No idea when that will be done, I’m hoping end of April, but who knows.
  3. I’m in the plotting and planning stages of a story for one of Less Than Three’s anthology calls: Damsels in Distress, which is a femslash anthology focusing on ladies that can rescue themselves. This one is historical fantasy taking place in WW2 Russia. I’m still doing lots and lots of research, because a lot happened to Russia in WW2. Also, not many people are aware, but Russia had really badass lady pilots. Ladies in leather jackets and goggles? Count me in. Have to finish this one by the end of May, as that’s the submission deadline.

That’s the ones I’m definitely in the process of writing. I’ll keep everyone updated as to how that’s going and do another of these posts in summer. Got to keep up a writing schedule!

I’m Alex Powell

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Hello all,

My name is Alex and I’m an author with Less Than Three Press.

So far in my writing career, I have three published works: Across Borders, Insanity Girls and Rangers over Regulus. I also have another story waiting for release that I’m very excited about.

I mainly publish sci-fi and fantasy work, however, I am quite proficient in writing many genres or cross-genres. Right now, I’m writing LGBT fiction, which is sort of a niche market. However, my goal is to help expand that market.

I hope anyone who stops by enjoys writing and reading.