Authonomy and other stuff
I had to check and see when last I posted. It's been a busy month. I'm on the tail end of the second busy cycle for the year at work, and for some reason, problems just keep coming up to draw it out longer and longer. This does not interfere with my writing in the morning or evenings (not like the summer where I work on the train too), but interferes with me sneaking in some extra time on other projects like podcasting. That should change soon.
So, not knowing how long its been, I had to check and see what was posted last. Ah yes, the whining. Rejections continue to roll in, and I don't post about them here. When I first posted about a rejection, a lot of people said some harsh things about the agent who rejected me. Rejection is part of this industry. She wasn't cruel about it. It just was. So I don't talk about it, because that's like posting about that you just sent an email at work. That happens every day so why post about it (unless it's your commute, in which case you should post about it on Facebook so all your friends who drive or work at home can experience the crazy with you). Still, rejection is hard. No what's harder? The lack of acceptance. Give me a dozen rejections, two, three, as long as they come with that eventual and inevitable acceptance. That's not how this works, though. You get the rejections. The acceptance? Maybe. Wait and see.
Waiting is hard! It allows time for self-doubt and self-pity and then you whine on your LiveJournal. Combine that with where I was in my new manuscript. I see a trend appearing. When I get to the middle of a story, I get really whiny. LurkerWithout had to give me a smack upside the head because I was complaining how my story was shit and no one was going to read it (though if I never get a deal, no one ever will!). It seems I did the exact same thing with this new story. So all that emotion just snowballed with one another and caused a giant emo avalanche.
As for Wanted: Chosen One, I had a very good day on Thursday, not just in word count, but in story development. Things changed. A direction became clear. While I don't have it all yet, the majority of the second half of the story crystallized on Thursday. Bam!
If you haven't heard of Harper Collins' new social slush pile idea, go to Authonomy.com and check it out. This is a big idea and other houses will do the same. They've turned slush pile reading into social media networking. Readers do a lot of the job themselves. Now, of course, they can't replace unpaid interns and assistant editors who normally man the slush piles, but they can crouch on their knees in the muddy stream and find that dirty gold nugget that might have otherwise been missed. Hopeful authors wanting to get recognized by HC (and all its imprints including Eos) post a minimum of 10,000 words of their novel to the website. Others read it and "back" it, offer criticism, what have you. Depending on the quality of the backer and the number of backings, a story may be elevated in the rankings to be brought to the attention of HC editors.
Now, let's take this with a grain of salt. Anyone can post content there and let me tell you, anyone does. There is some really good stuff there. And there is some really bad stuff there. Some of that bad stuff is ranked highly. Why? Because the author knows how to network, how to game the system. So this isn't a miracle solution to find a publisher, but it is one more opportunity for your work to be seen and maybe you'll get some good feedback too. (Don't hold your breathe on that one. Most people just tell you how great it is in hopes you'll back their book too and you can go up the rankings together, lah dee dah.)
I've posted the first six chapters of Black Magic. When I'm finished with Wanted: CO, I'll shop it around first and then post it there as well. That's still a ways off. I was saying March, but I don't know. With some of the changes I figured out on Thursday, I'm now projecting 150,000 words, which is another 70k. We'll see. Good night, all.
So, not knowing how long its been, I had to check and see what was posted last. Ah yes, the whining. Rejections continue to roll in, and I don't post about them here. When I first posted about a rejection, a lot of people said some harsh things about the agent who rejected me. Rejection is part of this industry. She wasn't cruel about it. It just was. So I don't talk about it, because that's like posting about that you just sent an email at work. That happens every day so why post about it (unless it's your commute, in which case you should post about it on Facebook so all your friends who drive or work at home can experience the crazy with you). Still, rejection is hard. No what's harder? The lack of acceptance. Give me a dozen rejections, two, three, as long as they come with that eventual and inevitable acceptance. That's not how this works, though. You get the rejections. The acceptance? Maybe. Wait and see.
Waiting is hard! It allows time for self-doubt and self-pity and then you whine on your LiveJournal. Combine that with where I was in my new manuscript. I see a trend appearing. When I get to the middle of a story, I get really whiny. LurkerWithout had to give me a smack upside the head because I was complaining how my story was shit and no one was going to read it (though if I never get a deal, no one ever will!). It seems I did the exact same thing with this new story. So all that emotion just snowballed with one another and caused a giant emo avalanche.
As for Wanted: Chosen One, I had a very good day on Thursday, not just in word count, but in story development. Things changed. A direction became clear. While I don't have it all yet, the majority of the second half of the story crystallized on Thursday. Bam!
If you haven't heard of Harper Collins' new social slush pile idea, go to Authonomy.com and check it out. This is a big idea and other houses will do the same. They've turned slush pile reading into social media networking. Readers do a lot of the job themselves. Now, of course, they can't replace unpaid interns and assistant editors who normally man the slush piles, but they can crouch on their knees in the muddy stream and find that dirty gold nugget that might have otherwise been missed. Hopeful authors wanting to get recognized by HC (and all its imprints including Eos) post a minimum of 10,000 words of their novel to the website. Others read it and "back" it, offer criticism, what have you. Depending on the quality of the backer and the number of backings, a story may be elevated in the rankings to be brought to the attention of HC editors.
Now, let's take this with a grain of salt. Anyone can post content there and let me tell you, anyone does. There is some really good stuff there. And there is some really bad stuff there. Some of that bad stuff is ranked highly. Why? Because the author knows how to network, how to game the system. So this isn't a miracle solution to find a publisher, but it is one more opportunity for your work to be seen and maybe you'll get some good feedback too. (Don't hold your breathe on that one. Most people just tell you how great it is in hopes you'll back their book too and you can go up the rankings together, lah dee dah.)
I've posted the first six chapters of Black Magic. When I'm finished with Wanted: CO, I'll shop it around first and then post it there as well. That's still a ways off. I was saying March, but I don't know. With some of the changes I figured out on Thursday, I'm now projecting 150,000 words, which is another 70k. We'll see. Good night, all.