Yet, writers learn to thrive on them. With each new letter or email blandly stating that, "your work does not fit our current publishing needs" we train ourselves to feel that at least we've tried. Some writers even turn these rejections into badges of honor, keeping thick, but neat file folders full of disappointments.
Once in a while, though, you receive that constructive criticism for which you've longed. You get to finally have the reason for the rejection explained to you. You get some hope.
I did.
I sent a submission to Harlequin. I waited. I expected the standard rejection. Instead, I received a multi-paragraph response specific to my novel. This email took a great deal of time and effort. I believe it will help me in the future. If I could personally thank the person who wrote it, I would.
I know you want to know what I did wrong. I'll tell you. After all, the online writing community is all about aiding each other. I am happy to share my mistakes if it can aid a fellow writer. So, here it goes.
I don't know that it would be wrong to share the actual email, but since I haven't been given direct permission, these notes are paraphrased.
* My hero pushed the line into being too rude and abrupt. There are reasons for this and he does change his behavior. However, I did not give enough of a feel for his issues and better self within the pages sent to Harlequin. Remember that first impressions are everything. First an editor, then a reader will judge your work & your hero within a limited number of pages.
*"Delve deeper into what is keeping your hero and heroine apart." Honestly, the reason this may have come across as shallow or unexplored in my submission is that there are no really deep emotional issues between the hero and heroine at the beginning of the novel. Their issues start as circumstantial and deepen later. In retrospect, I can see why that could fizzle. Again, my pace in setting up the story may have been too slow.
*"Focusing on getting your hero and heroine on the page together as much as you can will quickly draw the reader into the story – right from the very first page!" I spent too much time building their worlds separately. I wanted them to be fully fleshed-out people with lives and history totally separate from each other. In my head, the obstacles between them would ring true that way. In reality... well, the novel got rejected, didn't it?
*Emotion! In the real world, it's perfectly okay not to date / sleep with / fall in love with someone just because. No particular reason. No high emotion. Just... people are busy, you know? Sometimes we just want to focus on knitting or reading or paying off a credit card or training a puppy. We can move through the world not really knowing people and not caring to. That is the pull of Harlequin novels! It's the fantasy. Emotions and excitement cycling hard and fast, but always moving toward the Happily Ever After.
I kept my novel a little too chill. I thought that keeping the the still waters running deep would make the eventual emotional pay-off better. I thought wrong.
So, there you go. A summary of my errors. Obviously, this was written from the perspective of an editor looking for a novel to fit very specific guidelines. It does not mean it is a bad novel. It does not mean that if you have made my "mistakes" you have written a bad novel. All it means is that if I want to publish with Harlequin, I have some things to change.
Lest you think I am happy about an entirely negative email, I will share some of the positive comments too. I was absolutely thrilled by this feedback.
*"We have read your manuscript with interest; you certainly know how to conjure up the Western setting evocatively and authentically. And you drew us into the story with your natural and fluid writing style!.... We’re sorry to disappoint you on this occasion, but we would encourage you to try again. "
It will be easier to change pacing and dynamic issues than to completely overhaul my writing style, so at least I have a huge advantage going into my next endeavor.
Let me know what you think in the comments! Do you make these same "mistakes"? Should I feel as encouraged as I do? What's the best rejection you've had?
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