Comments on: Rejection Letter

By: glenda larke

glenda larke — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:49:00 +0000

Yes, Satima, that’a another book I have to try sometime…but my TBR pile is already so high I can’t see over the top of it.

By: Satima Flavell

Satima Flavell — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:28:00 +0000

Does it start with V? Oh no…

Speaking of “turning out OK” I am raving about Joe Abercrombie’s first trilogy, The First Law. Almost *nothing* turns out OK! He takes every Fantasy trope and every stock character and rotates them not-quite 180%. It’s brilliant. Not 1st person, though: multiple close third. But every POV is distinctive and original.

By: Glenda Larke

Glenda Larke — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:02:00 +0000

Both reasons are vacuous, aren't they, Satima? First of all, "turning out ok" is subjective. All sorts of bad endings can still leave the narrator able to tell his/her story; and the second reason is just plain silly, as you have indicated. A third reason given to me is: "Oh it means the story is too linear and you only get one PoV". Rubbish. It depends on how skilful the author is. Anyone who thinks that it ends up as a linear boring tale that is never going to sell, should look at Robin Hobb's Assassin's trilogy.

But then, you know who published the UK edition of that?

You guessed it!!

By: Satima Flavell

Satima Flavell — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:03:00 +0000

This is my second try. I am making even more typos than usual this morning.

That sure beats the "not suitable for our current list" form letter:-) Although, to paraphrase what Jo says, manure by any other name still smells as nasty.

Many of my favourite books are written in the first person, and I read recently on Writer Unboxed that the 1st POV is making a comeback. However, I've met many people who don't like it, usually for one of two reasons: a)If the person is telling the story, we can surmise that everything turned out OK because s/he is still alive and b) reading in the first person feels as if you have to think the character's thoughts instead of your own, which feels invasive. Yet these same people love the close 3rd POV because it makes them feel what the character feels. You can't win, eh?

By: Satima Flavell

Satima Flavell — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:59:00 +0000

This comment has been removed by the author.

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Nice or not, a rejection is still a rejection. I just hope you don’t get any more. As ru says, stay stubborn.

By: hrugaar

hrugaar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:38:00 +0000

Nice rejection letter … a fine subtlety complimenting the author while performing ‘keyhole gralloching’ on the publishers for their unenlightened greed (by implication wanting the world handed to them on a – presumably third person – plate).

Still, I’d rather you didn’t get any more rejection letters for a while – not even ones as nice as this.

Stay stubborn. 🙂