Progress and snags

I’m making nice progress on Talyn; have hit my words every day this week — 2000 or better every day. Including today, even after the news.

Midnight Rain has hit a snag. Both the hardcover editor and the mass market editor liked the revised proposal, thought they could work with me, figured that from the changes I’d already made we could get through final tweaks. The publisher, however, was not happy with it at all, and turned it down. I get another shot — one of the two editors is going to request a rewrite of the revision proposal and when I’ve done it, present it to the publisher once more. But the odds now feel very much to me like they’ve moved against me for this deal. There are other publishers, other houses, but in order to hit my market, I may very well end up doing a rewrite of the whole book before I let anyone else see it. And I’m sitting here wondering when the hell I am going to make the time to do an on-spec rewrite, and wondering how many months it might be before the book could go out again.

This is the gig — opportunity comes with no guarantees, no promises, a whole lot of rejection. Can, at times, be not a lot of fun. The only way to win is to keep going. Forward motion can at times feel like walking barefoot over broken glass, but it’s still the only way to get where you want to go.

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8 responses to “Progress and snags”

  1. Alison Avatar
    Alison

    Holly,

    I am truly sorry that things didn’t come together on _Midnight Rain_ this time around. I know you were very excited with the stir, and the letdown has to be tremendous. However, this was your "holiday" book, your book that was just for you, not a publisher, not an editor, not even a reader. You’ve still got that, and you know that with your passion and performance you wrote a damn fine book. So it needs to be reworked again to target a market. You can do that. As to the time, it’ll take as long as it takes. But in the end it’s YOUR baby, your creation, and your passion that has made the book live for you.

    Alison

  2. Labloch Avatar
    Labloch

    Man, that’s harsh. And kinda scary!

    Thanks Holly. Glad Talyn’s going well–may it continue to be.

    🙂
    S.

  3. Jennifer (Zippy) Avatar
    Jennifer (Zippy)

    Oh no! I’m sorry to hear about this snag. I’m glad Talyn is going well, though.

  4. Holly Avatar
    Holly

    Labloch,

    Publishers always have the final say if they choose to exercise it. That’s the perks for being king (or queen) of the castle.

  5. Labloch Avatar
    Labloch

    Sigh. Better luck next time, Holly. Even if you have to do a rewrite.

    I’m confused, though–does the publisher (as in this is a person?) have the last say and how come?

    Onward–
    🙂
    S.

  6. Jim Woosley Avatar
    Jim Woosley

    What they said — hugs included.

    You’ll get there — forward motion is the only way to go.

  7. Valerie Comer Avatar
    Valerie Comer

    Ouch. I know a bandaid won’t make it all better, but I hope something will. Hang in there, and once you choose, don’t second guess yourself. I haven’t heard any plans for adding more hours to the day!

  8. Andi Avatar
    Andi

    ((hugs)) Holly! It’s a good book and I’m sure it’ll find a home someday. Sorry you’re having so many problems right now.

    At least Talyn’s working out well, though. Some silver lining on the writing cloud, FWIW.

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