The Next Circle of Hell, Vol. 2

Putputt said:

I'm torn between editing an MS which I'm not confident is good enough to be worked on or moving on to a completely new project. How do you guys decide? Also, my agent sent me the list of editors for Round 2. It's a small round this time, only 5 editors. Ah well...

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Same here. I've got most of a draft I wrote last year, but every time I think about it, I feel squeamish. I know it's my subconscious telling me there are problems with it. And I really want to write something new, but I feel bad about all the time I put into that draft. I think I'm going to let it sit longer and either steal parts of it for something else or come back to it in a few months.

Five editors isn't bad! And that list could end up growing if he comes across other editors to send it to, right?

Pinkbow, sorry about the upheaval over your editor, but that's fantastic that the other one loved your new MS and is already doing second reads. Yay! And happy birthday!

Happy birthday PBV!!!

Thanks guys!

I had a fantastic phone call with my publisher today, and it really restored my faith in my book. She gushed about the project and promised to keep me in the loop and on track for publication. (She even said she personally wants to edit the book, but may have to assign a co-editor because of her schedule). We also talked potential cover design, which was really fun albeit a little scary. I love how involved I feel in the process. Going with a small pub has been a great choice.

Now I just need to motivate myself to keep working on my third book...anything to distract myself from MS #2 being on sub. THE CRICKETS ARE DEAFENING.

Niiicola said:

Same here. I've got most of a draft I wrote last year, but every time I think about it, I feel squeamish. I know it's my subconscious telling me there are problems with it. And I really want to write something new, but I feel bad about all the time I put into that draft. I think I'm going to let it sit longer and either steal parts of it for something else or come back to it in a few months.

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This is *exactly* how I feel about it. *fist bump!* I think part of the problem is that I've been writing darker stuff for years before moving on to lighter contemporary which allows my natural humor and snark to come through, and it feels a lot more authentic. Whenever I think about this MS, which is a pretty humorless suspense, I'm like, ehh...it doesn't quite suit my voice anymore, if that makes any sense. But at the same time, I still like the story and I enjoy all the twists and turns in it. Ah well. We'll see if it continues haunting me over the next few days.

What genre is the MS you're undecided on, Niiicola?

Pinkbow - Yaaay on the phone call with the new editor! That is so exciting!! And I'm really glad (though not surprised) that she's also fallen in love with your book.

Go Pinkbow! Look at all the editors who lurve you

Putputt, I know what you mean. I have an abandoned MS that totally doesn't suit my voice anymore. Maybe one day I'll re write it...

CCC, good luck with your new agent. That's exciting!

PBV, happy belated birthday! And your publisher sounds wonderful. It sounds like you'll be taken good care of despite your editor leaving.

Spikeman, sorry about the R.

Putt, welcome back! Yay on the agent love! Good luck to you and Niiicola deciding what to work on. I don't have any sage advice on that front. The whole time I was revising my MS instead of working on my newer shiny one, I was super pissed about it. Now that I've gotten through it, I'm glad I spent the time and suffering on it. I learned so much that will really help me make a newer shiny.

Still haven't gotten feedback from my agent, but she checked in to apologize and let me know she's running behind. At least it's not forgotten.

Good luck everyone, with projects, publishers, agents and editors!

*passes banana bread around for good luck*

I'm with Putt and Niiicola: torn between trying to fix a potentially unfixable Draft Zero (it truly is terrible), and writing something new. Or even better, de-trunking the first YA MS I queried, which didn't get many requests (probably because the query wasn't all that good), and try to fix it up applying everything I've learned since I wrote it. Then I could run it by my agent and see what he thinks. But I'm afraid to even open the document... what if that MS I loved so much once upon a time really doesn't do it for me anymore? I think the premise is a lot more marketable than the stuff currently on sub, but it bombed so badly at the querying level, I'm a little scared to even look at it now...

Haven't posted in here yet (I don't think, unless it was years ago, back with my first agent) but just waving and saying hi.

Hi, Thedrellum!
Quickbread, thanks for the banana bread.

Re: unearthing old mss. and looking at them with new eyes, I did that with a romantic historical I'd written many years ago. In my memory it didn't deserve the shabby treatment it got. However, when I read it now, I see that it's quite pedestrian, and not deserving of notice.
The writing is never lost, and we learn as we go, so I'm happy I did it, and have moved on. Maybe your mileage will vary.

Today I'm official on sub! Yay! Drumroll! Sisboombah!

Good luck with the submission, ChocolateChipCookie! (I've been out for nearly half a year now, but my agent hasn't given up hope, so I'm trying not to, as well.)

The waiting is REALLY getting to me...
I had a few months where it seemed like every week there was something happening, and it may have been crazy or stressful, but it was news, and now I haven't heard a peep since I handed in my revision.

Hi Thedrellum!

The whole "old mss" thing scares me - I've got a trunked trillogy that I wrote about eight years ago sitting in the dusty depths of my computer somewhere and I keep thinking that with work and what I know now I could probably turn it into at least one decent book, maybe two, but the thought of actually reading the things makes me do a full-body cringe.

Hi all. Hope you're having a great Memorial Day weekend!

Happy Tuesday all! I'm buckling myself in for no news this week. BEA and BookCon are this week, so I'm thinking the publishing world in the US is rather distracted. I hope I'm wrong!

PBV: Thanks! Hope your holiday was good as well!

Polish: Ugh, I didn't think about that. I haven't heard anything about the manuscript I have on sub in a while, and I was kinda hoping to get some news this week, but that seems unlikely.

Agent e-mailed to say that he was back home after traveling somewhere or other, and that MS2 is "in the hopper." Super nervous, but I'm praying he'll like it.

Good luck all!

Good luck, CMI! I hope he loves it.

polishmuse said:

Happy Tuesday all! I'm buckling myself in for no news this week. BEA and BookCon are this week, so I'm thinking the publishing world in the US is rather distracted. I hope I'm wrong!

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BLAH. But also, happy Wednesday. And oh well, at least we can all relax a little.

Niiicola said:

BLAH.

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Tell me about it. I'm staying off all social media platforms this week because everything is selfies at BEA and I'm like "take me with you!" but also "go home and see if my MS is in your inbox!"

Oh gods yes, I'd forgotten it was BEA this week - guess I can stop checking my inbox for my edits for a few days then!

polishmuse said:

Happy Tuesday all! I'm buckling myself in for no news this week. BEA and BookCon are this week, so I'm thinking the publishing world in the US is rather distracted. I hope I'm wrong!

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Oh, damn. And then it's summer, so everything supposedly crunches to a halt. *fwomps onto the carpet*

I'm starting to be skeptical about the summer slow down thing. Or at least the extent of the slow down.Has anybody ever actually analysed whether fewer deals are made in the summer months? I know the data isn't there for complete accuracy but at least an analysis of Publishers Marketplace or something?

Putputt said:

Oh, damn. And then it's summer, so everything supposedly crunches to a halt. *fwomps onto the carpet*

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Oh, nooooo! Things couldn't possibly go any slower, surely? Have to admit, I googled BEA - and got a lot of interesting hits. But I'm guessing Book Expo America?
Luckily my agent clearly isn't going as I've had an unprecedented number of responses regarding submitting an extra MS.

Memorial Day? Commemorating what? Is it like our ANZAC Day, recognition for those who've served?

CMI...nerve wracking having your agent read something new, huh? The last one I sent was completely out of my agent's interest areas, so much so that I didn't actually expect her to read it. Even though she says she liked it, I feel that was simply a 'polite' response. ;-/

Puttputt, Niicola, Moonchild et al....yes, I'm paddling my boat along with you guys. Don't know whether to re re re edit a decades old MS making its very slow journey through my CP group, work on rewriting the second book of that series (pretty sure I'm too ashamed to EVER revisit the third one of the series) or start something completely new and fresh. Though, does it even count as 'new and fresh' if you dredge it up from the "must write this one day" file?

Or I could just, y'know, lurk here till bedtime. Oh, look at that, it's bedtime! ;-)

Elsie.K said:

But I'm guessing Book Expo America?

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Yep

Putputt said:

Oh, damn. And then it's summer, so everything supposedly crunches to a halt. *fwomps onto the carpet*

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Tell me about it. When my agent said last week that my comments would be coming after Memorial Day, I thought, "Well that might mean Labor Day." Urgh.

Elsie, Memorial Day is a national day off to commemorate soldiers who've lost their lives in wars. We have another holiday, Veterans Day in the fall, which honors all people who've served in the military.

Earthling said:

I'm starting to be skeptical about the summer slow down thing. Or at least the extent of the slow down.Has anybody ever actually analysed whether fewer deals are made in the summer months?

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Asked my agent about this last week. She said sometimes people take vacations which can slow down the process a bit (since so many eyes need to see a MS before its acquired), but she says she's made plenty of sales in the summer. It's a business like anything else. I say no one should abandon hope just because it's warm .