Worst book rejection not from a literary agent

I am beginning to think I am better at pitching than I am at writing. At least, writing fiction. I have had encouragement from several professionals, but it was my daughter who has me wondering if I should be making any effort to write at all. Because this is the rejection and dejection thread, here is the story:

All the way back in the early seventies when I was a kid, everyone assumed I would be a writer. English was my best class and I was constantly writing stories. That changed around 1980 when I decided to be a professional artist. So, after determining that I would be an artist, I was still getting encouragement to be a writer. For instance, after leaving high school to start college when I was fifteen, I used to talk to a girl named Gretchen as we went to school together. She was always saying I should be a writer. Well, so what? She wasn't a publisher or published author, so I ignored these comments.

I started illustrating for various magazine and book publishers in New York, then tried my hand at drawing comic books. Before I got my first assignment from Marvel Comics, I brought my samples to a convention held at Javits center, hoping to find someone who would hire me. For some reason, while I showed my pages to Dennis Kitchen, publisher of Kitchen Sink Press, he asked me to write a horror story for him. Somehow, the story I had made to give myself something to draw made him think I would be better off writing than drawing. However, I had made up my mind, so I passed. A few years later, after cycling in and out of the comics business, I was working as a video game artist. I posted a long reply to something Roger Ebert had written on (I think) Compuserve. He responded to me directly and said I had potential as a writer, then asked permission to reproduce my comment in an upcoming book (which he did). So, that was the second piece of encouragement. Actually, there was another one in between. An illustrator/music video director/director I knew had also said he'd thought I'd be good at writing horror stories. Again, I don't know why because I don't like the genre.

After Ebert, I moved to LA to work in the film business. At this point my career as an artist was going very well, but I was still interested in writing. Then, when a comic I co-created became a TV series (Harsh Realm), I had an opportunity to take some time off and do some writing. I did this and wrote three and a half screenplays in a year. The second one got me a number of requests for the full script, and a very positive but non-committal review from an agent at William Morris. He said that it could be sold either as a low budget thriller or a big budget picture if I made some changes. I preferred the idea of a bigger sale, so the agency sent me three pages of notes and asked me to make the requested changes. This was quite exciting, but of course it was nothing concrete either. They liked my main character, but wanted me to add a strong female lead to make the story more interesting to audiences as well as people who would theoretically help make it. While thinking about this, I walked over to a friend's apartment and told him what was going on. He was a professional writer and gave me about five minutes of advice, then claimed a half credit on the script. I was so annoyed that I decided to write a completely new script and re-submit. I did not want to get in a credit tangle with anyone, no matter how frivolous their claim might be. However, I only got halfway before I needed to start making money again and I went back to being an art director.

The next piece of encouragement came from an unexpected source: the columnist Mona Charen. I had sent a 1500 word (or so) comment on one of her pieces. In reply, she said I could probably write my own columns for a living. She went so far as to send me her agent's contact info and recommended I get in touch. I contacted him, and he said I needed three 750 word columns as samples, and then he'd get back to me. At the time though, I was preparing to finish writing my first book, and I didn't feel like writing columns. Also, when I gave it a try, realized it was a lot different from simply commenting on a published piece. A few weeks later, another well-known syndicated columnist said pretty much the same thing to me that Charen had, in response to something I'd written in response to one of her columns. She didn't give me her agent's name, but said I should think about writing as a columnist.

Then I sent out queries for my book. Within about eight hours I had a response from Stephany Evans of Fine Print Literary. Within a week or so, she'd signed me up as a client. This was exciting, but I had no idea how the process worked. She read my MS carefully and sent back heaps of comments. I then made the suggested changes and would send it right back to her. I did this so quickly though (severall times) that I think it got tiresome. In any event, that didn't go anywhere.

Next, I took a job as a university lecturer. While doing this, I remembered that a textbook publisher had wanted me to write a textbook about computer graphics for them, so I contacted them. As a lecturer, I now had time to do it. I ended up writing three textbooks for them. They wanted a fourth, but I didn't have time for it because I am working on a PhD now--hopefully near completion.

I also finished the book Stephany had been agenting, but it went to a small publisher. They've sold in the hundreds but I still haven't seen any worthwhile royalties (I told the agent for the book to take herself out to lunch with the checks, because they weren't enough to do much more).

So that is all the professional encouragement I've had so far. It's enough to keep me interested, but not enough to be confident it is worth the risk and investment of going all the way. However, when my daughter asked me to write a novel a few years ago, for fun, I went ahead and did it. It was YA fiction and (I thought) quite funny. However, my daughter's face after she read it told the tale: she said it was funny on a chapter-by-chapter basis, but not structured right as a novel-length story. I had several requests for chapters, but none for the full MS. A year later, my daughter asked me to write a memoir, so I did. Again, I got nibbles, but none that went all the way. At this point, I was a piker by rejection letter standards. I might have received 100 in total since I started sending to agents in LA.

Now though, I am close to done with my PhD, I have written four published peer-reviewed journal articles, yet I still like MG and YA fiction. I want to take another stab at it. And yet, it feels impossible because when I read (for instance) S.E. Hinton, John D. Fitzgerald, Madeline D'Engel, or any of the other authors whose work I love, I see a voice that I haven't developed yet. It is something I'm told I do have when speaking, but is hard to find when I write for myself. It comes through in responses to other people, but not when I initiate the writing. I'm hoping this is behind me now and I can actually sit down and get something sold, but I wonder also, how do I get (or manufacture) what is missing?

Anyway, that's my dejection and rejection story, though I do aim to turn it around somehow. I decided to start a secret novel project last night, but then spilled the beans to my daughter an hour later. So now I am going to start over so I can honestly tell her the other one is not happening.

AP

Thanks for the replies to everyone who has written one so far. I have the feeling that my problem with writing fiction is that I am not accustomed to the structure or rhythm of good fiction. When I started the PhD, I had no idea how difficult the process would be. Instead, I arrogantly assumed I simply needed to demonstrate my expertise in Computer graphics. In the end, I learned a good deal about structuring an evidence-based argument. Looking back at the writing I did at the beginning of the process is an exercise in embarrassment. How I could have thought it was appropriate at the time is hard to imagine now, but at the time I thought I was doing everything right.

In art, I always found people who were very good at critiquing work to give me critical feedback. When I lived in New York City, I submitted new work to the various potential clients almost every week and was very attentive to anything they might say. Writing is harder to get feedback on for at least two reasons. The first is that a person cannot simply look at it and immediately provide feedback. It has to be read. That takes time and effort that is harder to give up for this purpose than the few minutes required for an art critique. The second reason is that writing either is more personal or seems more personal than art. This can make it difficult to critique and to listen to critiques. The most substantive critiques I've ever received for writing came from the William Morris agencies coverage of a screenplay I wrote, Stephany Evans' comments on a book I was writing, and my PhD supervisors comments on my dissertation. Long before I'd ever sent out a portfolio in an attempt to get work, I had received probably hundreds of critiques on my art.

This site seems like an ideal place to get feedback, but for the most part I've just been lurking. It is interesting to read about how authors go from an idea to publication. Anyway, I've started another attempt at a novel. This time I think I will try to be impersonal in the way I write it and hope that works out. It is more like my normal 'voice', so I have my fingers crossed.

Thanks again and good luck with all of your projects!

AP

Thanks for the comments, they make sense to me. I think I'm best when explaining things. I like to untangle problems for people if I can, and seem to be fairly good at it, but this requires something to react to. Otherwise, I don't know there is a need for an explanation or am unaware how to approach the reader. In industrial design, there is a concept that to be good, a designer must have "empathy" for the customer because otherwise they won't design a product anyone would want. In writing, answering questions gives me access to the empathy. On my own, the subjects I am interested in tend to be more esoteric. Actually, now that I think of it (and I am because of your post), that book that Stephany Evans was interested in was going nowhere until I answered some survey questions online. The writer of the survey got in touch to ask more questions, which I also answered in depth. I realized then that my answers to those questions were much more interesting to read than the book I was writing, and it was because I had an idea how to approach the subject thanks to the author's questions. As an experiment, I had my daughter ask me questions about the subject I was writing about and rewrote the entire book that way. This is the version that was published.

Maybe I'll try something like that for the novel?

Actually, your post is reminding me of something else now, a dream I had a long ago that featured the publisher Nelson Doubleday. I wrote it down, so in a moment I'll be able to quote it...Here it is. The dream is from December 28, 2007: “A man walks up to me and says 'My name is Nelson Doubleday. I want you to think about something very carefully before writing your next book and when considering a new publisher. Some people are talkers, like you, and others write as a craft but can’t talk. Good books can come from either category [of writer], but you have to know which one you are first. One woman I know will write a sentence and then agonize over the grammar for hours, tweaking it over and over again. Talkers don’t do that.

Where this is important to you is that talkers make for better pundits. They are better at writing opinion pieces. This is something I want you to think about carefully because it is the way to get the most from your writing.”

Thanks again,

AP

Sorry for such a late reply, but I was busy on my doctoral thesis (now finished) and avoiding all distractions. I still have the viva to go through, but for the time being, I have a breather. The good news is that I already have a publisher for my thesis as a book, but it is an academic subject. I don't much like writing that type of material, but I keep getting asked to do it. I have another book I'm working on, also NF, but this one I have to write to publish the 28 years of research that has gone into it. After that, I'll try a novel again.

My main concern with this book is to get a good agent who sells it to the right publisher. I don't like the way the last book on the subject was handled, but think that what I've learned on the PhD, in addition to the credential itself, will help find a better publisher.

As for your last comment, the three things I am most often asked to write are: 1) the story of my childhood (think "Glass Castle" or "Running on Empty"), 2) opinion, and 3) technical or art books. I'm not that interested in any of these. I did try the memoir because my daughter asked me to, but the problem is that, having lived through "interesting times" as one might say, it didn't bother me in the least. Other people seem to think it was an ordeal, but I just don't see it that way. To me, it was totally normal. Also, if I did think it was an ordeal, I still wouldn't want to write it because I don't like that type of book. Opinion is fine when I'm responding to someone, but I don't like the idea of inviting the kind of hate mail any opinion columnist would get. Technical or art books are easy to write and sell, but they don't seem very creative to me. The kind of stuff I like to write is funny, whimsical material. When I worked as a comic book artist, my first jobs were on horror titles, though I really dislike that genre. Then I did a few superhero comics. After that, I wrote my own humor comic and self-published so that I could do at least one story that I liked.

Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts. I'm gearing up for my next submission, so I'll be lurking for a little while to enjoy the encouragement of the forum.

AP

Jannert,

Thanks for the kind words. I think your assessment is right on the money apart from one thing. Lack of focus doesn't have to mean lack of interest. There are things that don't interest me, but I do them because I am asked to. There are also plenty of things that I find fascinating, but have to carve out time to deal with them. For instance, I was just interviewed extensively for a VICE media documentary about my dream research, a subject that I am passionate about when I am with people who aren't familiar with the topic. For me, it is very interesting that most people are unaware of the existence of the kind of data I have collected over the last few decades, so it is great fun to share it and watch their surprise. That said, if I am by myself, it is less interesting because it is familiar.

I have sent in a proposal for a book related to my dream research, but have only heard from one agent out of about 15 so far and I sent the proposal about two months ago. That is a very long response time, probably because of the holiday--or so I hope. Of greater interest to me is a YA novel I am re-writing, but that will take awhile because I have decided to keep the characters and rewrite everything else.

In any event, thanks again for the response!

AP