The Next Circle of Hell

YA - I can't WAIT to get to the revision stage on my WIP. I'm so close to the end of the first draft....but not quite close enough. I just want to be done so I can go back and fix all the stuff I know is messed up. So...yeah. I should probably get off AW. ;-)

pssh... tracy's WIP is awesome... she's just being paranoid, insecure writer... like the rest of us.

::blush::

ink wench said:

*waves to JWheeler* Welcome to hell!

Hmm... more NYC activity on my website yesterday. I have a feeling another pass is in my future. (Yes, I'm cynical. Yes, with reason.)

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Er...why would they be hanging out on your website if they wanted to pass?

ink wench said:

*waves to JWheeler* Welcome to hell!

Hmm... more NYC activity on my website yesterday. I have a feeling another pass is in my future. (Yes, I'm cynical. Yes, with reason.)

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How can you tell it is NYC activity? All I get are endless unresolved IP addresses. Is there a way to tell if they're from NYC?

Other Lisa said:

Er...why would they be hanging out on your website if they wanted to pass?

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It's a good question. And as I said, I'm being cynical, but it's happened before. Multiple times. Curiosity about who they're rejecting?

lkp said:

How can you tell it is NYC activity? All I get are endless unresolved IP addresses. Is there a way to tell if they're from NYC?

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Statcounter or a similar will can tell you where the hits come from. You can also just look up the IP address online using Who Is or another site and find out where it came from.

Has anyone read Midnight Mass by F. Paul Wilson? Lily mentioned it a while back so I picked it up from the library. OMG what an amazing read!
Thanks for mentioning it Lily!

I have to say, being on the verge of finishing a WIP that I really, really LOVE does take the sting out of rejections on my WOS. But I still feel kind of bummed that we don't seem to be getting ANYTHING positive. No second reads, not even any detailed feedback on this round. Kind of frustrating. Makes me wonder if it's worth continuing to a third round or if it's a better idea to focus on getting WIP ready for sub. Agent also seems really surprised by the response. That can't be good, right? :-S

LOL @ the hooker-nun Lily. I love how evil his vamps are, too. Seriously there's just NOTHING redeemable about them, and it's great!
Tracy I say go for round 3, what can it hurt? If you dont' sell in round two and don't bother it won't sell for sure, so if you look at it that way, if you let it go to round 3 and it still doesn't sell at least you can say you gave it a chance

tracy, I have gotten ZERO responses from second round subs! (Its been 4 weeks) Agent sent out a few extra ones last week too because things have slowed down so much!

Tracy - I think the only reason not to go for a round 3 would be if you'd run out of imprints at the big houses and did not want (for whatever reason) to sell to a small press, but instead preferred to hang on to the book and see if it could sell later on in your career (after you've sold another "debut" novel). But you write YA, right? Surely you haven't run out of imprints yet? And if you haven't, I'm with soul, keep sending it out there...the only novel guaranteed not to sell is the one stuck in a drawer.

Ink - I've got my fingers crossed the website activity means good news this time!

And on website activity in general, I figure I should reassure any lurkers that just because you're NOT getting NYC hits doesn't mean editors aren't interested. I remember in my first weeks of sub I held my breath every time I checked my website stats...and when day after day went by with no NYC hits, I was glumly certain that no editors liked my book. But apparently not all editors bother to google authors, no matter how interested in your book they are. (Still have no NYC hits, to this day.)

Hey all. Busy week, so I'm not sure how much I'll be around.

And while I can't post updates yet, it's looking like we're inching closer to the waiting being over - at least this round of waiting.

Tracy - It's a tough call, and one you should discuss in depth with your agent. If your agent thinks a third round of sub is a good idea, and there are attractive targets to pitch to, then go for it. Hugs, regardless.

I don't have my website up and running yet, so i can't comment on any hit stats. But I suspect that some editors/houses google, and some don't, and that it may also depend on the project, context, etc.

~suki

My site is being stalked by someone at Amazon. If my book had sold, I think I'd be excited, but at the moment, I'm scratching my head over it.

And I would not rule out smaller presses either. My experience with S0h0 has been just awesome -- they've been putting muscle behind the book that is really paying off. The biggest problem as I see it is the distribution to the Big Box Bookstores (which should change next year with their new distributor, R@nd0m H0use) but there is more than one way to break a book.

tracythewriter said:

I have to say, being on the verge of finishing a WIP that I really, really LOVE does take the sting out of rejections on my WOS. But I still feel kind of bummed that we don't seem to be getting ANYTHING positive. No second reads, not even any detailed feedback on this round. Kind of frustrating. Makes me wonder if it's worth continuing to a third round or if it's a better idea to focus on getting WIP ready for sub. Agent also seems really surprised by the response. That can't be good, right? :-S

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This is about where I team up with the agent and ask if I can do some research to find some of those small press gems that pay small advances and do print runs. I'm not familiar with the YA publishers, but I have compiled an emergency list for my thriller, just in case. These things happen a lot more frequently than you think. It's not unusual for an agented book to not sell, especially in today's climate, which is brutal. Consider your third round your last round, if you wish. But if I were you, I'd give it one more push.

Happy hunting!

Tri

Other Lisa said:

And I would not rule out smaller presses either. My experience with S0h0 has been just awesome -- they've been putting muscle behind the book that is really paying off. The biggest problem as I see it is the distribution to the Big Box Bookstores (which should change next year with their new distributor, R@nd0m H0use) but there is more than one way to break a book.

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News like that's good to hear! (or read, at least) Thanks for sharing it.

Yeah, I mean, I go onto the LA T1me's B00k Jacket section and they are running ads for my book (it rotates with another one so sometimes you have to wait for it or reload). but that's not a little thing, you know?

Tracy, hang in there! I agree with what everyone else has said. Nothing to lose. Keep the faith!

Great / inspiring info, otherlisa!

For those of us waiting, and hearing nothing, saw an agent tweet this evening. It said something to the effect of: "ALA is happening--I don't expect to hear anything (from editors) this entire week."

*sighs* Amazing, it's always something in publishing, isn't it?

Cricket18 said:

For those of us waiting, and hearing nothing, saw an agent tweet this evening. It said something to the effect of: "ALA is happening--I don't expect to hear anything (from editors) this entire week."

*sighs* Amazing, it's always something in publishing, isn't it?

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Yup. ALA starts later this week and runs into the middle of next week. Many editors will be there from Thursday/Friday through Tuesday.

So, this week and next could be sucked up by ALA/ALA-related stuff.

My agent is still working on some things this week, but it's unclear if the editors we need to communicate with will be around past Wednesday.

~suki

Thanks for all your responses, guys. I had a great conversation with my agent today and I think we're on the same page. I think the real issue was, I like my current WIP a lot more than the WOS. I think, frankly, that it's a better book...and while I'd love to just keep submitting WOS because hey, why not....the truth is I'm almost scared it will sell. Because I think I'd rather the WIP be my "debut" book. Part of this has to do with subject matter (WOS is a twist on a current trend and WIP is a lot more unique) and part to do with the fact that I just plain like the characters more in book 2.

So, agent has said she'll read the WIP and if she agrees that it's better than WOS, we'll skip round 3 for WOS, and just put all our energy into WIP. Not a question of running out of pubs or large versus small houses, really. More a question of which book I want to put forth into the world "first". ;-)

Should say, though, for the record. I still really hope to sell Book 1 someday!!!! :-D

Welcome Jwheeler!

Tracy, sounds like you had a great conversation.

As for me, I'm not waiting on ALA/ editors yet. Agent has my big rewrite and I'm waiting to hear what she thinks of that.

WOOT LISA! How. Cool. Is. THAT?

Gah-Cricket-At this point I don't expect to hear anything from editors EVER

Tracy you're lucky to have such a great agent

Good luck Word

Gah-Cricket-At this point I don't expect to hear anything from editors EVER

Soul, I hear you! While it's early in the game for me, it still feels like conferences, summer, summer, summer....

UGH. May we both hear something SOON.

Aw, Cricket and Soul, here, have a peanut butter oreo.

Waiting stinks.