• Read this stickie before posting.

    • In order to reduce the number of new members requesting a Beta reader before they're really ready for one, we've instituted a 50 post requirement before you can start a thread seeking a Beta reader.
    • You can still volunteer to Beta for someone else; just please don't request someone to Beta for you until you're more familiar with the community and our members.

Beta Sought for Unconventional Love Story

Status
Not open for further replies.

rcostelloe

Registered
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Location
Houston
I hesitate to ask for help when I am new to the site, but I have a window that's closing. And I'd be happy to do a swap.

Background is that I've written two novels that were published by Saga Books in 07 and 08. One finaled in the National Indie Excellence Book Awards, but I got discouraged and quit when I couldn't get any of the majors to look at my second title. I did book reviewing for a few years, but contest judging was a better fit for me, and I've done it steadily to the tune of 800-900 hrs/yr. I turned around this past spring and realized that the judging work had elevated my writing skills above what I had when I was a fulltime novelist. What a moment: one when you don't know whether to laugh or cry. So then I couldn't resist dusting off the doc file of my first (and best) book and seeing how I could improve it. The short of it is that I was astounded at the improvements I've made w/o changing the basic story.

After a bummer query campaign, I am set on going digital indie. But I am unsure where this rewrite has landed me. Part of the issue is that I write unconventional love stories, stories that are a cross between mainstream and romance. Plus they are stories about the nature of romantic love itself. The blurb below will give a taste of the intellectual tincture the stories carry.

So what do I need?
  • How good is it written? Anything I've overlooked?
  • What market to vector for? I'm planning on pitching it as something appealing to Romance readers. But suggestions are welcome.
  • This novel gets deep into the main characters in a way that is more like mainstream or literary fiction. That requires a deeper backgrounding than anything you'll find in Romance. I've done the backgrounding as supplements to the main plot, something not currently in fashion. I'm sure this approach will work if it's good enough. But is it?
So I need a swap w/ someone who has a passion for love stories or Romance.

Here's the full blurb.

Wayne and Nancy grow up on opposite sides of the country, each certain they must have love better than what others will settle for. Something better, something higher, something worth holding out for. During the turbulent nineteen-sixties, they meet while he is attending bluecollar Drexel, and she is at neighboring, Ivy League Penn. Though irresistibly drawn to each other, they must overcome obstacles posed by the class, social, and religious differences that separate them, as well as opposition from both families, and later, a twist of fate that will be the cruelest test of all. Can they reach the emotional altitude they seek? Can they overcome time's downward pulling inertia? Coinage of Commitment, a National Indie Excellence Book Awards finalist, is dedicated to all who ever wondered, perhaps with whimsy, perhaps with hope, how high a level can love ultimately reach?


I also have a cover ready to go, one that I designed myself. It's available at my site rcostelloe.com. And comments on the cover would be welcome as well.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.