The Next Circle of Hell, Vol. 2

Congrats, MartinaMay!!! That's a huge accomplishment! I hope it leads to good news from the editors looking at your work.

MartinaMay - I have all my fingers and toes crossed that it gets your MS noticed and picked up. That's a great achievement!

MARTINA!! That's amazing news! I hope you get that boost you need soon!

Congrats, Martina! Hopefully that gets you some great traction on sub!

MartinaMay - that's amazing news! Congratulations! Crossed everything for you Keep us updated!

Tomorrow marks a month since I've been on sub! I'm particularly anxious about it all this week and feeling a bit hopeless, which I know is silly really D:

WOOT Martina!!!!!!! Congrats!!!!!!!

leewhowrites said:

Tomorrow marks a month since I've been on sub! I'm particularly anxious about it all this week and feeling a bit hopeless, which I know is silly really D:

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It's definitely not silly. Being on sub is a roller-coaster of emotions, and hopelessness is a normal state. A month is still early days, though. Most of the editors in your 1st round won't have had a chance to read it, and even if it doesn't go your way, tons of authors sell in the 2nd or 3rd round of subs. Keep your chin up, there's hope yet!

Omg guys. Ok. I have potential news.

I was in work earlier and my phone rang. I took a look and saw that it was from my agent. I nearly had a heart attack. I thought surely she wouldn't phone to tell me about a rejection, right?! So of course I was like omg this is it.

So I answered and my agent was like ok don't get too excited or get your hopes up because this isn't really concrete good news, but it's SOMETHING. So. She notified me that she's been in touch with the 14 or so remaining editors who have my book and asked if they've had a chance to read it yet. A few have got back to her already, and they all seemed to be saying the same thing: "I'm enjoying it, but more time would be great." So that's sort of good, right? Agent said that of course with Bologna next week, and then London book fair, they're all super busy.

But that's not all. She also said that amongst the replies was one more rejection, and this is from a very big publishing house. However, the editor said that they actually did really enjoy my book and was extremely complimentary, just that it wasn't right for their list right now. What they did say was if my ms doesn't find a home elsewhere, to get back in touch because they have some revisions they would like me to do. This involved, interestingly enough given the nature of the convo taking place in this thread lately, making my book more MG than YA. Which is a huge ask, but I'm not thinking about that too much yet.

So yes. That's my news! I wasn't sure whether to post about it here because I didn't want to jinx anything, but you guys have been very supportive and I HAD to write about it somewhere because I'm still brimming with adrenaline from the phone convo, haha!

Thanks, everyone!

Lee: That's fantastic news! And it sounds like the other editors are excited about your book. I'm sorry about the R, though.

OMG that's amazing leewhowrites!! *knocks on wood to make sure nothing gets jinxed*
So awesome to hear that editors are receptive and enjoying it (even for the rejection--very cool that they were interested enough to consider revisions!).


And congrats, Martina That's amazing!!

Fingers crossed for some good news for both your MS's

That's awesome Leewhowrites! One of my agency siblings had a similar thing happen to her and the house bought the book after her revisions, so -- a good sign!

Wow, suddenly lots of promising news in the thread. Congrats to all.

Thanks all! And MartinaMay, no need to apologise about the R! There's still hope yet My agent said she doesn't think we'll hear anything concrete for the next 2-3 weeks due to all the events, but I feel more at peace now... I've been a bag of anxiety this week, so that phone convo really helped.

Aaaaahhh!!! Congratulations, Martina and Lee!!! Finally, some good news in here for a change.

Jumping in to congratulate Martina on that amazing accomplishment and Lee on such hopeful news!! Way to go!!

Thank you! Obviously I know that just because some of them have said they're enjoying it doesn't mean they won't ultimately reject, but it's still nice to hear!

That's really positive news leewhowrites - a really good sign that your are almost there. I hope we get to hear even better news soon

Woohoo! Love opening this thread to good news! Glad you had a positive phone call Lee!

Let's keep these good vibes going. What's everyone got planned for the weekend? I'm editing and happy about it, plus looking forward to going to a book club with some buddies and discussing Ready Player One.

Thanks, polishmuse!

Yes, loving the good vibes! Sounds like a nice weekend ahead. I'm actually getting married next weekend, so this weekend is about final preparations!

How nice to drop in on some good news! That's a great achievement, MartinaMay, you must be thrilled. Things are definitely heading in the right direction. Lee, that's really promising, and must make you feel you can relax a tiny bit about the other editors asking for more time. How would you feel about converting your book to MG? Congrats on the next weekend wedding btw, tell your agent to withold any other Rs there may be until afterwards!

My weekend plans are supposed to be doing a murder mystery hunt tomorrow, then book club on Sunday (which I foolishly said I would chair, and, guess what, I hate the book so much I just can't finish it). However these plans hinge on how I feel, as yesterday and today I've been utterly zonked with some kind of bug. At least, I hope it's a bug! Currently six and a half months pregnant and if this is it from now on I shan't be best pleased.

Hey Next Circle peeps! I'm always unsure how much to post about here since it feels very public. The publisher sub Rs are steadily trickling in. Getting good feedback with each one so feeling pretty good about it all, better than I thought I'd feel.

Lee and Martina, congratulations on the positive news! That's so exciting!

Lee, congrats--that sounds very promising!!!! And congrats on your wedding!!!!!

Raggy, congrats on your pregnancy!!! (And ugh on the bug--rest up and take it easy!)

EMaree, good to see you!! Sorry about the R's, but yay on the positive feedback!!!!

So.... I haven't been around lately. Whoops. I kind of took a break from this site and some others for a while. I was getting distracted by other people and their paths, and not keeping my eyes on my own path. I'm a little more focused now. I think.

Finished the first draft of my new WIP about a month ago, and I'm plowing through a revision now that will hopefully make it coherent. I love this project so much, and I vacillate between cautiously optimistic that this book will be The One That Sells and this book will be the one that my agent hates and makes her break up with me. So that's a good time. I try really hard not to think too much about "will this book sell" or "will she like it" and just keep my head down and revise. Because that's really the only thing I have control over right now.

Martina's news is AWESOME!!! Woooo! So many of my romance writing peeps were finalists for the RITA/Golden Heart, including two of my critique partners. So obviously I have good taste in CPs.

Looking forward to the weekend... back in the revision cave for me!

EMaree, sorry about the R's - but great that you're getting good feedback. That always lessens the sting a little, and hopefully only reassures you that you're on the right track!

RaggyCat - Ooh I'm just not sure about the MG thing. It's a HUGE ask, and I've never really written MG properly. I'm just drawn to YA. Plus I was advised to cut this MS down as it was a little too long, so to cut it down even more for MG, and pretty much rewrite it for a whole new audience, is a huuuuge task!

Hester, thank you!! Can't wait now I know how you feel, it's so easy to think that way! But you're doing the right thing. Just keep hacking away at the revisions. If you love it, then that's a pretty good sign (plus falling in love with your project is just an amazing feeling in general).

Also, hi Jeneral! Good to hear that you're getting stuck into revisions. It's so easy to fall into that way of thinking! But the fact that you love your project is a good sign, and plus that's an amazing feeling to have in general!

Congrats, Martina!