Shawna Hunter's Blog - Posts Tagged "set-backs"
Rejections, Reflections and Rebuilding
So my go-to publisher rejected The Girl Named Flower. Essentially they didn't find the story believable and suggested that it may be time to move on from the Brooke's Hollow universe as it isn't catching fire as quickly as they'd hoped.
The funny thing with this rejection is that its something I should have seen coming. Not the believability part (I totally disagree on that and I'll come to why in a moment) but the growth. A handful of sales per month seemed great, at first, because I was still operating on the mindset of any money coming in being a fantastic bonus. I write, afterall, because I enjoy it but now that I'm at book 7 I have to start thinking in business terms. If I want those next steps (physical books, making a living with writing, movie considerations) then its time I pay more attention to the corporate side of writing.
This is all something that must have been in my subconscious as well. You see the central theme of this newest story (without spoilers) is that two women are forced to up-end their lives due to villains coming after them because one of them has a dark past. They, of course, end up fleeing to Brooke's Hollow instead of going into witness protection because Jane, the main character, doesn't want to sacrifice all the hard work she's put in to building her name and reputation as a reporter/writer. Brooke's Hollow offers its usual sensual delights and Laissez-Fare attitude and the main characters (Jane and Abeba) are enchanted by it. Being hunted is a terrifying concept and, as they believe they are protected now, they decide to keep themselves from thinking about the danger by indulging in distraction. Jane especially wants to keep Abeba from worrying out of a misguided protective instinct.
The danger manifests in the form of the assassin. A nameless, indistinct man who finds his mission frustrated by the town and the employer's specifications for the task who nonetheless remains focused on his goal. While the town assumes that he'll get distracted by sex and other pleasures it is actually they who are distracted. This leads to a thrilling climax and the eventual reveal (to the reader at least) of the true villain of the 3 story arc. As a bonus the story involves every major character from my previous works to some degree.
Needless to say I had a ball writing this story and high ambitions for its success. Only to have them dashed. The problem, it seems to me, is that I focused so much time on writing it that I didn't advertise my other books as hard as I should have. I didn't solicit reviews and maintain my fanbase so when I tried to bring forward another Brooke's Hollow book that brings centers on the established universe of those stories it didn't hold the promise it should have. I was, like my characters, distracted by fun and ignoring the trouble.
Moving forward I've submitted the story to a new publisher with a couple others in the wings (simultaneous submissions being frowned upon) if that one also rejects it. In the meantime I'm going to slow down on the second book of the election arc and focus on pimping, review hunting and connecting more with my fans. I've got 1400+ likes on my fanpage and roughly the same number of followers on twitter. It's time to grow that base and get the name Brooke's Hollow on more lips.
Despite the advice from my rejection I am not done with my town just yet. I like my characters and the quirky place in which they live and I'm not about to abandon it all just yet because one person didn't like one story. Still I'm not going to go on pretending that the universe is where it should be either. It's time to take a good hard look at the state of things and make the changes and growth I need to. It's not fun, it's not the part of writing I enjoy and it sure as hell won't be easy but if you don't face your problems they end up creeping up on you...a lesson my characters and I apparently had to learn the hard way.
The funny thing with this rejection is that its something I should have seen coming. Not the believability part (I totally disagree on that and I'll come to why in a moment) but the growth. A handful of sales per month seemed great, at first, because I was still operating on the mindset of any money coming in being a fantastic bonus. I write, afterall, because I enjoy it but now that I'm at book 7 I have to start thinking in business terms. If I want those next steps (physical books, making a living with writing, movie considerations) then its time I pay more attention to the corporate side of writing.
This is all something that must have been in my subconscious as well. You see the central theme of this newest story (without spoilers) is that two women are forced to up-end their lives due to villains coming after them because one of them has a dark past. They, of course, end up fleeing to Brooke's Hollow instead of going into witness protection because Jane, the main character, doesn't want to sacrifice all the hard work she's put in to building her name and reputation as a reporter/writer. Brooke's Hollow offers its usual sensual delights and Laissez-Fare attitude and the main characters (Jane and Abeba) are enchanted by it. Being hunted is a terrifying concept and, as they believe they are protected now, they decide to keep themselves from thinking about the danger by indulging in distraction. Jane especially wants to keep Abeba from worrying out of a misguided protective instinct.
The danger manifests in the form of the assassin. A nameless, indistinct man who finds his mission frustrated by the town and the employer's specifications for the task who nonetheless remains focused on his goal. While the town assumes that he'll get distracted by sex and other pleasures it is actually they who are distracted. This leads to a thrilling climax and the eventual reveal (to the reader at least) of the true villain of the 3 story arc. As a bonus the story involves every major character from my previous works to some degree.
Needless to say I had a ball writing this story and high ambitions for its success. Only to have them dashed. The problem, it seems to me, is that I focused so much time on writing it that I didn't advertise my other books as hard as I should have. I didn't solicit reviews and maintain my fanbase so when I tried to bring forward another Brooke's Hollow book that brings centers on the established universe of those stories it didn't hold the promise it should have. I was, like my characters, distracted by fun and ignoring the trouble.
Moving forward I've submitted the story to a new publisher with a couple others in the wings (simultaneous submissions being frowned upon) if that one also rejects it. In the meantime I'm going to slow down on the second book of the election arc and focus on pimping, review hunting and connecting more with my fans. I've got 1400+ likes on my fanpage and roughly the same number of followers on twitter. It's time to grow that base and get the name Brooke's Hollow on more lips.
Despite the advice from my rejection I am not done with my town just yet. I like my characters and the quirky place in which they live and I'm not about to abandon it all just yet because one person didn't like one story. Still I'm not going to go on pretending that the universe is where it should be either. It's time to take a good hard look at the state of things and make the changes and growth I need to. It's not fun, it's not the part of writing I enjoy and it sure as hell won't be easy but if you don't face your problems they end up creeping up on you...a lesson my characters and I apparently had to learn the hard way.
The Publishing Journey
With self publishing the eternally tempting easy road traditional or e-publishing's difficulties seem more and more pointless. They are not. Self-publishing is expensive, time consuming and more often than not you only get pennies in return.
So we jump through the hoops. This publisher wants submissions one way, that one an entirely different way. This pub accepts simultaneous submissions, that one won't even open your email if they don't have exclusive say for months. Wait 30 days for a reply, only 14 days here, up to 60 from us, etc, etc, etc and even when you do get a reply they want changes, always different changes, and throw more hoops your way.
In my current quest to bring A Girl Named Flower to you all I've been told to give up on Brooke's Hollow, that the book "isn't marketable to our readers" (understandable from that pub), and I've even been totally ghosted. Yep, they wanted changes, we discussed it for a couple days, I made changes, they said it wasn't enough, I asked for examples, they promised them within a week and never replied again. It's been almost 2 months and I consider them to have dropped me.
It's a rough process. One full of waiting, bitter rejections and self doubt. It is certainly the furthest thing from fun a writer can experience but it's worth it. Not just to bring a professionally published book to market or to get better sales. It's worth it because the struggle makes you a better author (all those changes are practice), it builds contacts and a professional reputation (how you handle applications and rejections) and it develops character. Being told that you're not good enough, that this book you've worked so hard on isn't worthy and to soldier on because you believe in it.
It's a long, hard road but, then, it is down those roads that the best stories are found.
So we jump through the hoops. This publisher wants submissions one way, that one an entirely different way. This pub accepts simultaneous submissions, that one won't even open your email if they don't have exclusive say for months. Wait 30 days for a reply, only 14 days here, up to 60 from us, etc, etc, etc and even when you do get a reply they want changes, always different changes, and throw more hoops your way.
In my current quest to bring A Girl Named Flower to you all I've been told to give up on Brooke's Hollow, that the book "isn't marketable to our readers" (understandable from that pub), and I've even been totally ghosted. Yep, they wanted changes, we discussed it for a couple days, I made changes, they said it wasn't enough, I asked for examples, they promised them within a week and never replied again. It's been almost 2 months and I consider them to have dropped me.
It's a rough process. One full of waiting, bitter rejections and self doubt. It is certainly the furthest thing from fun a writer can experience but it's worth it. Not just to bring a professionally published book to market or to get better sales. It's worth it because the struggle makes you a better author (all those changes are practice), it builds contacts and a professional reputation (how you handle applications and rejections) and it develops character. Being told that you're not good enough, that this book you've worked so hard on isn't worthy and to soldier on because you believe in it.
It's a long, hard road but, then, it is down those roads that the best stories are found.
