Rejections
Given the reviews and success I’m meeting as a self-published author, who grew weary with excuses and the ritual of the publishing world, I thought I’d post five of many rejections I received for my novel, Shadow Song. You may, or may not, find them of interest.
You write well, and you’ve obviously done homework on the Indian ritual and custom, but it seems to me that the book is too quiet and ‘domestic’ in its tone to do well for us just now.
Susan Allison
The Berkley Publishing Group
July 26, 1990
Though I liked your storytelling I’m afraid that I was unable to stir the enthusiasm of the powers that be for the Canadian Frontier subject matter.
Brian Thomsen
Senior Editor
Warner Books, Inc.
August 28, 1990
The event you have chosen to focus on is indeed loaded with possibilities however, the novel you have chosen to write about it seems to me to fall right between the genres of adult, almost romantic, fiction and young adult. By that I mean, I regret, that it is neither one nor the other — it is too coy for adult readers and too violent for the younger readers (although I realized young people are reading and watching things that would probably terrify me.”
You are also flying in the face of current sentiment about non-native writers (I am making an assumption about you here that could be quite incorrect) writing about native people. Native readers and writers are becoming both hostile vocal about their portrayal by non-natives and there will be opposition.
Susan Girvan
Editorial Co-ordinator
Macmillan of Canada
October 20, 1990
The premise is very interesting indeed, but the story moves along rather slowly. In view of the fact the sample is around 12,500 words long, yet it includes only the first two paragraphs of the synopsis, it looks to me as if the book is well over 100,000 words. This is not an economically feasible length for a first novel. You might want to think about conflating incidents and varying the emphasis to both shorten the book and speed up the narrative.
Laurel Boone
Acquisitions Editor
Goose Lane Editions
April 8, 1996
The following are the reasons that we found your submission unsuitable:
- requires a fair amount of editing, which we don’t provide to that degree
- writing in first person does not appear to enhance the protagonist’s development
- not enough fantasy, too conventional
- characters seem extremely predictable
We hope that this does indeed help you to better target your work for the market it is suited for.
Kimberly Gammon
Editorial & Sales Manager
HADES Publications