Part of my acceptance might be the “rejection” email I
received from one of my mentors. She was very positive and encouraging. She
wrote that I was one of her top picks, but that there was one key element
missing from my MS that she wanted in her mentees’ novels. She liked my query and first pages and
encouraged me not to give up.
I’m not giving up. I’d like to know what my other mentors
thought of my submission—according to two of them, I will get an email
eventually—to see if they agree with my other mentor. It’d be great if they
did. Whatever their comments, I’m moving forward.
My first step is going to be a few alterations to my
first pages and query. Then, I’m tackling my whole MS: I’m toying with the idea
of switching it from third person POV to first person POV. I think it’ll have
more power in first person, draw in the reader (agent, etc.) more. As soon as I
post this, I’m going to change the POV of my first chapter and ask a few new
writer friends (yay Pitch Wars!) what they think.
I’m also going to find another CP by signing up on http://cpseek.com/. A CP, for those of you that
aren’t writers, is a critique partner: someone who doesn’t have some kind of
personal attachment to me and my feelings, but knows about writing and editing
and is willing to read through and give me comments on my MS. It doesn’t hurt
to have one more set of eyes look at the MS and make sure it’s as ready as I
think it is.
Plus, there’s another query contest in January that I’m
going to enter. Sun vs. Snow is hosted by Michelle Hauck and Amy Trueblood.
(See http://michelle4laughs.blogspot.com/2013/12/announcing-sun-versus-snow.html
or http://chasingthecrazies.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/sun-vs-snow-a-new-query-contest/
for details now or wait a few blog posts and I’ll start talking more about
this.) This’ll be my third and final contest.
There’s no rule limiting contests, but after this third
one—if I don’t succeed in getting to the agent round/getting an agent—I’m going
to query. By that time, I’ll be ready. My MS will be more than ready. And maybe
then we’ll find an agent.
It's great that you have a game plan! :) I didn't make it into Pitch Wars either, but I have my eyes on that January contest, and then I'm going to start querying. The one mentor who's given me feedback so far told me that there was nothing wrong with my query and five pages - there were just too many submissions. It's such a subjective thing, but I'm glad I entered! Best of luck with your revisions! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! Good luck to you, too. If you want to trade submissions before the contest, let me know (:
DeleteGood luck with your revisions! Switching a POV is quite an undertaking but definitely very doable! I made the same switch that you're thinking about once and it definitely did wonders for my story. :) I didn't make it in Pitch Wars either but I was really happy with the feedback that I received and now I have a game plan too.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Good luck to you, too!
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