New Book Difficulties
I got another "rejection" on the new book. This one took four months to get. The agent read the first 40,000 words. Two rejections ago, the agent--who read the whole book—basically said, “I don’t represent military science fiction but I wish you luck.” This agent said, “Despite its obvious merits, I cannot provide enthusiastic representation.” When I was in New York for the writers pitch session, I was pitching the book to one of the science fiction agents. She stopped me after thirty seconds. She looked me dead in the eyes and said, “You need to do your research. Research and you will find an agent who represents books like this.” So I’m going to do what these agents suggest, I’m going to research. I’m not going to read military science fiction series to completion (unless I happen to really like it, then I will) but I’m going to take three or four successful books and/or series and read giant chunks of them. In essence, I’m going to substitute TV time to reading, as I sadly don’t have enough time for both. Once I’ve done that, I’m going to try to isolate which agents actually handle military science fiction.
Also, I need to keep practicing at this query letter thing. Two agents have told me, “I love your book. Your query letter is awful.”
As for the book itself……
In May, I told several agents that the book was essentially complete but I had chosen to overhaul the third part because the ending was a little underwhelming. It wasn’t bad but it didn’t feel like a true ending. Of course, I immediately fell into the depression I described in July. I’ve been working hard with Mary (my therapist). I’m still in the depression but I’m operating within it. I’ve written at a measured pace for maybe a month now, I’m not sure. I haven’t finished the third part but the big ending is there…in stretches. I’ve managed to get the protagonist into a “final battle” that really tests his limits. I’ve got most of the character arcs closed up. I dumped some stuff that really, really wasn’t working—like really, really, really wasn’t working. I’m working on some details that will never make it into the book but it will help me understand the character’s motivations. As well, I’m trying to establish clear images of the war machinery in my mind so it doesn’t read like a total clusterfuck during the final battle. Only writing about 1,100 words a day, so not burning the candle at both ends but slow and steady is at least getting me somewhere.
Also, I need to keep practicing at this query letter thing. Two agents have told me, “I love your book. Your query letter is awful.”
As for the book itself……
In May, I told several agents that the book was essentially complete but I had chosen to overhaul the third part because the ending was a little underwhelming. It wasn’t bad but it didn’t feel like a true ending. Of course, I immediately fell into the depression I described in July. I’ve been working hard with Mary (my therapist). I’m still in the depression but I’m operating within it. I’ve written at a measured pace for maybe a month now, I’m not sure. I haven’t finished the third part but the big ending is there…in stretches. I’ve managed to get the protagonist into a “final battle” that really tests his limits. I’ve got most of the character arcs closed up. I dumped some stuff that really, really wasn’t working—like really, really, really wasn’t working. I’m working on some details that will never make it into the book but it will help me understand the character’s motivations. As well, I’m trying to establish clear images of the war machinery in my mind so it doesn’t read like a total clusterfuck during the final battle. Only writing about 1,100 words a day, so not burning the candle at both ends but slow and steady is at least getting me somewhere.
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