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No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript That Sells
You'll Love This Book If:
• Your writing keeps getting rejected by agents or editors
• You need advice on getting published
• You want tips for improving your pitch or query letter
• Your writing keeps getting rejected by agents or editors
• You need advice on getting published
• You want tips for improving your pitch or query letter
At one time or another, every writer has gotten the dreaded rejection letter or phone call. But you can skip that setback with No More Rejections. Inside, successful author, former literary agent and editor Alice Orr provides 50 invaluable secrets to writing a salable manuscript.
Orr will guide you on the road to success by combining lessons on craft with lessons on marketing including:
• Scoping out salable story ideas
• Creating compelling characters
• Writing an opening sentence that sizzles
• crafting sex scenes that satisfy
• And more!
You'll discover that this fresh approach to writing fiction offers the advice you need to get your work published. From writing the story to writing the sales pitch, you'll find a wealth of information for improving your story and getting it sold!
In This Book You'll Learn:
• How to make sure your story idea is saleable
• How to pitch your story to agents and editors
• How to write eye-catching opening lines for your story
- GenresWritingNonfiction
272 pages, Hardcover
First published March 8, 2004
3 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Alice Orr
22 books52 followersMy Name is Alice & This is My Story.
Growing up as an only child until I was nine had a lot to do with making me a storyteller. I wasn’t really alone because I had my imagination and spent loads of time there.
I also had Grandma and she did two amazing things for me. She told me stories of her own and she listened to mine. I’d sit at the table in her warm kitchen and kick my toes under my chair because my feet didn’t yet touch the floor. I'd talk while Grandma listened with a twinkle in her eye behind her rimless glasses. Because of Grandma I love to tell stories.
In the eighth grade I had a teacher named Mrs. Mahon. I was a restless, troublesome student. Then she assigned a writing project and I wrote several pages without a restless moment in any of them.
When Mrs. Mahon handed back the graded papers she dropped mine on my desk & said “You know how to write, girl.” I figured that must be true. Mrs. Mahon wouldn’t have complimented bad-student me unless she meant it. At last I had something I loved to do that I was good at doing.
Still it was decades before I talked about my dream to anybody but myself. My husband Jonathan asked me a question that changed my life. “If you could do anything at all what would it be?”
I couldn’t answer right away. I was afraid that if I spoke the words out loud they'd shatter in the air and my dream would shatter with them. Finally I said “If I could do anything at all I’d be a writer.”
Those words did not shatter and everything I’ve done since has been about pursuing them.
Growing up as an only child until I was nine had a lot to do with making me a storyteller. I wasn’t really alone because I had my imagination and spent loads of time there.
I also had Grandma and she did two amazing things for me. She told me stories of her own and she listened to mine. I’d sit at the table in her warm kitchen and kick my toes under my chair because my feet didn’t yet touch the floor. I'd talk while Grandma listened with a twinkle in her eye behind her rimless glasses. Because of Grandma I love to tell stories.
In the eighth grade I had a teacher named Mrs. Mahon. I was a restless, troublesome student. Then she assigned a writing project and I wrote several pages without a restless moment in any of them.
When Mrs. Mahon handed back the graded papers she dropped mine on my desk & said “You know how to write, girl.” I figured that must be true. Mrs. Mahon wouldn’t have complimented bad-student me unless she meant it. At last I had something I loved to do that I was good at doing.
Still it was decades before I talked about my dream to anybody but myself. My husband Jonathan asked me a question that changed my life. “If you could do anything at all what would it be?”
I couldn’t answer right away. I was afraid that if I spoke the words out loud they'd shatter in the air and my dream would shatter with them. Finally I said “If I could do anything at all I’d be a writer.”
Those words did not shatter and everything I’ve done since has been about pursuing them.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 30, 2011
How does one review a writing book?
Would it help if I tell you I wrote my best draft so far by following it?
Or maybe that I've been having a hard time declaring "I'm done reading it" because I kept going back to it for reference?
I'm a bit embarrassed to say I got it from the library and have kept it for almost a year now. This book is good enough to be on my shelf.
I'm not going to say it is the best or it's tailored to every writer, because that would be a lie. We're all different and have different needs.
I say if you're working on your craft and are hungry for knowledge then pick it up. It covers a lot from first draft to the editor to promoting yourself and of course it encourages you not to give up.
I'm eventually going to move onto another writing book but I'm definitely going to get my own copy of this one. Happy writing to all writers out there.
Would it help if I tell you I wrote my best draft so far by following it?
Or maybe that I've been having a hard time declaring "I'm done reading it" because I kept going back to it for reference?
I'm a bit embarrassed to say I got it from the library and have kept it for almost a year now. This book is good enough to be on my shelf.
I'm not going to say it is the best or it's tailored to every writer, because that would be a lie. We're all different and have different needs.
I say if you're working on your craft and are hungry for knowledge then pick it up. It covers a lot from first draft to the editor to promoting yourself and of course it encourages you not to give up.
I'm eventually going to move onto another writing book but I'm definitely going to get my own copy of this one. Happy writing to all writers out there.
May 17, 2015
This book has sparked many, many ideas. I really appreciate that Alice Orr brings so many idea matchsticks...to allow the reader to choose which they ignite (or not). I may never finish it. I'm inspired each time I pick it up. I go back to whichever project it flames, then eventually come back to it again. Lather, rinse repeat.
Now, I admit, there are parts that just don't speak to me. If you expect every page to inspire your current WIP, you may be disappointed.
One tip I liked...page 22, 5. Build Character. Two characters from your WIP are talking. Interview them about their situation, listen to what they're saying, explore negative experiences (not just positive) "because negativity is the source of more conflict." You actually remove them from the story and discuss...well, whatever! Great character development (and maybe story too).
Now, I admit, there are parts that just don't speak to me. If you expect every page to inspire your current WIP, you may be disappointed.
One tip I liked...page 22, 5. Build Character. Two characters from your WIP are talking. Interview them about their situation, listen to what they're saying, explore negative experiences (not just positive) "because negativity is the source of more conflict." You actually remove them from the story and discuss...well, whatever! Great character development (and maybe story too).
January 6, 2011
A fantastic book for any writer. Alice Orr applies every kind of rule to creating characters, digging deep into yourself to find the perfect soul for your Main Character, and giving tips on how to make a 3-dimensional character.
There was only one section I did not care for, which talked about how to write a "sex" scene, and I didn't like that. Otherwise, the rest of the tips were good.
There was only one section I did not care for, which talked about how to write a "sex" scene, and I didn't like that. Otherwise, the rest of the tips were good.
December 29, 2011
Alice Orr says that it's easy to write a best-seller. "Just sit at a keyboard and open a vein." She's right. All you have to do is re-live every peak experience in your life and work them into a plot with lots of conflicts among compelling characters. Think I'll stick to writing non-fiction.
July 11, 2009
Everything here is pretty damn self-evident. If you are already a writer with anything at all published, don't bother.
August 1, 2010
I learned too many things to list. This book is a must read for anyone serious about writing a novel.
August 31, 2012
Not a bad book and certainly had some helpful ideas
June 9, 2007
Interesting to get an agent's perspective on what can go wrong with manuscripts that keep them from getting picked up. Mostly pertinent to "popular fiction" but it has a lot of useful revision-related questions for writers to ask themselves, and writing exercises related to specific common problem areas.
April 11, 2014
Libro ben scritto, che analizza tutti gli aspetti fondamentali dello scrivere narrativa in modo semplice e forte. Alice Orr è una ex-editor ora scrittrice, e le sue opinioni sulle tecniche narrative e sul mondo dell'editoria (americana, ma in gran parte simile alla nostra) sono molto interessanti. Espressamente mirato a chi scrive letteratura commerciale, ma ricco di spunti per tutti.
November 4, 2014
Seems like an okay book to get started on reading books about how to get published, but I'm sure there are others that can do better. There are lists in this which makes it feel as if whats being said is simply rules. I feel as if those "rules" could have been made clearer in a sort of context, though some of that context which was used seemed hard to follow at times.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews