Like most writers, it took me a long time and a lot of rejections before my first novel sold. This was a good thing. I am so very, very glad that the first book an agent ever took to market for me never found a buyer. In these modern days I suppose I would have gone ahead and published it myself—and then I would be faced with the fact of its existence ever after. We hate to admit it, but often, a rejection is a good thing.

The second novel of mine that ever went to market was an early version of The Bohr Maker. It was turned down many times, and with the most painfully “almost but not quite” rejections I ever hope to see.

For some reason I was flipping through the file a few months ago and discovered this gem of a rejection, addressed to my agent and later forwarded to me:

“This is the worst situation I can think of: really liking a book, and having to pass on it…The author has a very complicated vision working here, and I’m not sure that it works. There are so many threads, and so many changing viewpoints, that it becomes difficult to see where it all comes together, or how – or why…”

This was written by Laura Anne Gilman, who was then an editor at Berkley—and Laura Anne knows of what she speaks! Because of notes like this one I finally pulled the manuscript from the market and rewrote it from beginning to end. When it went out into the world again, it sold to the first publisher that saw it, and went on to win the Locus award for best first novel.

But it never would have been rewritten if I didn’t have experts in the field like Laura Anne telling me in very clear terms that something was lacking and it needed to be rewritten.

Expert advice is a great thing to have, even if it’s painful in the moment.

Laura Anne and I recently crossed paths again at Book View Café, and shortly after that I discovered that she works as a freelance editor. This past fall I hired her to edit my soon-to-be-released novel Hepen the Watcher. She gave me a great critique, asking me to explain things, fill in holes, and take advantage of dramatic opportunities that I’d missed on my own, and the book is much stronger for it.

Over the past year, Laura Anne has been writing a weekly post at Book View Café’s blog on a wide range of practical aspects of writing and publishing. Those posts are now available in ebook form under the title Practical Meerkat’s 52 Bits of Useful Info for Young (and Old) Writers. If you’re at all interested in writing professionally, I urge you to take advantage of Laura Anne Gilman’s writing and publishing expertise by picking up a copy at Book View Café. I’ve got mine! At only $2.99, how can you go wrong?

Posted on: Friday, February 3rd, 2012 at 11:31 am
Categories: Reading, Writing.
Tags: Book View Cafe, books on writing, Laura Anne Gilman