Dear Dead Beat,
I have been writing forever but can't seem to get anything published. I can't believe it is all bad! I have three novels written and two collections of short stories. What is a writer to do?
Dear What to Do,
There is much left out here. How finished is the work?
Assuming it is finished, how good are your query letters?
Assuming they are good, rejection does not imply that your work is not of a good quality.
Anyway the answer is simple: perseverence.
Write to the best of your ability, seek advice from someone who truly knows how to critique work, rewrite and then rewrite some more. Most writing is of poor quality. Most writing submitted for publishing is of poor quality. Do not be part of the MOST.
Study the market - find out what publishers publish your style of writing. Send a worthy query letter and brief sample. Send and resend.
Write a new novel in the meantime.
Dead Beat pleads with you to stay the course. Whoever told you this would be easy?
1 comment:
I belong to a writer's club and sometimes you can get worthwhile feedback from others in such a setting. Sometimes some people can't get past their prejudices either, so watch out. What about self-publishing? There have been some big successes going this route? Would you recommend it?I have an other questions. How do you cope with lack of support and understanding from the people you live with? What do you do when the person you live with tells you that you should not be wasting your time, or it is too late for you? When they harp at you to give it up, and any success you have is berated and never enough to change their mind. What do you say to well meaning people who advise you to see what is out there selling and write like that or make art like that. As an artist and a writer, I get that all the time.
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