To catch up new readers (or those who care not to peek at my blog that often *gasp!*), I've been asked to rework my latest novel for possible resubmission to a publisher I queried. My concept, grammar, and style was great but the writing itself needed some work, the editor told me. Now that I'm into the rewrite, I want to share something I've learned.

When I would hear editors say, "Trim the fat," I never really understood what that was all about. Did that mean I would have to cut out part of the story? Would the world and characters I created be compromised? I admit before I started the rewrite, I was terrified of over-thinking it. I stressed myself by worrying about what I might have to cut.

Now, though, as I continue to work on the novel according to the advice of the editor, my eyes have really been opened. I'm only 1/3 of the way in and I have already cut out about 3,000 words. That's a LOT of fat trimming. I can see now where I was repetitious and how I used words that didn't have to be used. And now that I'm getting the hang of it, I'm so much more pleased with the novel than I was before and I didn't think that was possible given that I was already in love with it to begin with.

You ask, though, isn't your story being redirected into something different? Not at all! The story is being built on the same foundation just minus the sticks and hay that can cause a collapse of the entire structure. I'm so excited to learn what trimming the fat really means in writing and I'm excited to share it with all of you.

On a side note, it's important to take an editor's feedback to heart. If an editor takes precious time to provide feedback and do some sample editing, embrace it. Their intentions are only to help. If I hadn't been open to learning, I might not have learned this important element of my writing and I might have continued to be in a rut.

Now, on with writing!

Just a small update in case y'all are wondering what's up with my submissions lately.  As of right now, the only thing I have out there is my submission to DAW which I've asked for another follow-up on.  I've almost exhausted the pool for my second novel as the genre is confusing.  Most paranormal seekers expect romance and while my protagonist is a young adult, I've been told multiple times that my subject is too mature for a young adult audience.  So I've put it aside and am focusing on my next one.  Maybe one of these days someone will pick up "Memory's Hostage".  In the meantime, I've finished the non-fiction ebook I've been working on and it's going through an edit process. 

I've let my untitled fantasy novel sit for a few months and now I'm going back over it in rewrite and edit mode.  I usually hate revisions but I'm actually enjoying going back through this novel.  One of these days I will have a suitable title but today is not that day.  It will probably take me a few weeks to complete the revisions and then I will start seeking agents.

I've written one science fiction short story lately called "The Hand" and am about to send it out to Analog next week. 

Other then that, it is all I have going on with fiction stuff.  I've had a lot of non-fiction work coming my way lately, a ton of assignments for Yahoo! that I couldn't afford to let go, so it has contributed to slower fiction progress.  But I keep on with it and I hope you are keeping on the path of your dreams as well.

It's been a long journey with DAW thus far.  For those who don't know who DAW is, they are the science fiction imprint of Penguin USA. 

Their submission guidelines are somewhat different than standard guidelines.  They want an entire hard copy of the manuscript with a cover letter, not a query letter.  This is almost unheard of for such a publisher.  And unlike many other publishers who accept novel-length fiction, they do not accept simultaneous submissions.

This was the worst submission I'd done in a long time.  Printing out almost 300 pages isn't bad... unless your printer starts sputtering, then runs out of ink, then starts sputtering again.  I finally managed to get it all printed and sent off, wondering all the while if it was worth the trouble. I wouldn't even had thought about sending it out in its entirety (or even exclusive) if it wasn't for a big name.  This was in June of 2009.

Two months later, I received a letter from DAW letting me know The Influence had passed the first reading.  (The DAW process is First Reading, Second Reading, Editorial Review.)  I can't begin to tell you the excitement that I felt.  I proudly displayed my letter on the fridge for all my beer loving buddies to enjoy and moved on to the art of waiting. 

The letter said it would take awhile for a second review.  They were severely backed up and knowing how slow publishing is anyway, I knew it would be more than "awhile".  I just didn't realize to what extent. 

Here's what I've learned about the DAW process along the way.  I have not had the pleasure of conversing with anyone who has had a manuscript accepted by them.  But they are still releasing books so they have to be accepting them somewhere.  In any case, I did speak to a couple of other writers who had also passed the first reading, some who had been waiting longer than I had, others who had pulled their submission from them because of the wait time, and a couple who had never heard from follow-ups.  The question came up about whether they accepted ALL submissions as passing the first reading.  I have since found out that they do not.  I have actually spoken to a couple of writers who have had manuscripts rejected from the start.  So any question about whether DAW is just appeasing people only to make them wait is false.  I have yet to hear from anyone who has passed a second reading, though.  Reports about this are scattered.  I've asked in various forums and sites about this in order to report it to readers but no one has yet to come forward to say whether or not they have been rejected or passed that stage.  This really isn't a surprise.  Most of the reports are disgruntled at having to wait for so long in the first place that many writers simply do not follow-up and they move on to the next market or quit altogether. 

I've followed up twice at six month intervals.  I've been polite, I've listed credits obtained since last follow up, and indicated that I am still interested in pursuing a contract with them.  The first time, I received a response only a week after I sent my follow-up.  It was a short hand written note from Peter Stampfel, the submissions editor, acknowledging my letter and apologizing that it was taking so long.  The second follow-up was sent the last week of August (about a month ago).  Last weekend, I sent DAW an email about no response to that follow-up and stated that I had no problem with exclusivity as long as communication remained open.  Yesterday, I received a response.  Peter Stampfel responded with another short hand written note, thanking me for keeping in touch and once again apologizing that the process was taking so long.

It has been over a year now but communication is still open so I'm being patient.  (Being impatient never got me anywhere.)  Is it worth it?  Ask me again when I get the final verdict. :)

Next follow-up will be in February.  Until then, I concentrate on other projects and continue to submit.  Thanks for taking this journey with me.

Peace and patience,

Pamela

One of the hardest things to do when writing a novel is staying focused and on track.  I've completed 2 novels (including edits and revisions) and am working on the rough draft of the 3rd one, a fantasy novel I have yet to title.  How do I stay on track?

Willpower is the number one thing.  Sometimes you may not feel like you are doing anything worthwhile with it.  The initial excitement died and real life pushes it away.  You start making excuses not to write and pretty soon it sits forever unfinished in your hard drive.

There are days when I really have to force myself to write.  I usually reserve my fiction writing for the end of the day, when the kids had fallen asleep and the house is quiet.  When I'd rather lay back and relax watching my new crush Josh Gates on "Destination Truth", I instead fire up my netbook and continue the journey of my fictional characters.

Another thing that keeps me moving along is that I promise my test readers that I will provide them chapters each week of my work in progress.  I'm am on the second novel that I've done this with.  Reading the reactions to my characters and story lines gives me not only valuable feed back but also a kick in the tail to keep going.  I don't have it in me to leave those readers hanging.  Now I realize this method isn't for everyone; you have to get passed the fear of letting others see your finished work before you can even think about passing out a rough draft version.

Don't get me wrong.  I don't write on my fiction every day but I do write on it most days of the week, even if I only have time for a 30 minute session.

Most of all, it's about persistence and dedication to your goals.  Here's hoping you virtually dust that old unfinished novel off and get those characters moving again!

Peace and happy writing,

Pamela

I've just spent the last 3 freakin' hours researching over sixty publishers who accept YA.  Staring between my Writer's Digest and my computer screen has created the dull throb known as the "submission headache". 

Out of those, I've marked 12 as listings that I will begin submitting to throughout the rest of this month.  Why not just do it all at once?  Because these twelve markets all want extras in addition to the query so it will take a little extra time for each one.  This reminds me of an article I wrote recently about writers having problems following submission guidelines.  When you have days like today, where you're working to narrow down markets and staring at them for hours at a time, it's very easy to understand how writers can get confused sometimes with all the markets that want specific (and different) things.  Only when you start submitting, I mean REALLY digging in and submitting, do you realize that there isn't one thing that blankets another.  Publishers and agents all have varying opinions on what is the right and wrong ways.  No wonder I have a headache.  This is the part of writing that I absolutely despise.  But whether I despise it or not, the job has to be done if I want to succeed.

And out of all those market listings, I was able to submit only to one today.  Oak Tree Press wanted a query by email.  Since I already had my query ready, I simply sent it.
For all the others that got a "X", I rejected sending my query/novel/synopsis to them for varying reasons.

-Not a U.S. company.  I'm sure there are many great companies outside of the U.S. but I'd prefer to start with a U.S. based company.  Later, who knows.
-Had the little "A" by its name.  Because I can't seem to find an agent that wants the combination of YA, paranormal (not romance) that I'm offering, any publisher marked with an "A" automatically gets an "X".
-I just didn't feel like my novel matched up with anything they wanted and/or what I could research of the type of work they published.

I didn't discount any listing that was "too difficult" (although I do wish that many of these publishers would understand that writers are as busy as they are) but it will take me longer to submit to all of them.  I did however discount one listing whose submission guidelines were twice as long as their requirement for the synopsis word count.  If someone is going to be so nitpicky as to expect me to follow the equivalent of 2 to 3 pages of submission guidelines, then I probably wouldn't be happy working with them to begin with.

Thanks for reading.  I needed an outlet after sifting through all those listings.

Peace and Happiness,

Pamela