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!

I've had a rather interesting week. I did a submission spree for my latest fantasy novel, Future Past over the course of a few days last week. While I haven't heard back from most of them at this point, I was asked for a full manuscript on a couple of them. And one of them, Hadley Rille Books, came back with a request for a full in order to get a feel for the book. They then followed that with a request for the synopsis. Ultimately, though, they decided to pass this go around but the editor was full of kind words and constructive criticism. She even did a comprehensive edit to a few pages of my novel as an illustration of her advice. It's been a long time since an editor took the time to provide such feedback and it was something I very much needed to learn.

What I have learned is that my protagonist's tone betrayed what her background suggested of her. I've learned that I often bog down my dialogue with unnecessary (and often repetitive) descriptions. Something else I learned that the editor didn't say was that I'm not giving my prospective audience enough credit. Subconsciously, I suppose since I struggle in real life to get my own points across to people, I tend to over inflate information.

I have the opportunity now to rework the novel to reflect a standard of work that I know I'm capable of. It will be a challenge but it's one that I'm willing to take on if not for anything but my love of writing itself and the love I have for this story and its characters.

And for other news -

My recently released novelette The Hand has caught some local attention. I'll be doing a live radio interview on the Danny Lee Show on Newstalk Fort Payne WFPA on Friday, June 17, 2011 at 7:35am.  You can listen online at www.1400wfpa.com.

I also want to share some blogs that I've recently become a part of through an indie author's group. First, notice the cute frog in the sidebar to the right. This blog has become part of an indie author's blogring. Every time I post here, it feeds to Indie Author Blog Hop. I've also become part of I Love Smashwords, a blog dedicated to the authors of Smashwords.com, a site that I love to use for my work for many reasons, the main one being distribution to some of the top online book sellers.  If you care to take a look at either of these sites, please do. My fellow colleagues would appreciate it.

Thank you for your continued support. If you don't hear from me for awhile, it only means I'm deep into my rewrite.

Love, happiness, and new challenges,

Pamela

I've written before on the subject of self publishing and the reasons you shouldn't self publish. Today, I'm going to touch on something similar. We all know that one of the reasons authors decide to self publish is because of rejection from traditional publishers. That's fine. There's nothing that says just because your novel was rejected by a traditional publisher that it's bad. I believe there are many fine self published authors out there. But there's something I want to make clear to those who haven't done it yet but are considering it.

 If you are self publishing because you just can't handle the rejection, then you need to reconsider. Why? Because any rejection you can possibly get is not going to be near as bad as some of the reviews you'll get once you're published out there. And trust me. If you write long enough, there will be that one person (or more!) who like to pound nails into your heart by writing how horrible your work is. And they will not hold back. AT. ALL.


So how do you differentiate between just being tired of rejections to not being able to handle rejections? First, what is your reaction to a rejection? If your primary response is anger, then it's probably a sign that you aren't equipped to handle a rejection yet. That's not to say that you will never be but just imagine that rejection coupled with a detailed look at everything that is wrong with your novel. If you are getting angry at a single rejection, what would you do with a negative review? And if you retaliate with either, you end up looking like an unprofessional fool; the exact opposite of what you are trying to accomplish.

So really take stock of why you're self publishing before you actually do it. It's a heavy commitment and if you aren't doing it for the right reasons, you will fail. If you take every rejection personally, then you will likely take negative reviews personally, too.

I understand that it's hard not to take it personally, even for those of us who have been doing this a long time. How you react to it is the key here.

Best wishes to all of you.