Authors' Journeys

Lois Winston

My Rocky Rejection Road to Publication

When I was twelve years old, I wanted to be an astronaut. Motion sickness (never put me in the back seat of a car, let alone on a roller coaster) killed that career before it got off the ground -- pun intended. So I turned to my next love, Broadway theater. There was only one problem: Broadway isn't interested in singers who can't sing and dancers who can't dance. So I went to art school and over the years have had a fairly successful career as a designer.

Then I got the urge to write.

It all began ten years ago when the characters in a dream I had took over my brain and refused to leave until I promised to tell their story. That story became my first romance manuscript. However, if someone had told me it would take a decade to get published, I'm not sure I would have ever committed that first word to paper. I'm not someone who demands instant gratification but ten years?

While trying to convince the publishing world that I'd written The Great American Novel and was the next Nora Roberts, I discovered RWA and quickly learned that I'd written The Great American Drivel. Nora needn't have worried. Point of view? What's that? GMC? Ditto. I have a BFA in graphic design and illustration. It's been a long time since I took an English class, and learning how to write term papers doesn't exactly prepare you for writing fiction. .Undaunted, I worked to hone my craft. After all, no one had told me the odds were stacked against me, and I knew I was a fast learner. Besides, I had no choice. The writing bug had sunk her incisors deep into my creative soul, and I couldn't shake her loose. Not that I wanted to; I was having too much fun spending every available hour in The Land of Make Happily Ever After.

During those learning years, I received my share of form rejections, including the infamous NOT FOR US rubber stamp at the top of my query letter. There were days when I wondered if I was a glutton for punishment or simply delusional. However, my writing must have been improving because one day I found myself with three agents interested in my latest manuscript. I went with the agent who rose at 6am on a Sunday morning to call me from Hawaii where she was attending a conference. I figured if she was that eager to land me as a client, she'd be as aggressive about selling my work.

Little did either of us realize how long it was going to take to convince the publishing world of my talent. Had she known, I think she may have thought twice about signing me on as a client. Most agents would cut a client loose after a year or two of not being able to sell their work. Mine stuck with me because she believed in my talent, and her agency is more interested in growing careers than making a quick sale. Knowing how strongly she felt about my writing got me through many a rejection over the years. When you have someone who believes in you as much as that, you have a tendency not to give up on your dreams. (Note: Family doesn't count here. They have to love you.)

So there I was with an agent and several manuscripts ready for publication. But the rejections continued to pour in. No longer were they form letters, though. I was now receiving rejections filled with praise. The following are comments made about one book:

• …many intriguing elements involved in this contemporary romance.
• I found this to be an enjoyable read.  I think the writing is solid.  The characters were interesting as well.
• …the writing was strong and the sexual tension high.
• …a solid writer.  She creates an intriguing world that is full of interesting and compelling characters.
• …the author caught my attention right away with the opening scene and held it with her strong, engaging writing style.
• …this is very readable, and the author does a good job balancing the romance and suspense elements.
• The conflict for both the hero and heroine is strong.

But no matter how praise-filled the letters, they were still rejection letters. Few editors indicated the same reason for rejecting, so there was no clear clue as to what was wrong with each manuscript. What one editor praised, another mentioned as the reason for rejecting. Here are some of the reasons given for rejecting the same book:

• I didn’t find the characters compelling enough.
• The heroine isn’t as sympathetic as I’d wish.
• I felt (the romance) had a “too good to be true” quality.
• The writing is not as strong as that of other submissions currently under consideration
• (The hero) was completely unconvincing.
• The story line didn’t hold any appeal for me.
• The emotional conflict was not as strongly developed as it needed.

How do you fix something that is considered broken by one person but perfect by another? My frustration level grew with each rejection letter, but still I kept writing, and my agent kept sending out my work.

About five years ago I began entering writing contests. Some agents don't want their authors entering contests. Mine had no problem with it. Her reasoning was that many publishing houses view a rejection by one editor as a rejection by all. Once a manuscript is rejected by one editor, the agent can't submit the same manuscript to another editor at the same house. Frankly, I don't understand that reasoning. Everyone has different taste, and what one editor doesn't like, another editor at the same house might love (read further to learn the truth of that statement.) Finaling in a contest can get your manuscript in front of another editor at a house where one editor has already rejected it.

During my stint as a Contest Diva, I wound up finaling in approximately a third of the contests I entered and won approximately a third of those. I was a Golden Heart finalist three times, a St. Martin's Malice Domestic finalist, and a finalist in Dorchester Publishing's American Title competition.

I began racking up *near* sales. The reasons for my rejections changed. Several times, the senior editor who had to approve the buy didn't like the book. On one occasion, the marketing department didn't think they could sell a book the executive editor loved. It didn't fall neatly into one genre, and they weren't willing to take a chance on a newbie author with such a book. One time, a senior editor wanted one of my books for a new line the publisher then cancelled. All that luck I had with contests couldn't overcome the crappy Karma keeping me from crossing the finish line.

And then on a whim and at the last moment, days before the deadline, I entered the American Title contest. As a result of finishing second, I was offered and accepted a contract with Dorchester Publishing. This is a book that a Dorchester editor had already rejected. Lucky for me, a different editor read my submission for the contest and fell in love with the book. So my contest strategy finally paid off, and my agent was right not to object to me entering contests.

What follows is a sampling of the good, the bad, and the downright ugly comments I received from various editors on the book that moved me out of the ranks of the unpublished:

The Good:

• Well executed.
• Funny.
• My taste, (filled) with warmth and humor.
• Witty, sparkling prose.
• Strong beginning, likeable protagonist.
• Premise is both unique and fresh.
• The author has an engaging voice.
• The author has a wonderful voice.

The Bad:

• Not enough of a romance to be published as contemporary romance and not edgy and realistic enough to work as chick lit.
• Alternate point-of-view chapters didn’t work for me.
• Plot is too similar to a novel we recently published.  (Author’s note:  Actually, aside from the initial set-up, the two books are completely different.  Made me wonder if the editor bothered to read past the first chapter, and he certainly didn’t bother to read the synopsis.)
• Not suited to our current publishing needs.

The Downright Ugly:

• The pacing became more and more uneven and the narrative was awkward at times.
• Range of emotion not fully expressed.
• Quirkiness felt forced.
• I didn’t love (the author’s) voice.  There weren’t quite enough sparks of wit for me.
• I didn’t fall in love with the author’s voice.

So what have I learned during my ten year trek as I scaled Mt. Rejection? That it's not good enough to write the best book you can. And it's not good enough to have an agent who believes in your work. You can be the next Nora Roberts or Susan Elizabeth Phillips, but if your book doesn't wind up on the right editor's desk on the right day, no one will ever know. Luck plays as much a role in getting published as a well-written book.

And Lord help the author who has the lousy luck to give her hero the same name as the editor's cheating creep of an ex.