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/lit/ - Literature

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5387974 No.5387974[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

Third rejection for my book.

Bye, /lit/.

Nothing else I can do now.

>> No.5387984

only three rejections?

you are not trying hard enough

>> No.5387992

>>5387984
three rejections from /lit/

>> No.5388019

>>5387974
What's your book about?

>> No.5388024

>>5387974

Dune got rejected so many times that it had to be published by a cheap auto publisher that mostly dealt with car magazines.

Just saying.

>> No.5388034

>>5387974
If you're this dejected after three rejections you aren't cut out for publishing. Save the letters, print out the emails, and put them on your wall.

>> No.5388039

>three rejections
>giving up already

come on. that's nothing. if you want go into any sort of creative field, you have to expect to get tons of rejections. it's normal.

>> No.5388045

Publishing is more saturated now than in any time in history. 100 rejections doesn't mean your work is bad. If you're sending unsolicited work chances are they aren't even reading you.

>> No.5388047

write something else

>> No.5388069
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5388069

>>5388045
Is this true? How do you know this?

>> No.5388071

>>5387992
if /lit/ hated something i wrote i would know i am on to a winner

>> No.5388084
File: 8 KB, 275x183, index.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5388084

>Traditional publishing

>> No.5388129

>>5387974
Well can we at least read it?

>> No.5388189

>>5388069
You can thank faggots like amazon
And e-books

>> No.5388201
File: 89 KB, 452x160, Screen Shot 2014-05-18 at 7.46.39 PM.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5388201

>>5387974
>ITS
if this is what "it" is, thank god "it" is over

at least give me the pdf so i can get it published and take all the credit

>> No.5388211

>>5388201
I didn't kill my mother, you stupid fat fuck.

>> No.5388237
File: 41 KB, 388x500, johnkennedytoole-resized.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5388237

At least your family is healthy, right?

Remember to leave a copy of the good stuff to your mom and burn the bad stuff or the rest of the family will publish it and ruin your legacy.

>> No.5388241

>>5388084
Keep pushing the selfpublish wagon and eventually some idiot will fall for it and blame /lit/

>> No.5388495

>>5388237
His mother was a cunt.

Relentlessly tried to get his books published so she could make money off her dead son.

god what a fucking whore

>> No.5388523

>>5388084
M-muh .99 ebooks! Now I'm a published author too!

>> No.5388524

>>5387974
>only his third rejection
you don't deserve to be an author

>> No.5388549

>>5388495
His mom was very supportive and constantly looked the other way when Ken (as she and others called him) fucked random guys and wasted away with drugs and alcohol.

If it wasn't for her, Confederacy wouldn't be published at all.

I'm not saying she was a saint, as all accounts have her as overbearing, just saying your source of info is probably lousy.

>> No.5388558

>>5387974
You really just gotta keep trying dude, shit is mad difficult

>> No.5388560

>>5388549
She was extremely controlling you ignorant shit bag.

You don't know a goddamn thing you jack shit motherfucker.

GTFO
Who cares, that books and the Neon Jahoody sucked cock anyways

The only appeal was 'this was written by a guy who committed suicide and his dumb fuck mother won't have lawyers stop calling saying this is her only way of obtaining the rent he owed her'

>> No.5388575

>>5387974
Are you getting rejected by publishers or literary agents? Have you gotten some shorter stories published in magazines or anything prior to this? Did you think you'd just send it in to a publisher and they'd be in awe of your masterful command of the written word and throw money at you immediately? Shit takes a loooot of time unless you really are a genius and even if you are a genius it's still going to take longer than you think.

>> No.5388579

>>5388575
Got rejected by publishers, agents, even editors after I suggested I paid more for them to review my work than the standard price...

...I tried submitting to Harper's and New Yorker....but I don't even think my email was even read.

>> No.5388590

>>5388560
If you actually read the biography on Toole (Ignatius Rising) in an alternate universe, you'd want nothing more than to find your way to this (loud and ignorant) version of yourself so you could slap your dumb self across the face and shit in your own mouth for being such an obnoxious and poorly educated weasel.

>> No.5388597

>>5388590
>alternate universe

exactly.

im right
you're wrong faggot

>> No.5388616

>>5388039
bumping this english

>> No.5388622

>>5388560
The mother saw no money of the neon pieceofshit and never wanted to publish it. Being extremely controlling has little to do with everything else besides giving great inspiration for a character.

>> No.5388623

>>5388616
>>5388575
>>5388039
>>5388045
>>5388019
>>5388024
>>5388034
>>5388047

You don't understand.

It's the first draft, and that's all that's needed. No editing. No revision. It's perfect. I worked for a week straight on this mammoth (90,000)

you know how much I spent in speed to get that shit done??? I had to sell my fucking xbox

>> No.5388627
File: 14 KB, 250x250, 14081302416497.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5388627

>>5388241
It's the wave of the future anon, get with the times.

>> No.5388630

>>5388623
tell us more about your hardships

>> No.5388632

>>5388623
>this
>that

pics or it didnt happen

>> No.5388635

>>5388630
That's about it. I mean, it was the first xbox I sold, haven't played it since HALO 2 multiplayer hit xbox 360 way way back, but my drug dealer still thinks its 1989 so it freaked him the fuck out.

>>5388632
nigga this board anonymous

>> No.5388650

>>5388632

for all i know, your struggles and hardships could amount to nigganigganigganigganigga.txt

also curiousity

also anon is ded

>> No.5388651

>>5388650
damn

wrong click

>> No.5388679

>>5387974
Did you leave already, OP? I guess anyone searching for publications and has stories to share is invited to answer. I'd like to know about your experiences in general. I used to read that tumblr from the perspective of an editor that got tons of wackos, but I want to see it from the wackos' perspective.

>> No.5388684

>>5388679
nah bro

this here is me
and these
>>5388635
>>5388623

>> No.5388688

>>5388679
You have to be slightly crazy or egotistical to think people should give a shit about anything you've written, that's what it takes to get your shit out there. And a lot of luck.

>> No.5388708

>>5388679
I was refering to this http://slushpilehell.tumblr.com/
Ihope this makes you feel better about yourselves, guys.

>> No.5388719

>>5388708
>Dear guys:
This letter is sent to most members of the AAR [Association of Author’s Representatives] simultaneously and equally because I have no time to care about everyone too deeper now.I won’t mind if you don’t reply because this letter doesn’t folloe some of yourself’s fancy principles,like a great book may means different to different ones,but I still wonder your attitude.Here are parts of my manuscript below,please reply at once if you wonder,there’s no more waiting after a week.

Holy shit what a goldmine.

>> No.5388723

>>5388719
>http://slushpilehell.tumblr.com/
If there is one thing wrong about this generation...
It's that they don't understand how to put forth a proper business letter...honestly. Life is not a fucking tweet or a blog post.

>> No.5388731

>>5388719
>>5388723
So the deal is you try to find a literary agent? You don't go directly to the publisher? Are there other social cues? Do you know if this is a us thing or a global kinda deal?

>> No.5388737

>>5388723
I just don't understand why people feel the need to be so unprofessional. You really think saying right there in your query that your book is the best goddamn piece of literature ever conceived is going to really grab the agent? Or trying to act nonchalant like you don't give a fuck if they read it or not is going to make them insanely curious? Just be straight forward and professional how fucking difficult is that?

>> No.5388760

>>5388731
As far as I know, if you're unknown, you try to get to an agent first. They are the ones who have the reputation usually to get inside the doors of a publisher. If you're published and have made even a slight name for yourself you may be able to walk in doors yourself...

>>5388737
How simple is it to say

"Dear, _____

My submission blha blha blhabalh (and submit it in the fashion in which they have asked), brief description of your novel.

Thank you for the time you've spent on this query.

Sincerely,
Anal Ju9ce

>> No.5388773

>>5388760
I guess people feel like being clever will make their submissions stand out more when really all they're doing is pissing off the person before they even look at their actual writing.

>> No.5388777

>>5388773
>first off, i want to let you know i am breaking the rules of your query entry

that one killed me

>> No.5388802

>>5387974
Give us the first page of the novel. We'll tell you why it's shit.

>> No.5388812

>>5388802
I'll give you one paragraph

"For a fortnight the dwindling skies of heavens most forsworn angels jetted to lands beneath the earth. Molten oceans beneath crust that cracks with reverberated screams from those who Hell harrows. This is where our story begins, reader. In the fiery depths of hell. Beware, it's about to get steamy.

>> No.5388833

>>5388812
>Beware, it's about to get steamy.

>> No.5388848

>>5388833
I thought that part really drew the reader in.

BEWARE

WOAH

Danger...but I like it.


It's about to get steamy.


At least I know what to wear

>> No.5388853

>>5388812
>For a fortnight the dwindling skies of heavens most forsworn angels jetted to lands beneath the earth.
Clunky. What the fuck are you trying to say?
> This is where our story begins, reader.
Breaking the 4th wall already. No wonder your book is shit.
>Beware, it's about to get steamy.
No. just no.

Too many adjectives. You wasted a paragraph that saying nothing.

>> No.5388855

>>5388848
I loled

>> No.5388872

>>5388579
That sucks, I even skipped reading your post! Are you sure you weren't cursed by a gypsie or something? Do you feel you did something wrong, was your material inferior than it could had been or was it just back luck when picking editors and the such?

>> No.5388883

>>5388853
see
>>5388848

>> No.5388889

>>5388872
Well, my query to all of them started out as
"I don't give a fuck about the rules, and you're going to understand why. Here is 40 pages, that's all you're getting. I've got 100 agents lined up already and you'll be lucky if you get chosen. Beware. I'm the next big thing."

So...I dunno.

>> No.5388903

>>5388889
And you just gave the game away. Pity, you had reeled me in pretty well.

>> No.5388969

OK listen up you need a damn editor. If you think you don't need to then your a fucking moron, all successful authors, all authors worth of reading need one. I have read books where the author thought it wasnt needed and they fucking suck. Great concepts and maybe moments of clarity where its good but you need to read for miles of shit first. Your first line is bloated and uses too many descriptors, just because those words are complicated doesn't make the book any better. Then you fucking break the forth wall, granted in some stories you can do that like if the book is a journal for someone in the future (reading a book like that right now, still takes me out of the setting and pisses me off) Then you say "Get ready its about to get steamy" What the fuck, you can say shit similar to that but it has to be different, not like some villain describing his next attack in a comic book. OK cut down 90,000 to 70,000, maybe less. Make it simple where its complicated, adding all those words like that is like adding excessive spices in a soup. Get a damn editor. Not you r wife, not your brother or sister, someone who will tell you what sucks because they are paid to be honest.

>> No.5389013

>>5388969
I don't think you took the satire the right way, mate.

>> No.5389036

How could I get a job as an assitant editor or something?
I'm more or less good finding comparisons between a new work and a classical one; and I think I'm tolerably good at finding ways to explain why something works or doesn't without including how I would do it, something people do a lot. I also can be a nice person without letting shit pass through, I don't get mad at people doing a bad job or something but I am a bit too blunt some times. I mean, if anything I think I could do a better job than the one I do at an office.

>> No.5389069

>>5387974
I got a hundred rejections.

My problem has become just trying to convince someone to read my book. I thought writing the books was hard. It really is convincing people to read them that is really hard.

I am still only in year 3 of my 5 year plan to get published. When I have the third book finished and still no one cares I will start to worry.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/sample/read/2940045779197

>> No.5389108

>>5389069
That's tough man. Have you considered looking for other angles to reach agents? Maybe starting as an intern for a publisher or freelancing for a magazine? I've read there are books for helping with getting an agent, although I assume they are as helpful as books about how to make it in hollywood.
I'm assuming you went to the same agent more than once, did their response change? Did they at least help you out through the rejection or did they never answer at all?

>> No.5389377

>>5389069
>http://www.barnesandnoble.com/sample/read/2940045779197

There are at least four typos (punctuation and apostrophe usage) in the first paragraph, and I am done.

>> No.5390319

>>5389377
Oh, hey look, it's cumbucket!

When you you going to come back to the Destiny General thread on /vg/? We miss you!

>> No.5390330

>>5388241
Joyce self published

>> No.5390433

>>5387974
Harry Potter was rejected 12 times before it was accepted. Today's journalists regularly fire off their articles to 20 sources or so before someone picks it up, and I'm talking the biggest journalists in the country.

But keep improving. The fact that you're here probably means you're young (under 30), and that probably means you have yet to master your craft, which in turn means you probably are shit like anyone else who hasn't put in the requisite years to mastering their craft.

>> No.5390448

>tfw the first place I sent my first novel to wanted to take it on but I withdrew it since I felt it wasn't all that good in retrospect
>tfw I've just sent my second book out to a publisher who reacted to my query about agents they're familiar with by offering to read it without me having to submit to an agent first
>tfw I've just started another novel which I'll write in 1k-a-day sections until I reach 35k or so words
>tfw if I fail it'll be another year in this shitty job

>> No.5390460

>>5388024
but dune's shit

>> No.5390467

>>5387974
What's this image called?

>> No.5390475

>>5388872
underrated post

>> No.5390505

>>5390433
>young (under 30)

If you aren't published by the age of 25 you may as well give up

>> No.5390518

>>5389069
It's terrible. You need to read and write more. This isn't publishable. I'm sorry.

>> No.5390519

>>5390505

why?

what is the point of giving up?

>> No.5390521

>>5387974
Just three?

So fucking what? That's nothing, most books, no matter how good they are, will get rejected at least 10 times.

The first harry potter book got rejected like 50 times.

>> No.5390528

>>5387974
Make the main character into big sassy black woman who needs no man and has a talent for soul food recipes There OP, I made you a best seller.

>> No.5390529
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5390529

>discouraged by entry level obstacles

>> No.5390539

>>5390519
Better than chasing goals you will never be able to achieve

You really think publishers want some haggard-looking whiteboy to promote when they can have a young, fresh edgy writer instead?

>> No.5390550

>>5389069
>>5390518
it's actually not that bad for YA.

it's clearly not written for /lit/

>> No.5390555

>>5388777
>Giving them an excuse to throw it out and move on to the next one

Is this part of the reason why so many people never get published? That they can't follow simple instructions and believe that being a special snowflake will give them better chances?

I'm a novice and I know better then that, fuck.

>> No.5390587

>>5390550
>it's actually not that bad for YA.

It's terrible and you're terrible for defending it. I would be embarrassed if I had told people I was attempting to publish that. I mean it's really bad. And there's nothing wrong with that because, hey, we're all producing shit during the learning process. But you don't try to publish it.

>> No.5390610

>>5390505
>Ignoring all those famous authors published well after 25

Willingly being stupid isn't really good shit-posting material anon.

>> No.5390623
File: 152 KB, 2197x1463, Whore.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5390623

>>5388708
>Have you ever wished you had represented the author of the Holy Bible and placed it with a publisher? With the Bible being the best selling book ever written over the last 2,000 years, the revenue it would have generated for your agency and employees would have allowed your agency to exist for generations. While I don’t have a religious manuscript, I do have one I believe is as important as the Bible which has the sales potential of the Bible.

>> No.5390677

>>5389069
>Clair pulled on her top, stretching it out, then let it spring back into space
>let it spring back into space
That's some powerful elasticated fabric if it can make it into orbit.

You might benefit from joining a writer's group, or from doing a Master's degree in creative writing - lots of opportunity to get your shit read, figure out what works and what doesn't. Good luck.

>> No.5390682
File: 478 KB, 960x779, 1409864648337.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5390682

>>5387974

>> No.5390683

>>5390677
>actually advocating a creative writing master's degree

8/10

>> No.5390691

>>5390587
i don't think that you are wrong.

the reason i was saying this is due to the fact that i read really really bad released stuff for YA.

>> No.5390695

>>5390682
>farfalle
>godtier
>no conchiglie
>no spiralli
>no macaroni
>no cannelloni

Fucking plebs. Farfalle is automatic shit tier because it takes slightly longer to cook in the middle than the edges.

>> No.5390696

>>5390555
Some people are incapable of following instructions. I don't know what it is, but the second some people, fuck it; i'll even say MOST people see instructions their eyes just glaze over and they don't know what to do with them.

I see that shit at work all the time.

>uh boss, i'm having a problem.
>Really, hey first thing's first, did you read the instructions printed right on the machine?
>Uh, yeah?
>Tell me what the instructions are.
>Uh.....
>There's only 5 steps....
>Uh, i guess i don't know.
>Go read the instructions, and follow them.
>Oh....uh....ok.
>*Comes back 5 minutes later* uh...i'm still having a problem.
>Ok fine fucker, let me show you.
>*go and use the machine, follow instructions, works fine*. Amazing how that works huh?
>Next day, same fucker comes back with the same problem. Process repeats daily.

>> No.5390698
File: 19 KB, 500x327, 1404991153635.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5390698

>>5390683
Worked for me

>> No.5390722

>>5390695
That's what makes it godtier, you plebby pleb!

>> No.5390727

>>5390696
That's why tech support exists. It's the internet age, you can find instructions on how to do anything anymore. But people need to have another person physically walk them through each step because they're not capable of doing it themselves.

>> No.5390730

>>5390698
How long have you been published?

>> No.5390733

>>5390727
It's a way we learn, vicarious learning.

>> No.5390741

>>5390722
Why because it's inconvenient?

>> No.5390763

>>5390730
I haven't finished what I want to publish yet. The course improved my prose and approach to writing no end though.

>> No.5390767

>>5390763
Post an extract from before and after so that we can compare and see whether it's worth the time, effort and money.

>> No.5390789

>>5390767
Nah. Just take my word for it. Getting access to a brutally-honest readership is worth its weight in gold, it picks up all kinds of amateurish habits you might have. I still have a lot of fucking improving to do, but I know how to do that now.

>> No.5390801

>>5390789
>Nah. Just take my word for it.
>4chan

In all seriousness though I agree with the necessity of honest critiquing, however I can't help but feel that there are better ways of getting that. Either way, good luck in your publishing endeavours.

>> No.5390802

>>5390528
Books don't work like prime time tv

>>5390539
Maybe it adds to the charm, they have Martin on tv all the time and I hear people say stuff about how weird and cool he looks. Granted, you may have to wait until you have white beard and people look down to you as a cute crazy old man, but is something.

>>5390623
Don't laugh, he's gonna create a cult around his book that goes beyond copyright laws and even state based systems.

>>5390682
Farfalle is shit, fusilli have a couple more variables to cook them since they can work with differente sizes of vegetables, spaghetti is the standard for so many people since they are middle tier just like everything successful is. Besides that I agree with the chart.

>> No.5390803

>>5390741
Farfalle is Godtier pasta because it requires effort and attention and care to achieve its highest level of beauty and taste.
For a green little child as you are, I would wholeheartedly compare Farfalle's true effulgence and, for your sake, complexity, to that of Joyce's Ulysses, which is of course my favorite book. And much as I'm certain you did with Ulysses, I would advise, indubitably so, that you put down Farfelli for Farelli is a pasta for patricians with faultless preferences.
You're pasta game is weak, weaker than Ryang Chun-hwa.
Go. Return to your fleculent island in >>/b

>> No.5390824

>>5390801
Thanks man. As I was typing that I did wonder whether there was much difference, in theory, between the course and the feedback /lit/ provides, when amenable. /lit/ would be less likely to trawl through 20-page submissions and mark detailed critiques, I suppose.

>> No.5390832

>>5390803
7/10 could have nudged up to an 8 with a mention of 'fartfalle'

>> No.5390875

>>5390803
The "you're" looked like a typo more than an intentional reference, but other wise great work.

>> No.5390883

>>5390824
/lit/ bothers less with long material, like, absolutely zero chance they'd check more than 3 pages. But if you get the right time zone you could get ten or more people commenting your work while in a lot of workshops people are shy to tell you what they think, some don't wanna sound like idiots if they say something "wrong" and some don't wanna hurt your feelings or something. I see poetry threads some times that look quite competent in their analysis, probably because it's quite hard to find decent constructive critic on poetry, but the narrative critic threads are full on single paragraphs completely meh being destroyed for not being like the particular anon likes.
It's a mixed bag.

>> No.5390889

I know its a piece of shit book. (but it also makes a point of boosting confidence) but harry potter got rejected like 20 times. So reach 20 and see what happens.

>> No.5390897

>>5387974
The first Harry Potter got rejected like twenty times or something.

>> No.5390912
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5390912

>>5390875
I had a lot of fun writing it.

>> No.5390916

Everyone gets rejected, more so if you are coming in cold. You keep writing and rewriting. Most people give up way before the spot you are in.

>> No.5390929

>>5390897

Did you know, the first Harry Potter got rejected twenty times!

>> No.5390955

>>5390929
I heard it was 47 times from somewhere.

Point is: all books will get rejected, especially if you're a first time author. Whether the book is good or not isn't even a consideration sometimes for an agent. Market conditions play a lot. Say you write a thrill, maybe it's good, but the agent might have 20 thrillers on his plate he's trying to sell, so he doesn't want anymore.