Jenna Harte

Category: Publishing

  • The Waiting Game

    The Waiting Game

    Getting published is definitely an exercise in patience. Granted, every book, magazine article or agent/publisher submission guidelines suggests that the process can take months. In retrospect, for many submissions, I’ve experienced shorter waiting times. I had four agents respond within a a few days to a few weeks with their “no”. I had a publisher respond in five days asking to see a manuscript. An agent has kept in touch with me every few weeks with updates on the process. This is good. And yet, it’s hard to wait.

    On the other end, agents and publishers are probably working non-stop answering queries, reading manuscripts, working with writers. They are busy, busy, busy. But as the writer who’s sitting and checking her email every few minutes to see if someone wants to buy her work, the wait is excruciating. I find myself wondering, what part of the book are they at? Have they even picked it up to read yet?. How much longer do I have wait….?

    But every great goal requires work and patience. Losing weight takes time. Saving money takes time. And hearing back about a pitch from a publisher or agent takes time. Maybe that time will be today. I think I’ll go check my email again…

  • Is it Envy? The Incredulous Success of Fifty Shades

    Is it Envy? The Incredulous Success of Fifty Shades

    I love rags to riches stories, especially about indie writers. There is something satisfying about hearing about a writer rejected by traditional publishing, who delivers the ultimate payback…success. But in the case of Fifty Shades of Gray, I’m stumped.

    In theory, I should be excited that the Twilight fan fic turned published book is such a phenomenon since I got started by writing fan fic. What perplexes me is the quality of writing, not for fan fic, but for a traditionally published book. Fan fiction readers are so happy to read stories about their favorite characters, that they are forgiving of things like typos and quality of writing. But when a book is picked up by a publisher, it seems like editing for quality should be a part of the process. It doesn’t feel like that happened in the case of Fifty Shades of Gray. Didn’t the editor find the overuse of some words (i.e. “inner Goddess” and “holy….”) annoying? Or the sex scenes a little too flowery ala bodice rippers of yesteryear? I’m not criticising the the bondage or erotica, I’m talking about the over-the-top language like “…pushing higher and higher into the castle in the air” or referring to a part of Christian’s anatomy as a popsicle. Are these adults or teenagers? I was expecting to read things like “trobbing love thruster”.

    Is it jealousy or sour grapes on my part. Maybe, though I don’t think so. As I mentioned in the beginning, I’ve enjoyed seeing the success of other indie authors finally getting noticed by traditional publishers. But maybe I need to view the success of Fifty Shades of Gray as a good sign. Maybe other readers, not just fan fiction readers, don’t care as much about the quality of the writing as the story. Or maybe its just readers who like titillating reads. That must be it. After all, people who like porn don’t pay too much attention to cinematic style or quality.

    While I found Fifty Shades of Gray an annoying read, ultimately I have to congratulate E.L. James for her success. Afterall, what every writer wants are readers who love the story and that is what E.L. James was able to achieve.

  • Endangered Cover – What do you think?

    Endangered Cover – What do you think?

    Step-by-step I move closer to getting my novella Endangered published. It’s crazy how much there is do to self-publish a book. Aside from writing, there is editing, formatting for e-readers, buying an ISBN, writing a blurb that makes people want to read it, and creating a cover that entices people to read the blurb. I’m working on the final edit and then I’ll do the formatting. I’m also working on the cover. Below is the current incarnation, but I’m not sure it’s right. I’d love to have your feedback.

  • Rejection Sucks!

    Rejection Sucks!

    I understand that rejection is part of the writing/publishing process, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to take. Particularly when you make a step forward, but then are pushed back again. I mentioned in a recent post that I’d made it one step closer when a publisher and an agent requested the full manuscript. The agent emailed with positive words and indicated she’d passed it on to another agent for review as well. Yea!

    But then this week I got the dreaded, “no thank you” email. Waaaa! The email was positive overall. She called the book a “page turner” and said there were “strong elements to the narrative”. She said it was “very good” but apparently it wasn’t “great”. She suggested I up the intimacy between Jack and Tess and turn it into a romance novel. The problem with that idea is that I already have two drafts of additional books about Jack and Tess. Romances don’t do series, so it wouldn’t work. At least I haven’t seen a romance series that wasn’t also a mystery series.

    The book is still with a publisher and while I know I can still get a ‘no’, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a ‘yes’.

    Have you gotten a rejection? I’d love to hear your tips for dealing with it!

  • One Step Closer

    One Step Closer

    As I wrote in my previous post, waiting is hard to do. But, today I heard back from a potential agent. This woman has been sooooo great.

    I first sent the query through the submission form on her website about a week before Christmas. I got an automatic message that the submission was received. In the beginning of February, I couldn’t wait any longer, so I emailed asking if she got the submission. Turns out it got lost or didn’t go through after all. So I sent my short pitch and few chapters. A week later I got an email in which she apologized for the delay and indicated she’d get to it soon.

    I emailed back thanking her for the update. By then I had a publisher ask for the full manuscript, so I mentioned it to the agent, who then wrote back and asked for the full manuscript as well. That was February 15. Today I received an email in which she wrote, “Just to keep you posted, I thoroughly enjoyed your manuscript so I passed it along to a coworker to get another read. We’ll have an answer for you as soon as possible.”

    I know that it could still be “no”, but each little step closer is exciting. And it’s validating. I love my story. My mom and sister like my story. But let’s face it, what we think doesn’t count. When an agent says she liked it, that tells me I might be able to do this writing thing after all.