I've had a rather pessimistic writing day and I've found myself doubting Madison and its worth. Is it a complete novel? Is there enough story? Does the beginning happen fast enough?
I've concocted a dozen different "solutions," from starting later in the story to adding the second book into this one to tossing the first novel completely and getting book 2 ready to sell as book 1 of the series.
My head is not in a good place to be able to tell if any of these decisions would be good ones. They all sound good right now. They all sound like they would sell faster/easier than the novel I'm currently querying.
Making decisions from a place of doubt isn't wise. I'm still sane enough to know that. And before those tenuous shreds of logic slip away, I'm making the decision to let Madison rest in the hands of the agents to whom I've submitted, and I'll be focusing tomorrow's writing time on Areia. There's a lot to do there, not the least of which is figuring out how best to organize the rewrites. I estimate that will take me at least two days, which probably means it will take me a week. But at least I'll be making progress on something, not spinning my mind through Madison, picking at flaws that may or may not exist.
2 comments:
OK, woman, I am begging you, PLEASE continue querying Madison, and at least get some feedback from several agents whom you respect before deciding to do ANYTHING drastic!
I looooved Madison when I read it, and felt it was a well-told story even then. It's possible to edit too much; I loved the freshness of your voice in that story. It's awesome.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but you've been querying for exactly a week and a half? Give it some time to run free, baby!
"Around here...we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things...and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."
–Walt Disney
Keep on keeping on, lady. Channel that energy into Areia, and let your other baby stretch its legs. :)
TikiBird, thank you for your support! Madison is currently in the hands of several agents, waiting for their responses. I had this initial vision of going a bit query crazy and submitting to EVERYONE that I was interested in at once, but then I realized that could be counterproductive. What if someone along the way has a good suggestion of change, I make it, they don't want Madison, but now I've run through all the agents I want to work with. So I have a batch of people that currently have Madison, and I'll work on Areia while I wait a few weeks to see what they say.
While brushing my teeth this morning, I came up with another idea of tightening the beginning. :) I'm taking hope from these rewrite ideas simply because if Madison doesn't sell as is, I have possible solutions for fixes that will get her sold. I won't stop trying to sell her.
Also, if for some sad reason Madison doesn't sell, I had the thought that maybe I could sell book 2 as book 1 and then when the series gets its legs under it (aka it becomes a New York Times bestselling series) I could release book 1 as a novella (with some trimming) as a "Look how Madison got her start."
One way or the other, this book *will* get published!
And I'm so glad you commented here last night, because I was working myself up to sitting down and doing some Madison edits, but you've changed my mind (made me see some logic again) and I shall focus on Areia as intended today. Mr. Disney is right--I must move forward for a while.
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