Here we are at the polishing and agent-finding stages, during the month that I'm following a very exciting writer’s advice. Let me revise that a bit: "I'm following" should be changed to "I read"..."before packing up my entire house, husband, and toddler and moving from Maryland to Florida." To be honest, this blog is not my very first priority at the moment.
I'm also waiting on four or so people's feedback before I do any polishing.
But back to the point, please.
Jodi Picoult, who is a vivid, marvelous spatter of paint across the canvas of contemporary writers, has four specific people to read her chapters as she writes them. She incorporates their feedback in various drafts and says she's done when she just can't stand to look at the thing again.
Easy to understand. Revise until I can't stand it anymore. Got it.
It took Picoult three years to find an agent to represent her. She went about it in what she calls the traditional way, writing to a big publishing house to find which agents were accepting submissions and then contacting them. She emphasizes the importance of a thick skin and perseverance in this process.
Then, when she did find an agent, it took about three months to sell the book, which is a tribute to the quality and excitement of her work. Not sure that we should all expect that kind of turnaround (I type sarcastically).
In an interview with Writers Write, she says, "If it takes you 3-5 years to get published, you're still ahead of the game."
Though I get the feeling that with Picoult, it's always full steam ahead. It really is hard to fail like that. Even without her talent. For examples, just read a couple Hollywood biographies...
No comments:
Post a Comment