I recently submitted my novel to a publisher. After some initial interest, he decided not to publish it. He had some nice things to say, but ultimately, he didn't connect with my characters in the early chapters.
It gave me pause. Should I rework those early chapters or should I find a different publisher, one that would more easily identify with my main character? The answer was, "Yes."
I've made some changes to my book, but not in any major ways. I always want to be open to feedback and consider it seriously, but I also have to maintain the integrity of my book. No one wants to read a book that has been changed to please so many different people that it no longer has a clear direction or focus.
I've also come to accept the fact that my book fits in the category of "chick lit." I can call it "commercial fiction" all I want (which it is), but it is also squarely in the "chick lit" camp. Now that I've accepted that fact I can better target my queries and submissions.
I suppose I should be disappointed about my rejection, but I just can't quite muster those negative feelings. To me, it's like finding a friend. You may meet a lot of people, but you only connect with a few. No matter how much you change to try to fit in with those "other" people you will find that it's not really you. It just doesn't work. So, you keep looking until you make a connection. And in the end the friendships you do make are ones that last a lifetime.
That's what I'm going to do with my book. I'm going to keep "meeting" publishers until I find one that I (and my book) connect with. I may learn (and edit) along the way, after all, that is part of this process we call life. But in the end I hope to find the right fit, one that will last through this book, and the next, and the next.
Isn't this a wonderful journey?
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