tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post8605084950461917501..comments2023-10-25T05:30:54.507-04:00Comments on Oh Get A Grip!: The Bright Side of RejectionAshe Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03390519279886657608noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-77534306967787996782016-11-30T21:47:41.323-05:002016-11-30T21:47:41.323-05:00Giselle, I like your take on the topic. And I like...Giselle, I like your take on the topic. And I like what you say about trust. I think for a long time, I wanted validation, but I've since learned that trust is much more important.Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-74554570847205765602016-11-30T21:46:35.214-05:002016-11-30T21:46:35.214-05:00Yeah, I'm pretty sure I worked with them, if w...Yeah, I'm pretty sure I worked with them, if we're talking about the same people. Definitely congrats to everyone who dodged that bullet.Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-19281731947906244582016-11-26T08:45:17.248-05:002016-11-26T08:45:17.248-05:00There's also the fact that although this publi...<i>There's also the fact that although this publisher seems quite together, their books do not sell well.</i><br /><br />I gather that's also more the rule than the exception (the not selling well, that is—not necessarily the having it together (:v>).Jeremy Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01980177431018869829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-60052659586314066712016-11-26T01:36:50.849-05:002016-11-26T01:36:50.849-05:00I hardly ever submit to publishers anymore either....I hardly ever submit to publishers anymore either. It's not so much a lack of trust (I've been fairly lucky in that regard), but more the question of freedom to write what inspires me, even if it does not fit into neat little genre boxes. My last major novel with a erotic romance publisher went through so many painful content edits that I got frustrated. It ended up being a different book from the way I'd imagined it.<br /><br />There's also the fact that although this publisher seems quite together, their books do not sell well. I keep thinking about trying to get out of my contracts with them and republishing the books myself. But honestly, I don't have the time or energy.<br /><br />Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-70415501941756667212016-11-25T18:29:51.648-05:002016-11-25T18:29:51.648-05:00It wasn't exactly a close call, but after the ...It wasn't exactly a close call, but after the sale of my main publisher I was regretting that I'd not only signed contracts but turned in completed manuscripts for two anthologies. It looked for quite a while as though they'd never see print, but I was still committed by my contract. Meanwhile I had tentative offers from other, smaller publishers. I offered to let the new publisher out of the contracts (they'd already disregarded other contracts and dropped some other editors' anthologies) but it was hard to get any definitive response. Now one book has come out, though, three years later than it should have, and the other comes out next May, also three years late by then. I still have to fight to get the terms of the original contracts fulfilled, though--contributors' copies are the main hassle. They don't offer them in any new contracts. I don't know whether I'd have been better off not to have contracted when I did, but it's true that my writers (I polled them several times) really wanted their work to come out from that publisher, even though the ownership had changed. Sacchi Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801164916418570059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-12253991532936959742016-11-24T22:12:47.233-05:002016-11-24T22:12:47.233-05:00I suspect we all know te litigious, deadbeat press...I suspect we all know te litigious, deadbeat press that rejected your submission. Definitely a close call. I dreamed of sending them something, but I didn't have a novel that fit their guidelines. I'm glad now.Jean Robertahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08805088081675965859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-57231173371268008982016-11-24T16:58:33.255-05:002016-11-24T16:58:33.255-05:00Oh! I just had a memory: an anthology editor who i...Oh! I just had a memory: an anthology editor who inserted multiple comma splices into EVERY PARAGRAPH of my story and went to press without ever asking me to okay those changes. I was so embarrassed knowing readers would look at that piece of shit and think I'd produced it.Giselle Renardehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15955755448116234634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-23661426860979464282016-11-24T09:37:24.415-05:002016-11-24T09:37:24.415-05:00Though concerns about finances were not unknown to...Though concerns about finances were not unknown to me (though in most cases I was worried about accuracy and transparency rather than deliberate cheating), my biggest, broadest cumulative trust issues regarding publishers had to do with learning I couldn't trust them not to make bad edits to my work—and not to then (a) treat me like a PITA when I questioned them (even though I was always willing to rewrite until both parties were happy), and/or (b) go to press without even sending the edits for author review. This was so much the rule rather than the exception that, by the end, it was one more reason that writing didn't seem worth the trouble. It's bad enough knocking yourself out for virtually no readers and virtually no money without having the aggravation and humiliation of trying to chase down bad edits all the time. (And I do mean <i>bad</i> edits, not subjective judgment-call edits. I'm talking about objectively faulty grammar being inserted into the work, or revisions being made that altered the intended meaning or threw something else off in a subsequent sentence or paragraph.) Jeremy Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01980177431018869829noreply@blogger.com