thinking new year, new attempt - seem to be feeling things have got clearer!

[grumpypants]

used to post a lot, got an agent interested, (ultimately a no) and then got a report done by a 'book doctor' - lost all heart as the two seemed to conflict - however, i decided to look again at my dust gathering stuff and have decided:

1. too adult (clarified as the child having too adult thought processes) does not actually conflict with the subsequent report, which i think suggests the plot is too young. it's just clicked.
2. i should stp panicking about not blogging or twittering because mummy blogging will not help to get an agent/ publisher for my book which is nothig to do with parenting
3. Twitter might be useful to stay in the loop, but really, i will just have to submit to the slush pile.

any thoughts? i feel a bit like i can cope with it all again now!

I think the most important thing is to a) write and b) write something amazing. Everything else is just white noise. It's good to keep in the loop etc., but not at the expense of writing that amazing ms. At the end of the day it's only the amazing ms that matters. This point was driven home to me last week when my agent sold a ms for over $500,000 at auction by an 18-year-old writer who had no Facebook/Twitter account etc., no fabulous connections, nothing but an amazing ms. And publishers will always want one of those.

Seriously, do not worry about blogging, tweeting etc. Just write your book.

Once you get a publisher you can then discuss with them how best to target publicity.

Thanks. Just had another rejection (nice one) - it is hard when polished and published books divide opinion so much to expect to find an agent who likes yours. There seems to be no grey area of come back when its revamped - either yes or no. (Did have one interested in reading the whole thing, so I guess that's proof the slush pile gets looked at).

Thanks.

the grey area is they like your sub request the ms and tell you they are not sure but keep trying - bitter, moi?

grumpy the slush most definitely does get read.
Agents wouldn't dare not read it, just in case the next big thing is in there.

ninah you got it! Good points but not for me, good luck etc.wordfactory yes, that's true. I think its just fighting to find the person who gets you, amongst all the sleb, slush and (e)stablished writers. Have managed to stop caring so much about age groups and word counts and just get on and do it,

yeah I'm an expert on the nuanced rejection. Keep on writing keep on getting better - what else can you do? worry about the standard of your work not on the hypotheticals and diversions. Just write, think and edit. And then some more. Good luck!

Thank you - that's really the basic truth isn't it!

It's all about getting on the right desk at the right time with the right ms - and keep plug, plug, plugging away and one day it'll happen, probably when you least expect it. More easily said than done and I'm a perfect example of not practising what I preach.

Good advice about not getting too worked up about your internet presence, and a reassuring story from Novelist.

yes definitely - its so easy to get bogged down by the frilly bits of writing - word counts, profile, networking etc. Think I need to start again, and get over myself!