How To Avoid the Slush Pile
Why I was rejected by over 30 agents in 4 months
I once met a successful author, who explained some fascinating statistics; out of 100 people that start writing a book, only one starts. Then out of every 100 people that start writing their book, only one finishes. Finally, out of every 100 that finish, only one will get published.
I remember the moment I completed my book, vividly. I was so euphoric. I cried, thinking that this was the moment when my life would change. To me, I had already beaten the first two statistics, and I was charging forward to be the 1 in 100 to be published.
As with most other first time writers, I was rejected from all of the 30 plus agents that I had submitted to, with only a standard email rejection sent at best or zero response from others.
There are several reasons for this, and it is only through making hideous mistakes along the way that I have gained valuable insights.
Your First Draft Sucks
Completing your manuscript is an impressive achievement, but unless you’re JK Rowling, the first draft will be awful. If you are a first-time author, like me, it will be worse!
I took me over two years to complete my book and looking back, I think I mind-vomited onto the page. I included some great ideas, but those ideas were surrounded by a vast amount of fluff.
That being said — your first draft is so important. Without the words on the page and a definitive ending, you cannot move forward. You should absolutely pat yourself on the back for beating statistics number one and two, but this is when the real hard work begins.
Don’t Ask Your Family and Friends For Feedback
After having finished our masterpieces, we crave acceptance and the acknowledgement that we haven’t just wasted two years of our lives writing utter drivel.
Unfortunately entrusting our friends and family with this critical task is not a great idea. It’s rather like asking a hypochondriac whether they are ill, you know what the answer is going to be.
Our friends and family love us and want to be supportive of our ‘pie in the sky’ dreams of becoming a writer. Of course, they are going to love it and probably suggest that it’s as good as something they’ve just read or even better.
As lovely and well-meaning their comments are, they are not professionals. If you want honest and constructive feedback, you need to ask someone with experience, who can be completely objective. Someone with a critical eye to make suggestions that will genuinely move you forward. Which leads me on to my next tip…
Join a Writing Group
If you use our old friend Google, there are tons of writing groups you can join, both online and heaven forbid, in person. Surrounding yourself with like-minded people is so beneficial for you, to make connections, and share ideas.
Writing can be very isolating and solitary. It’s cathartic to discuss challenges with others who are in the same boat. They are a valuable resource to tap into for words of wisdom and often, that little bit of encouragement that you need.
My local group is excellent, they often hold events where authors and agents are invited to share their expertise. It’s well worth checking them out.
Cut 10%
You’ve worked so hard to finish your book, and finally, you look at the word count, and it fills your heart with joy. You wrote that many words. Incredible!
Now comes the hardest part. As impressive as you think your writing is, you’ve got to cut it down. It’s time to take out all the unnecessary, ‘that’s, ‘and’s and wordy sentences that change your text from being okay to slick.
An experienced writer once told me 10% was roughly the number that I should cut. At first, I was devastated, that was a lot of thousands of words; however, he was correct.
If a sentence doesn’t reveal anything about the character or move the action on — delete. When I started to re-read, the amount I cut based on this advice made a huge difference to the pace.
It’s interesting when you start reviewing, what you notice, and how self-critical you are.
Don’t Use Adverbs or Over Describe
All first-time authors want to impress; we have delicious prose to share with the world. Unfortunately, we often over-egg the pudding!
We do this is by over describing everything. Painting a picture in the reader’s head is vital for story engagement, but this can be achieved by selecting verbs that accurately describe a mood and choosing one strong adjective as opposed to three.
We may think we are demonstrating writing talent, however, for the reader, it can be tedious. Readers are intelligent beings, give them what they need, they will create the rest.
An enormous helping of adverbs within your initial paragraph is also a warning siren to agents that you are an amateur.
Choose Your Point of View
This was a big issue for me. I had no idea that I was ‘head-hopping’, which means writing a scene from multiple points of view. This confused my reader throughout, and it’s a significant learning point that I’ve now (hopefully) grasped.
At the beginning of your scene, you need to decide who’s POV of view it’s from; which character’s POV is the most important to drive the story forward. You then remain with that character throughout to avoid confusion.
If I found a scene wasn’t working, I tried writing it from a different POV, this often revealed new and exciting insights.
It is possible to have multiple POVs in one scene, but only experts should do this. If it’s done accurately, it can work beautifully. If not, your reader will become perplexed and probably give up!
Check Your Grammar
The misuse of the comma, as well as the inclusion of cliched and repetitive words, is common. While reviewing, I have noticed that I love throwing in extra commas alongside using ‘however’ far too many times.
There are also favourite words that are over-used, especially ones that stick out as being different. I recently read a book where the author was fond of ‘festooned’, which was very noticeable when used for the third time.
There are many grammar checking applications, it is certainly worth investing in one. It should pick up the errors that you can’t see.
Put It Away
As much as you want to get started on editing, put your manuscript away somewhere you can’t see it, for a few weeks.
As counter-productive as this may sound, it is one of the best pieces of advice I’ve been given. Our brains are magnificent. They add in missing words, correct spellings and make convoluted sentences appear concise.
It’s for this reason that you need to review your work with fresh eyes, not ones that have subconsciously memorised your every phrase. Once your brain is rested, you will undoubtedly re-read your original draft and wonder why the hell you added so many unnecessary words.
Rejection is Certain
The list of elements above is by no means exhaustive; they are just some tips that I have learnt along the way, that if I’d employed to my first draft, perhaps I would have received some constructive feedback earlier.
You will get rejections from agents because that’s the nature of the industry. The great thing is that you don’t need all of them to say yes, you just need one.
My last piece of advice is one that an author told me after reading my terrible draft — Hold Your Nerve!
“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”
Richard Bach
