A bad fairy breathed on my story...

Rats - I have written another picture book that doesn't quite hit the mark. Love the idea but when all is said and done and written up, even though the story hangs together like a proper one and I can see the illustrations and the page breaks and it has a good resolution and a cute last line it is less than the sum of its parts. Now I am not going to get upset and bent out of shape over this because of two things. 1) I'm actually rather pleased with myself and see this as progress that I know it has issues. I know both practically and intuitively that it can't go to a publisher and I know why. Now this does not mean I can fix it and then post it off. One of its issues is that it has the wrong sort of magic. All good stories have a certain magic that breaths picture book life into them. I think I got the magic breath of life for this story from the bad fairy in Sleeping Beauty. Suffice it to say i think this story is probably unfixable. And 2) I think I am building up to something better. I have now written several slightly-not-right picture books in the last few weeks and I feel like I am on a bit of a forward roll, still gathering momentum and sharpening the brain up with every effort. I feel strangely excited about what might be coming next.

Read a comment the other day from a much published local who said don't mention multiple/simultaneous submissions in a covering letter as it discourages publishers from reading your work. Just let them know if you get another offer after the fact. I blogged a while back on multiple submissions. I was in favour, as I'm not getting any younger and publishers can take a very long time to respond. Most overseas advice on this topic urges full disclosure and I was sticking with this but now I'm not so sure. I don't know if any publishers read this blog but if you do I would love to know how you feel about multiple submissions and the disclosure thereof. Anonymous comments welcome.

Loved this post at Janet Reid's blog the other day. It is truly inspirational if you are a writer. What I want to know is how the author knew to keep perservering with this novel rather than throwing his hands up in the air and moving on to something new.