When some balance is required ...

I've had a few rejections over the last couple of weeks for adult poetry and a couple of picture books. I'm an old hand now - I've experienced rejection many times and know I will get past it but it never fails to sting. So its nice to look at a few positives from the last few weeks to balance things out.

I got sent the final pdf of a wee chapter book I wrote last year for the Ministry of Education that will be published this August and it was wonderful to see the final version. More details on this when I have my own copies in my hot little hands.

I was thrilled to have another poem appear on wonderful poet Paula Green's children's poetry blog, Poetry Box. It's called A Bath in Nature and you can read it here. 

And I just found out that Lucy and The Dark is a finalist for the Scholastic New Zealand Award for Best Children's Book in the 2024 PANZ Book Design Awards. The full list of finalists can be found here. I think the illustrations and design for this book are outstanding and I am so pleased for illustrator Vasanti Unka and designer Cat Taylor. I feel incredibly lucky they were the team picked for my story.

I received a truly lovely, long and detailed review of My Elephant is Blue on Goodreads which warmed me all over. 

‘My Elephant is Blue’ by Melinda Szymanik is a truly phenomenal book that tackles the complex and often overwhelming feelings of sadness and depression in a way that is accessible and relatable for children. As someone who has personally grappled with "big heavy feelings" and has had to explain these emotions to children, I can wholeheartedly say that this book is an excellent resource.

Plot: ★★★★★
The plot is nothing short of wonderful. It deftly describes the feelings of sadness and heaviness in a healthy and informative manner. The story covers essential aspects such as the loss of appetite, the sense of being weighed down, and the struggle to engage in activities despite the desire to do so. The narrative is both touching and educational, offering a clear depiction of what it feels like to experience such heavy emotions.

Character: ★★★★★
The characters in this book are exceptionally well-developed. The child protagonist, who is dealing with these heavy feelings, is portrayed with depth and sensitivity. The elephant, a personification of these overwhelming emotions, is a poignant and effective metaphor. The family members who support the child are also wonderfully depicted, showing empathy, understanding, and love. This multi-faceted characterization helps children understand that they are not alone and that support is available.

Illustrations: ★★★★★
The illustrations are beautiful and perfectly complement the story. They bring the emotions and characters to life, adding a visual depth that enhances the overall impact of the narrative. The artwork is both soothing and evocative, helping to convey the book’s themes in a visually engaging way.

Engagement: ★★★★★
This book is highly engaging. The relatable characters, compelling plot, and beautiful illustrations will captivate children and hold their attention from start to finish. It’s a story that children are sure to love and want to revisit.

Readability: ★★★★★
The readability is phenomenal. Discussing topics like sadness and depression with children can be incredibly challenging, but this book addresses these issues with clarity and compassion. The language is straightforward yet profound, making it an excellent read-aloud book for parents, teachers, and caregivers.

Enjoyment: ★★★★★
This is a very enjoyable read. Despite the heavy subject matter, the book handles it with such grace and sensitivity that it leaves a lasting impression. It’s a story that offers comfort, understanding, and hope, making it a valuable addition to any child’s library.

‘My Elephant is Blue’ by Melinda Szymanik is an outstanding book that beautifully addresses the difficult emotions associated with sadness and depression. With its wonderful plot, well-developed characters, stunning illustrations, high engagement, phenomenal readability, and overall enjoyment, it is a must-read for children and adults alike. This book is a fantastic tool for teaching children about these complex feelings in a way that is both compassionate and comprehensible. Highly recommended.

I also had this one. 

'Too long for storytime.'

She gave me four stars though, so it wasn't all bad. If nothing else it's a salutary reminder that different readers will have different response to the same material, and you can't please all of the people all of the time. Back to the writing and lets see what else this week brings ...

Gaze into my crystal (rejectomancy) ball...

Some days should just not be allowed. At the moment it is days with a 'y' in them.  Despite my mood I have managed to find some more juicy links for you. There is this lovely run down on 25 things every writer should know about rejection from terrible minds (via janet reid ). I have wittered on about the subtle art of rejectomancy in the past. Here Mr Wendig explains how time and multiple rejections hone our rejectomancy skills (No. 24). The more you read, the more you know about the writing business, the more able you are to recognise what different types of rejection are actually telling you. Here, finally, is a plus in having received many rejections. There are differences and they do have different meanings. Some are indeed positive and encouraging and manage to give you hope and faith about your writing even though they are still saying 'no'. I think it is also important to note that editors/agents do not always get it right and one rejection should not be seen as the final word on a manuscript.

My other lovely link is uplifting and disheartening all at once - Sandra, in her post on Bad Reviews, reminds us that relying on the praise of others is ultimately futile. There is a wonderful logic to this that cheers me up, however having had some nice reviews recently I am now wondering if I must regard these with the same eye with which I would regard a poor review. Perhaps it is futile to rely on the praise of others but what I will cling on to is the idea that people are reading my book.

Gecko Press...

Went to hear Julia Marshall of Gecko Press talk last night at groovy local indie bookshop 'Time Out'. I enjoyed hearing her talk (especially the bit about being on the Global Board for the Seriously Distracted), and was completely won over by the Gecko philosophy. I love the way her company operates. Obviously as a business, thoughts about the bottom line have weight in any decision making, but there was no doubting the passion for books that underwrites everything they do. Does the text make an emotional connection, does it have 'heart'? - these are the crucial elements for stories they select to publish. Needless to say, I think having a manuscript accepted by them would be a wonderful experience. I came away with several Gecko Books and laughed my way through 'Reflections of a Solitary Hamster' last night. This book is better then any happy pill. When I am in need of a pick-me-up I will be pulling this one off the bookshelf. Like Ian Falconer's Olivia (of which i still do not have a copy - argh) the humour and joie de vivre will never get old.

Here is today's juicy link. Via agent Janet Reid's blog here is a little treatise begging for more rejections by writer Chris Rodell. Funny and sad all at once. Excellent stuff.

Whether we like it or not, writing is a business...

I liked this discussion over at Jane Smith's blog on how it's readers that drive publishing. As we know publishing is a business and publishers are in the business of publishing books they think people will want to read. Okay there are a lot of other players in the game as Jane lists in her post, but ultimately if the reader doesn't pay money for the books they publish, the publisher cannot stay in business. No, publishers don't always get it right (think Harry Potter) when they try to guess what the public wants. And there are plenty of times when they pay big bucks and print thousands of books that the public turn their nose up at. But generally their intent is to find books readers want to buy and read. I've spoken before about not wanting to try and guess at and write to trends myself. I write best when I write what makes my wheels spin. But its good to remind ourselves about this basic tenet of the publishing industry. Sometimes a rejection is not about the quality of the writing or the story, but the fact that publisher just doesn't think there will be enough buyers to cover the costs of publication. Of course I won't always agree with their assessment. Sometimes they don't agree with each other on this either. But its not necessarily a criticism of your writing, its a marketplace decision. I don't like it. I am always writing stories I think readers will like. For me as a writer, I know I need readers. In the beginning I wrote for myself. I tried to write the kinds of stories I liked most as a child. My focus was on finishing the book and sending it to publishers and with luck getting published, but once that happened I knew the readers were who I wanted to connect with. I want to write something people will enjoy, maybe make discoveries from or learn something from as a result. I'm certainly not trying to produce stories readers won't like. But my bottom line is I want to keep writing the stories I want to write. And I guess that means sucking it up when a publisher says no. It won't change the way I write or the things I write about. Getting published is not the goal. It's getting the books I like to write, that I think readers will like, published.

Of course, having said all of this, the biggest issue I face as a writer (apart from convincing the publisher to take on my work) is letting readers know about my stories. Readers may like what I have written but might not be aware I even exist. And readers have a huge choice of titles to pick from. So readers drive publishing? then getting their attention has to be part of the game plan.

Frankenstein's monster wasn't popular...

So what do you do when you've written something you rather like and you've shopped it round a few places and you think you have something there but no one in commercial publishing agrees. After you've swigged a few bottles to dull the pain of your grief over the rejection you re-read their rejection letters/e-mails to check whether anyone has said "I would take another look at this if...." and if their suggestion is not an affront to your moral compass and doesn't turn your teenage romance into a slasher zombie horror (unless you'd considered making this change anyway) you do your best to edit your work and send it back ASAP. Saying "I'll take another look" is the publishing equivalent of gold and should not be dismissed lightly. Try and avoid taking years to edit and reply: publishing staff, book trends, and remembering you and your ms will all change and fade. If other stuff is happening in your life that affects your ability to rework and resend drop them a line and say you are making changes and intending to resubmit as soon as you are able.

If your rejection was a form one, the best next course of action is to work on new material. Reworking old material can lead you down a blind alley you might get lost in. Reworked material can come out looking like Frankenstein's monster - he wasn't popular. Take what you've learnt from writing that ms and apply it to a new story. You need more than one story. If all you ever have is one story, if a publisher does say yes at some point you have no other work to show them and will have months, if not years ahead of you, to produce something else. If your first published piece does well and readers are keen to see more of your writing, you will lose the opportunity to wow them with your next book because it might be three or four years away. Be prepared. Keep writing new material. But never throw out the old things either. Their day may come. Nothing is ever wasted.

Writers zen and the art of being rejected...part 1

I am in a strange zen place about my writing at the moment. Now don't assume for one minute that this means i am not worrying about stuff. There are still plenty of things to worry about such as children (especially eldests sprained ankle and middle childs stolen cell phone and library card which currently has eighteen books out on it, several of which are overdue - who steals a library card? but I guess at least the thief is trying to improve their mind - i am divided in my opinion on that one), driving on the motorway and over the harbour bridge, MY BOOK LAUNCH THIS SATURDAY (8th November, at Mainly Toys in Mt Eden Road, starting 4pm, be there or be square), doing the best lessons I can for the writing class I am taking, the dog's fleas to which he is allergic and all sorts of other things like what to buy people for christmas. I am not worrying about the election, although it is near on impossible to pick between two people whose policies aren't that dissimilar but whose behaviour is equally bad. Not much of a choice really. I choose wine and chocolate...

...anyway I digress. Zen. Writing. I have had a few rejections recently. The agent bravely sends my things out into the world, and...then they come back. But I am untroubled, relaxed, even philosophical about it. I can't help wondering though - is this a bad thing? The potential devastation wrought by rejection can cast a cloud over things for days but if i am not worried by rejection does that mean that some kind of passion is gone. I still feel passionate about writing but how can i be calm about rejection? So folks, you tell me, should I be worried that i'm not worried about rejection?

If its a no, just tell me...

I was sad to see a fellow writer have her work rejected, especially after getting positive feedback about her story, but it got me thinking that sometimes I actually crave rejection. Now please don't get me wrong (but you can think i'm crazy because thats an acknowledged fact). I DO NOT want my writing to be rejected. I cross fingers, toes and everything else crossable (you'd be surprised) in the hope my writing will be accepted. But the reality is not everything of mine is accepted and if its to be rejected I wish they would get on with it and give me the bad news. The rejections I can handle, its the not knowing that drives me insane. The worst scenario is months of waiting, months where you can only speculate that they are giving your work serious consideration and doing the calculations about potential sales using a ouija board, the dessicated bones of a small rodent and a mars bar and then they still turn around and say no. I blame the mars bar. Chocolate should never be involved in the decision making process. But maybe your ms is really only protecting their desk from coffee cup rings or propping up the ilustrations for some else's ms that got the nod, or lying muddied in the rear footwell of the publisher's car. I have no way to tell what is really happening. I will not stalk you if you reject me. I will not abuse you, harangue you or provide a 50 page letter explaining why your decision was wrong. I just want to know whats going on. And maybe if you don't want to publish it, someone else might - stranger things have happened. But the longer publishers delay a decision the bigger the delay before I can send my story out to someone else. And then the whole process begins again. And normal everyday people wonder why writers have a haunted air about them, drink copious quantities of alcohol, and get depressed so easily. Its simple. If its a 'no', could you please just tell me so I can move on with my life!

Whats been happening in the writing world recently...

Fifi Colston at www.fificolston.blogspot.com mentioned the YA manuscript competition Text Publishing in Australia are running, closing date 31 July with $10,000 prize money (www.textpublishing.com.au/ ). Of course I'm only 10,000 words into my YA novel and there's no way I could finish that in time to send it off. Drat and double drat. I keep telling myself that even if I could write that fast I wouldn't be sending in a terribly polished version which would do the story a disservice. I do wish I could write faster though. There are so many things I want to work on but I can only really concentrate on one thing at a time unless the other thing is short like a picture book or short story but i haven't had any of those kinds of ideas recently. I guess i just have to work with wot i got.

Justine Larbalestier has a nice little comment about rejection in her blog today in response to a commenter not yet brave enough to submit her own material anywhere. Justine says:

'Rejection is a huge part of this business whether you’re published or not. I know some people say that if you’re neurotic about rejection you shouldn’t try to get published. But I can’t think of a single writer I know who isn’t neurotic about it. Obviously, some more than others, but we all feel the sting of rejection. We all fear it.'

I agree. Nobody likes rejection. Its just a part of the job you have to somehow cope with. But the desire for publication outweighs the fear because no matter how many rejections we get we keep sending our writing out.

Justine has also been blogging about the proposal for parallel importing of books into Australia which poses a threat to the local publishing industry there. I wish i could explain it better. If you want to read more about it you'll need to check out Justine's blog because its a complex issue i don't know enough about. Its scary though as I wonder can/does it happen here in NZ and could we cope with any more threats to our already hard pressed industry.

At least booksellers here are doing okay right now with the Paper Plus chain investing in upgrading their stores and Dymocks opening some new shops, including one in my neighbourhood. Both companies say business is good and are happy to be investing for the long term. Yay. I'll be checking out that they stock my books.