Save Yourself 10 Years
Or, that time I murdered 10,129 of my own words.
TL;DR
Hearing the same feedback from knowledgeable people?
Then act on it.
Save yourself 10 years of pain.
Last week, I murdered 10,129 of my own words.
Specifically in the novel I’ve been writing since 2007. Yes, since 2007.
In 2014, it was read by a publisher but they passed on it.
Since they didn’t give me feedback, I asked a friend who knew a thing or two about literature and storytelling.
She said:
"You should consider making this YA instead."
An author I knew told me something similar:
“Might be interesting if your protagonist was a teen instead.”
I ignored them.
No, my book was better than YA. It’s LITERARY FICTION, dammit.
In 2018, I got feedback again:
"This might work really well as YA."
Ignored again.
Decided to self-publish the book when I was teaching myself how to edit. No one cared.
In 2022, I decided to un-publish it and revise. In 2023, I thought to myself:
"Should I make this YA?"
Ignored myself. Kept it as literary fiction.
In 2024, I won a query contest, using my query for the revised novel.
Email from an agent:
"Let us know if you revise this more and make it YA."
Well, sh!t. Okay.
So last week, I made time to revise, revamp, and remove, transforming the book into the YA novel that had been fighting to break out of its lit fic cocoon.
I added new subplots to raise the stakes.
I changed the MC’s age (which made far more sense)
Cut a ton of unnecessary words.
Stopped ignoring the feedback.
The results?
Feels like a totally different (and better) book. This week, I'll redo the query letter and start over, including letting the agency from the email know that I’ve totally reworked it as YA.
Lesson?
Don't take 10 years to act on feedback.
Need knowledgeable feedback about your book idea? Grab a free 20-minute Q&A slot and let’s chat.
If you’re a paid subscriber, you get a sneak peak of the first page of my reworked novel.
Until next time, keep telling your story.
Did this help you? If so, share this with someone you know via the handy little button below.
Automate your savings (and help support this newsletter) by signing up for the Acorns app. Oh yeah, and get a $5 thank you gift from them when you do.