Unanimous...it's such an amazing word. To have something be unanimous it means that everyone has agreed to agree to the same thing. It's a word we all want to have associated with our books - that people unanimously love our writing and want more.
Sadly, that's unlikely to happen. Different people have different tastes and you are going to run into those that just don't like the book. It may be because of a style variation they don't care for. Your cover art isn't what they expected. The story didn't end the way they wanted it to. Your characters don't speak to them. Whatever it is, there are going to be people out there who don't like your books.
What you don't need to do is get all bent out of shape about it. You've read books you couldn't get into, or you didn't like what the author did. Heck, some of us started writing out of a fit of pique because we thought we could tell the story better than the author. (Please tell me I'm not the only one who's done this?) So we know that there's the possibility someone won't like our book.
Just accept it and move on. If everyone agrees unanimously your book sucks, there may be a problem. But if not everyone agrees that your book is the most awesome and amazing thing ever, thank them for their opinion and go on with your life.
I guess the challenging part is knowing how to avoid the ones who unanimously prefer vampires and gothic, steam punk. I can only speak about the agents I have personally encountered, but Mark Twain was rejected over 30 times before he was published--so I'm not in bad company.
ReplyDeleteExcellent advice! I especially like "there may be a problem". 'Cause just because everybody thinks your book sucks MIGHT mean it's ahead of its time. Sometimes you just have to put it away and wait for life to catch up. :)
ReplyDelete"Thank them for their opinion and go on with your life"--such good advice for life in general and writing in particular.
Hoorah for the A-to-Z Challenge! I'm so glad to find you!
Marian Allen
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