tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post4337648705774425541..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: The Rocky Road to PublicationKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-85901055574464604602014-03-19T21:42:19.462+00:002014-03-19T21:42:19.462+00:00If that competition is the one I think it is, it l...If that competition is the one I think it is, it left a nasty taste in my mouth too. Took me a good few years to realise I'd had a lucky escape!Debbie Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06761474820689143835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-4444840142905940152014-03-19T19:35:45.646+00:002014-03-19T19:35:45.646+00:00Well, that particular publisher's loss is your...Well, that particular publisher's loss is your gain, Chris. I can't wait to read The Death Game. RxRena Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11520149404274102132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-78190795076017085882014-03-19T18:06:01.712+00:002014-03-19T18:06:01.712+00:00Well, I did have my suspicions at the time, partic...Well, I did have my suspicions at the time, particularly as all the authors kept on had some sort of PR value!Chris Longmuirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02488093821886798927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-79177124869141977742014-03-19T15:20:07.764+00:002014-03-19T15:20:07.764+00:00it sounds to me as if those particular editors wer...it sounds to me as if those particular editors were part of a process intended to result in publishing a handful out of 20 winners originally offered publication...Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-3932884608457472982014-03-19T14:42:44.691+00:002014-03-19T14:42:44.691+00:00It's good to know it has happened so often to ...It's good to know it has happened so often to so many people - but not good when it's happening to you. Still, it has worked out for the best! I've just finished the novel, enjoyed it very much and will definitely be putting up a review soon. I should point out that the editor that Saraband paired me up with for the Physic Garden was heavenly. I only wish there were more like her. She had a very light touch, asked the kind of questions that are always welcome (and not too many of them!) and didn't ever make demands. It was just a very useful dialogue and she unerringly put her finger on a few points that had worried me and - without making changes herself - made some very subtle suggestions based on the characters as they already existed in the novel. If you can find somebody who loves your book and can also take it seriously enough to interrogate parts of it but leave you to do the rest, you're onto a winner. But I've also had similar experiences to Chris's in the past both with books and plays in development. I sometimes think it's simply that a good editor is genuinely unselfish, whereas a not-so-good editor interposes themselves and what they would have written between you and your piece of work. Eventually, the whole piece of work implodes and you just have to shelve it for a while. Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-67296870882513846882014-03-19T14:31:53.469+00:002014-03-19T14:31:53.469+00:00Yours is an odyssey I hope others will take heart ...Yours is an odyssey I hope others will take heart from reading. And now I have another fine book to add to my collection. Diane Nelsonhttp://www.idancewithwords.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-73295310406852338502014-03-19T14:24:15.622+00:002014-03-19T14:24:15.622+00:00Great post, Chris, which no doubt triggers memorie...Great post, Chris, which no doubt triggers memories of similar experiences in many who'll read it. And the fact that The Death Game is such a bloody good read and is now being enjoyed by so many shows how much we needed the liberation that being Indies has given us. I suspect you'll be spending lots of time with Kirsty for the foreseeable future.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-59032293350484120592014-03-19T12:59:03.311+00:002014-03-19T12:59:03.311+00:00You bet I'd fight my corner with them now, Den...You bet I'd fight my corner with them now, Dennis. I'm older and wiser in the tooth (is that a cliche?) I'm past the stage of going 'yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir.' However, those editors actually did me a favour because if The Death Game had been published then I would never have won the Dundee International Book Prize with a later book!Chris Longmuirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02488093821886798927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-23283895562489995362014-03-19T10:54:14.287+00:002014-03-19T10:54:14.287+00:00What an interesting post, Chris. The behaviour of ...What an interesting post, Chris. The behaviour of publishers the first time round beggars description. They really do want to write the books themselves but know they just haven't got the talent. It's on a par with Catherine's intern saying that The Physic Garden 'was just an old man telling his story. I read in The Author once of an editor who insisted his name went with the author's on the cover. There are some wonderful editors around but there are also too many who really ought to be cast as unemployable.<br />It's wonderful that a book which passed a big test but then was ruined by its own mentors should live again like this. But I bet you'd fight your corner with the editors now!Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-38045658963348587582014-03-19T10:49:25.492+00:002014-03-19T10:49:25.492+00:00Good to see Kirsty kicking ass on Kindle now Chris...Good to see Kirsty kicking ass on Kindle now Chris, it's a terrific novel and I look forward to more of her. God the horror of these 'almost made it huge' moments so many writers live through, I've had a couple myself and they do scar a person if you're not careful! But here we are still writing and creating and now putting our own work out there if publishers can't drum up more than 109% of excitement. Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.com