I got my first rejection letter. The agency responded very quickly, and did not provide any details. I suspect they may have been put off by my original dry synopsis (I have rewritten it since then). Then again, maybe they just aren't interested in this particular flavor of over-the-top fantasy science fiction, or maybe they didn't like my writing style. I will keep submitting The Illusionist to other agencies.
What now? My problem is that I would rather spend time writing stories than trying to market them. I have a short story, DEMON CHILD, that I would like to see published, and I could (and should) go back to Yeresunsa and revise Part I as a stand-alone book... because I consider that particular saga to be my best work... but right now, I would rather write some new stuff.
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Style...well Hal Spacejock or Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams......so those are kind of the approximates of where I think you are aiming...but you need your own style. Why does the satire work? The characters have depth and grit...they are people you know...they aren't anyone you know...and you only wish you knew them. They're real enough that you either want to throttle them or protect them.
Skip the cliches...scream excitedly, walk hurriedly...the verbs and nouns carry the story along until there is a moment where something original and insightful pounds the reader ...for every 300 words/one page you write you have to make an impression ....that your writing is something that will stick...that can be quoted...that is memorable and other. That is worth rereading...otherwise it will be loaned...not bought. Yes there's a lot of ordinary writing...that which is familiar speeds the story along...but pull your readers up every now and then and make them think...give them something unexpected. Because without that it stretches into a very long yawn of words.
Why would they buy your book and not another...because either your reading your book is like snorting crack or your book addict is going to start to get the shakes on the first or second paragraph and won't last the chapter. Your reader should be utterly tortured along with your characters and craving the ending...every plot thread will give satisfaction and tie up in the end...except one...the next book of course. Point of reference.... the absolute relentlessness of J K Rowlings fans for her next book.
This is why it only takes three chapters...if that...for a submission. If you know enough as a writer to keep the most jaded reader from tossing it past the first page all the way to the third chapter then you have something you can possibly sell...depends on whether it maintains the tension all the way through and finishes up by giving the reader what they want...otherwise they'll lynch you.
How do you know it's good...find a hostile reader and count how many pages they last...this is your editor trial run.
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