Traitor

[Octavia]

I like the idea of a future-based thriller. Those are really popular (think Terminator, the Matrix). Maybe you ought to be thinking film script?

[Nik Papageorgiou]

Well, I'd like to try my hand at this novel business first... plus, I think Hollywood is WAY out of my league.

But thanks for the encouragement, everyone! Really means a lot.

[hedge]

You should keep trying. I think getting a few rejections is pretty common and many novelists have to got through 30-40 rejections before finding an agent who (to use that cringe-worthy phrase they all seem to employ) "fall in love with it". Think of it like peer review perhaps and if the criticisms seem valid, change the manuscript?

[Nik Papageorgiou]

Well, that's the problem: No feedback whatsoever. Just "it's not for us" etc.

[Editor]

I think to get feedback from publishers on rejection, you need to have an agent with a personal relationship with the editor to whom it's been submitted. In my case, we found that we got a lot of feedback in the first round of selling, when my agent was shopping the manuscript to editors she knew really well. In those cases, I suppose that you have to justify your decision more carefully, to maintain the relationship. In the second round, she was branching out to editors she didn't know well, and the feedback was much less useful.

[Nik Papageorgiou]

Well, since I can't seem to get past the get-an-agent stage, feedback from a publisher is the stuff of dreams... But I'm planning to re-edit my second novel and send it around again soon, so maybe this time it might make it. And if not, I'll move on to my third!

[Dr Mike]

I suppose that times are pretty tight, now, economically, which won't work in your favor.

Have you thought of writing/ringing back to any of the rejecting agents and just asking for the main reason why they think it wouldn't sell? Is it the writing itself? The genre? The plotting and characters? If you pin them down they might give you some useful feedback, no?

[Nik Papageorgiou]

Actually, Mike, that's exactly what they advise you NOT to do: "Please do not call or write for further feedback".

It's shooting in the dark...

[Editor]

Wow, how rude! I never got that from any British agent I tried. One was so keen to help me (I think she really wanted the book but it was just too rough at that point) that we had a very productive email exchange about her many criticisms. I learned a lot from that one. But I have to say that I got a 'bite' after only my fourth query letter, so the sample size is pretty small.

[Editor]

I should ask, actually - have you let a lot of people read your manuscripts? It can really help - because the readers will see the same problems that the agents do, and you can send it along after fixing the obvious red flags. I think I passed mine by about 20 people before putting it out there.

[Nik Papageorgiou]

It's been read by several people, including three agencies (out of >30 applied) and my harshest critic, myself (seriously ). Generally good comments all around, but not from those good people who could take it further. I'm wondering if I should persevere or take a hint!

[Octavia]

Did you make major changes based on the comments before you tried new agents? Or were there only minor changes?

[Nik Papageorgiou]

Not many big changes, no. But I'm planning a re-edit before I try sending it out again. Maybe streamline the narrative a bit - the actual science part is admittedly complex.

[The Prof]

Yes, you probably want to dumb down your science. Maybe give it to a few non-scientist people, like colleagues' parents or spouses, and see what they make of it. If they are feeling uncomfortable, I doubt an agent would feel any better about it. Once you get the book deal and are working with editors, perhaps you can sneak some of the hard science back in!

[Octavia]

It's sad he has to dumb down the science to get published but I think you are probably right Prof. Nobody wants to struggle when they have a pile of manuscripts they need to read very quickly. It's probably not the case that an agent sits by the fire with a glass of brandy thoughtfully leafing through each offering! I expect it's more like utter mayhem.