Ever wanted an inside look at why your manuscript wasn’t
acquired? Angela James, Executive editor of Carina Press, frequently tweets
some lines from edit reports. I have copied and pasted her tweets below for
your reference. The first set are from rejected MSs and the second from acquisitions.
You can follow Angela on Twitter
@angelajames, visit her
Facebook
page or her
website.
Rejections:
Frm 2 diff books: "The writing feels choppy and
unsophisticated"; "it felt overwritten and excessively dramatic in
its prose"
#editreport
"little to no tension and I wasn't caught up in the
story...the pacing is slow and drags"
#editreport
"had one of the most disorienting first chapters I've
ever read in a manuscript. I honestly have no idea what happened"
#editreport
Frm 2 diff reports: "dramatic and over-the-top"
"prologue is so ripe with purple prose" (she included a sample...I
agree!)
#editreport
"1st chapter was fairly well-written, but not really
engaging..."
#editreport
"...standard popular trope, didn't sparkle enough in
its delivery to make me want to keep reading."
#editreport
"This...romance is riddled with errors and
cliches."
#editreport
"This...romance is okay, but it would need a lot of
work and I wasn't engaged enough in the opening pages to want to tackle
it."
#editreport
"The story was decently written but not engaging."
#editreport
(seeing a lot of this!)
"The writing is good, but the characters aren't
appealing."
#editreport
"This...romance is well-written, but the concept itself
was just a little too unbelievable for me to suspend disbelief"
#editreport
"writing was fairly decent, but the story wasn't
compelling enough."
#editreport
From diff reports: "She was whiny....not well
characterized" "heroine isn't characterized except having X color
hair"
#editreport
"there's some funny stuff in here, but the setup isn't
quite working for me, and the characters sound really young"
#editreport
"This...romance plunges you right in the middle of a
scene but doesn't really explain it"
#editreport
(the opposite of info dump!)
"...starts w/ 6 pges of encyclopedic-type entry...cld
be a good concept but beginning dragged...had a hard time staying engaged"
#editreport
For those just joining
#editreport,
I'm reading thru 15 freelance editors reports to me on slush they read, &
pulling quotes to share w/you
2/2 "There's no action or engaging scenes happening...it's
basically a really, really long introduction to each character"
#editreport
"prose is overly flowery & dramatic & I didn't
make it past 1st few pages. It felt like it was trying too hard to be
powerful."
#editreport
"...romance is well-written & I really wanted to
like it, but frankly didn't like hero. He's a little immature &
overreactive. "
#editreport
"The romance is falling flat. I don't feel the
chemistry between the hero and heroine."
#editreport
"it's really well-written, but something about it isn't
quite striking me the right way...shld have another editor look at it."
#editreport
1/2 "1st few chapters really pulled me in, but then it
gets slow-paced & overly flowery."
#editreport
2/2 "There are a number of scenes just spent on them
having sex, frolicking around, without moving the plot forward."
#editreport
"This needs more craft work. The writing is choppy,
characters didn't engage me. Lots of telling/info drop."
#editreport
We acquire abt 7% of what's submitted. MT
@julieinduvall:
What's % of manuscripts rejected as opposed to rec'd for acquisition?
#editreport
However, we reject abt 40% of what editors send forth for
acquisition (so they prbbly send forward another 3 % we don't acquire)
#editreport
7% we do acquire also includes repeat authors. If you take
them out of mix, we probably acquire 3-4% of slush.
#editreport
"starts with a prologue that didn't engage me or make
me care about the characters"
#editreport
"feels like a first manuscript. Lots of errors, choppy
writing, not engaging characters. Didn't make it past first scene."
#editreport
"choppily written, lacks cohesion, and the heroine has
a cardboard feel to her. Convoluted plot"
#editreport
"conflict lacks heart and emotion, and story is
difficult to follow. Author switches point of view every paragraph for a
while."
#editreport
"writing has an edge, but the storyline is too
unbelievable as set up, and the characters are two dimensional"
#editreport
1/2 "I was instantly drawn in by the unusual setting
and promise of fun, quirky characters...."
#editreport
1/2 "...such a disappointment. The description of the
book sounded so promising..."
#editreport
2/2 "Unfortunately, it wasn’t until page 200 that any
of these elements were actualized in the story."
#editreport
For the next
#editreport,
I'm doing something I NEVER do: using a service that allows a long tweet.
Really want to show you it entirely!
For the next
#editreport,
I'm doing something I NEVER do: using a service that allows a long tweet.
Really want to show you it entirely!
#editreport
"...was initially intrigued by the unusual setting, promise of a wide cast
of characters, and the early hints that there is more going on than meets the
eye. Yet, the author’s voice was inconsistent. The more I read, the more dated
and formal the writing became. There was an overload of exclamation marks and
overly dramatic dialogue. And with so much focus on every physical movement,
the pace became halting and dragged.
But what was most disappointing were the characters. None of them surpassed
being 2D."
"No idea what’s going on. Not even sure what decade
this is set in. The 80’s? "
#editreport
"Query letter is written for an agent."
#editreport
(this happens with about 5% of our submissions, actually)
"Inconsistent tense—changes from past to present.
Wordy. Opening pages are one giant info dump. "
#editreport
"Introduces too many characters w/o distinguishing
voice/personality—makes it difficult to tell who is who and their
importance"
#editreport
"think this would need quite a bit of work—lots of
overdescribing. But it could have potential for another editor."
#editreport
AQCUISITIONS
"author has fairly clean writing and a classic voice
that I just loved...her world-building felt so authentic"
#editreport
"suspense elements in the novel work well...pacing
clips along...characters have nice chemistry."
#editreport
"Adore this series & love working w/author, who is
flexible, professional, detailed & can be trusted to deliver a ms on
time"
#editreport
And in case you were wondering, yes, knowledge of how the
author is to work with does bump us one way or other.
#editreport
"author’s 1st person voice really suits the character
& there’s some good action & energy & hooks in the prologue
&1st chapter"
#editreport
"is as intricately plotted as a caper, but with the
dense world-building and rich descriptions of the best fantasies"
#editreport
"unforgettable, unpredictable, larger-than-life
characters whose escapades will have you on the edge of your seat"
#editreport
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