Respect Life BOUND Sale

October is Respect Life month and I am having a sale both for the e-book (on all platforms) for 99 cents and paperback of BOUND for $10.99 this entire month. This is a perfect time to get multiple copies for your classroom or book group discussion. I hear it has provoked many thoughtful discussions, especially when it's hard to choose life. Please contact me if you want me to come speak to your class or book group. It would be a great pleasure.

I am a few days late but September has been a busy month with two writing conferences, deadlines to meet, and preparing for two High Masses (JOY!). I hope you will share this with your friends. Also, I hate to beg, but if you've read the book, I would really appreciate a quick review on Amazon--this is not like the book review you had to do in school; rather the best and easiest way is to just express your honest reaction. Perhaps it made you think. Maybe you want to spend more time with Rebecca and Joy (I do!) or you hated the ending. It's really okay. Once a book is published it belongs to the reader. I am thankful for all my readers, whether or not they have reservations about leaving reviews.

Here's the most recent review:

C. Kane

5.0 out of 5 starsA compelling, believable, and satisfying novel

August 9, 2019

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a page turner with multidimensional characters and realistic, compelling choices for the main character. The metaphor of the possibility of alternate realities is apt as Rebecca navigates a series of tough decisions and revelations to ultimately make up her own mind in a way that is satisfying and believable.

 

One of the things I've learned is that Amazon gives a boost to your book if it has more than 50 reviews. So my heartfelt thanks to all who've read AND reviewed BOUND. I keep praying it will fall into the hands of those who need to read it.

I've not done any marketing for my other books, except for a school visit or two the years they came out. At the Write2Ignite conference, quite a few people were astounded that I have a lot of books and I don't market any of them. But I have no need when teachers and librarians see them listed in industry journals. Alas, most self-published books have the problem of discoverability; they do not get seen and they sink into oblivion. Actually, the vast majority of trade books tank too, so I don't feel too terrible. It's the bestsellers that keep a publishing house in business, that allows them to purchase books that they love that only 500 other people might love. So I'm very thankful for the bestselling celebrity books because I've read so many wonderful books that otherwise wouldn't be published. 

In any case, this is a great time to be writing. You have more options than you think. Don't let the rejections get you down. Persevere. Here's something I wrote on rejections for Write 2 Ignite.  

Happy reading, writing AND submitting, folks! 

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.

A Letter of Rejection

In ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan, there is a lovely rejection letter to Briony (one of the main characters). She is 18 years old, has sent in a novella and it has finally returned months later. Here are some excerpts (in italics):

They begin with the fact that they wouldn't consider publishing a novella by a unknown author, let alone an established one.

That said, we found ourselves (initially against our better judgment, for there is much to do in this office) reading the whole with great interest.

There is much commenting on Briony's use of words, her characters, how well she's captured a specific moment. The first part of the book is an excellent exercise in seeing events through different points of view.

We found Two Figures by a Fountain arrresting enough to read with dedicated attention. I do not say this lightly.

Then come a lot of questions. Lots of what ifs, encouraging her to make a plot out of the observations she's made.

Simply put, you need the backbone of a story.

Ah yes, it's the story that's imporant.

You may feel perfectly satisfied with your pages as they stand, or our reservations may fill you with dismissive anger, or such despair you never want to look at the thing again.

This made me laugh.

We sincerely hope not. Our wish is that you will take our remarks -- which are given with sincere enthusiasm -- as a basis for another draft.

Good advice.

I am thankful today for *good* rejection letters. My husband thinks this is an oxymoron, but the truth is, it's these kinds of letters (I confess mine are not three pages long, usually just 1/2 -1 page) that have pushed me to take my writing further. I still have some manuscripts that I don't know how to implement the advice. But I know something somewhere will click and I'll know exactly how to fix it, and then the comments will make sense.

What's your experience with good rejections?
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Rejection Blues

Pockets is one tough magazine to crack. I've entered their annual contest three times and every time my story has placed within the top ten. They hold the manuscript for a year or more, and I always hope that my story will fit in one of the themes they choose, but in the end, they don't accept my stories. Their letters are encouraging, but it's still a disappointment. Does this stop me from submitting to them? Nope. Hope reigns eternal.

A few years back, Mel Boring (then web editor at ICL), asked for some numbers on a writing forum. How many submissions? How many acceptances? Rejections? All I can say is that from the folks who shared, it was clear that the person with the most rejections also got the most acceptances. So keep your work circulating. What isn't right for one publisher will be perfect for another. But if it sits in a pile at home, there is no chance of an acceptance.

Must take my own advice and send my stories out.

What do you do when you get a rejection?
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