What do you do when you’ve come to realize that a book you’ve poured your heart and soul into just isn’t going to sell? Do you give up? Rewrite? Forget about it? Or forge ahead through the fire burning inside that says, this is a really good book and I don’t want to give up on it?
A book may be the book of your heart but publishing is a business and your work has
to be commercial enough to sell. A lesson truly learned the hard way. So what do
you do?
Give up. Well I don’t know about you but those two words aren’t in my vocabulary.
Rewrite. A viable option but when you’ve made this many rewrites, is it worth the time and effort?
Forget about it. I’m reminded of these ancient Roman ruins and how they’ve withstood the test of time. Something inside this book made me nurture it for too many years. Parts of this manuscript are original and have never been cut. So no, the answer is don’t give up on it. Refuse to forget about it. And do….what?
Anyone worth their salt in this business will tell you editing is the key to success. They’ll also tell
you about cutting out the cancer, the ‘bad’ parts. So the next step is surgery, sharp conscise cutting to get at the parts that are good, that are commercial, that will sell. Then onto therapy and the cure. Knitting the pieces back together again, writing bridges and even new characters…whatever it takes to get an editor or agent to say, “I knew I liked this book. Now I know why.”
Good Luck and if the process is painful, remember the reward is the finished product and a contract in your hand.
