tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919558332911860559.post2545871646931417019..comments2024-02-20T23:44:30.235-08:00Comments on Jenni Merritt: WIP Day - *Insert spiffy title here*Jenni Merritthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342553894424663966noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919558332911860559.post-34344333672914162022011-07-21T13:25:26.056-07:002011-07-21T13:25:26.056-07:00Well then Brad... What are your thoughts? I am cu...Well then Brad... What are your thoughts? I am curious!Jenni Merritthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10342553894424663966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919558332911860559.post-33414305246212628572011-07-21T11:33:08.556-07:002011-07-21T11:33:08.556-07:00^ I disagree with most of what he says.^ I disagree with most of what he says.Brad Jaegerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12672047492091058737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919558332911860559.post-22883046351831701992011-07-20T13:36:13.235-07:002011-07-20T13:36:13.235-07:00If you're writing YA and are a debut novelist ...If you're writing YA and are a debut novelist trying to attract an agent, I think that your book won't succeed period unless you write first-person, present tense with a female point-of-view that includes mandatory love triangle and is around 80K words completed. So if you're not doing that...then that's probably one huge reason why agents are not looking at your work. It has nothing to do with your writing which is probably good (you seem smart). I wouldn't let rejections tear you up. Agents are salespeople looking for what they know is being bought by editors in publishing houses. For YA...that's what is being bought. Agents obfuscate the issue a lot so you have to read between the lines..."I'm looking for voice in this narrative and this just doesn't have it..." Well "voice" translates to first-person female.<br /><br />When you write to be published really you are writing to make money. This isn't an art thing. So throw out all those notions of "I want to contribute to the world my own unique story" because no one cares. They want what is selling, period.<br /><br />Anyway...this is just my own opinion but it's what I gather from a year of studying blogs and reading books. If you get published and establish a name...you can write whatever you want at that point. So you can go back to the third-person thing.Michael Offutt, Phantom Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557969104886174930noreply@blogger.com