This one caught me off guard.
Got a fast (5 days) rejection from Wizards of the Coast. Part of it, he said, is the editor is really "gun shy" about vampire fiction. I can dig that. There’s a lot of it around (Of course, there’s a lot of it around because people keep buying it. Can anyone say Stephanie Meyer? How many copies of Twilight sold, again?). Still, one can’t argue with editorial opinion, it won’t do any good and just makes ya look…well, you know…not good. So, hey, he didn’t want it. S'okay. It happens. Rejection is part of the biz.
What really threw me was the first line from the rejection:
“I'm going to have to pass on 33AD - too overtly Christian for us, probably better for that marketplace.”
Ok, now at the risk of sounding like I’m full of sour grapes, this is proof-positive that this editor didn’t read much, if any, of the book before he rejected it. There’s nothing Christian about it. In fact, there are several die-hard Christians in my office who wouldn’t even finish the book’s description. There is no way; no way at all 33AD would make it into the Christian fiction marketplace. There’s not a single Christian editor who would touch it with a ten foot pole. Any more than the movie Dracula 2000 would be considered Christian (if you haven’t seen the movie, I won’t ruin it for you, but it links Dracula to Jesus).
Again, you can’t argue with editorial opinion, but sheeeesh.
Well, that’s 3 rejections so far. Berkley (too controversial), Del Rey (ditto), and Wizards of the Coast (too...Christian?).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I wonder if "Christian" could also be a buzz word for 'controversial'.
I agree. Strangest rejection ever.
Time for a bit of Galaxy Quest I think:
"Never give up! Never surrender!"
Hang in there. Think of all the rejections I got...especially those that compared my book to Forrest Gump!!
I didn't think you got that many, Pat. Thanks for sharing, though. makes me feel better. :)
Hang in there, David. Everyone has an opinion. It only takes one person to agree with you. Good luck! :*)
Too Christian and too controversial . . . don't those go together like peas and carrots?
(Oh yeah, double pun. I see you Pat.;))
Is it still out to some other editors? I hope you're not out of avenues yet!
(BTW, it's StephEnie, not StephAnie.;) Everyone can say it, no one can spell it.:))
Keep up your optimism, David!!! And it's good to see you blog again; it's been a while.
Thanks, everyone.
Aprilynne - Oops. I have the book here at home, too. I shoulda looked. ;) Yes, it's still out to half a dozen or so editors. I'm still confident. :)
Post a Comment