Okay, maybe I'm being over-dramatic, but the reasons I'm getting back from publishers for not accepting my book are ... well, weird. I mean sure, maybe the language is a little formal in some places, but one of the two main characters is a mystical creature that learned how to speak from old books. Of course she's going to sound not so modern. And yeah, the main character is a dude, which apparently is rare in YA fiction and small on the market. But isn't 'rare' what people look for in books? Something different?
And speaking of different, perhaps the weirdest (and stupidest) reason why publishers are turning down TSA is because they already are working with plenty of books about 'angels' and 'the angel genre is too popular at the moment, so why work with another book on the things'.
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.
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DID THEY NOT READ THE BOOK DESCRIPTION?!?
Sorry, but while I can accept other reasons for being turned down, this one DOES NOT make me a happy camper. THE SWAMP ANGEL is not a book involving angels. There are none! The closest thing to any divine being in the whole novel is a monster whose species just happens to be named 'angel'. Trust me when I say a swamp angel doesn't look/act like a real angel (and here comes a spoiler); if anything, they look more like demons, with claws and horns and green hair/skin and wings that look like bat wings with no skin. Not to mention they aren't perfect like angels are thought to be. Seriously!
The good news, at least, is that one small publisher, Spencer Hill Press, like TSA and is willing to wait until November for me to decide if I want to work with them. I'm grateful for their offer, I am, but I can't help but hope a bigger publisher likes my work. And all the turn-downs haven't been bad: many say I got talent and my work is good, just not for them.
Keeping fingers crossed,
Colleen
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