You’ve revised. You’ve submitted. Still no sales. Now what?

Consider your marketing

1. Target your submissions better. What? You only submitted to one editor? Today–not tomorrow–send the mss to at least three more editors. Study the market and target at least ten more. When the mss comes back from one, send it out the next day to the next one on your list.
2. Study the market. Maybe your stories are just off target for the market! Go to the bookstore and buy ten books to read that are similar to what you write. Make sure the copyright on the books is within the last two years; you want up-to-date examples of what is selling. Are there books that especially appeal? Who published them? Can you find out who edited them?
3. Study your rejection slips. Have all your rejections been form rejections? Did you get any personal responses at all? Any letters that said, I can’t buy it in this shape, but should you consider doing this or that, I’ll look again?

   If you received ANY encouragement or feedback, consider revising and resubmitting. If you’re not sure that the letter was an encouragement to resubmit, then ask. Either call or email the editor and ask point blank, “If I do this revision, would you like to see it again?” If the answer is yes, then you’re off for another round of revisions.

   If all your rejections were form rejections, you’ll have to decide: submit to ten more places, or revise.

4. Look for an agent. Are you just bad at marketing? Maybe it’s time to consider submitting to an agent.

Consider your story

5. Cool it off. Put it in a file drawer. Maybe the story needs a cooling off period, so you can return with a fresh eye. Or maybe you just need to live and learn for a season before returning to it. Putting something aside for a while isn’t failure. You learned from revising this mss and just need to move on.
6. Cannibalize. Are there really great parts of this novel that would fit into the current WIP? If you do this, recognize that the first novel was just a great first draft for the one you’re working on now.
7. Reread your story. You’re a little bit older and wiser than when you finished it. Does it still hold up, or do you notice things to revise? Are there places that please you immensely? Can you imagine your audience reading and enjoying the story? Write a review of the book. From that review, what do you think you should do next?
8. Cry your heart out. Read Art and Fear and cry. Then buck up and write something new that will Wow the editors.
9. Revise. Revise that manuscript. Again.
10. Revise Again. If all else fails, eat mints. Or chocolates. Your choice. THEN, revise again. Until it’s right.

Stay Connected

• Click here to subscribe to my feed.
• Or, if you’re on LiveJournal, you can add my Feed to your Friends page with this URL: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/revisionnotes/
• Click here to sign up for my occasional newsletter.