2 ms·
If you can write a great novel in one or two drafts, more power to you. I mentioned that it's not an absolute rule, especially for established experienced autho
by vgt 10y ago
If you can write a great novel in one or two drafts, more power to you. I mentioned that it's not an absolute rule, especially for established experienced authors.
However, if you're an aspiring novelist, and you are frustrated that agents are not responding to your query letters with 5 pages of manuscript, and you've only done one or two drafts, there's a good chance that your book just isn't ready.
The other point I make is that the self-publishing industry allows for books that are objectively "not ready to enter the market" to enter the market, and at a ratio that overwhelms books that ARE objectively ready. This skews the market.
- sacado2 10y agoYes, that's true, but I think self-publishing authors (at least on the ebook market) adapted. Amazon is very good on this market. More often than not, if you want to make money in that niche, you better publish series with a free first episode. If your book sucks, the reader will put it back very fast. Nobody will buy your series, and your book will quickly get lost in the abyss of amazon's search engines. So, it kinda works. People who know you will be able to download your awful book, while innocent anonymous amazon customers will never find it by accident. > However, if you're an aspiring novelist, and you are frustrated that agents are not responding to your query letters with 5 pages of manuscript, and you've only done one or two drafts, there's a good chance that your book just isn't ready. Yes, but the question is : is it worth keeping working on that book or is it better to forget and start working on a new one ? There is no definitive answer, but abandoning forever the first novel I ever wrote was the best decision in my writer life. YMMV.