Rolling over Rejection.

That is what life is about folks.

     I finally got my answer back from Grimmack the Goblin, that I had sent into a publisher whom I thought the story would work for.  This was my response.

Thank you for submitting your manuscript entitled Grimmack The Goblin to Unnamed publisher for our review. 

We are always pleased to see new ideas, and we have now completed our review of this material. It is obvious that you have invested a considerable amount of time and energy into this project. Our publishing schedule is quite competitive, however, and as we look carefully at all the issues involved in publication, we are forced to be extremely selective in our publishing decisions. I am sorry to inform you that we are not in a position to pursue this project with you. Unfortunately, the demands of our editorial workload prevent us from sending detailed comments about your work. 

We appreciate your thinking of us and giving us the opportunity to review your work. 

     To be honest, this is about what I expected.  Years ago when I looked at Tor's website they mention right up front that less than 5% of the books submitted directly to them get published.  Submitting anywhere directly I figured I would have a similar chance.  Publishers have to be very careful about what they publish because they are making an investment when thy choose an author.  One might ask, if I knew the numbers where so low, why did I bother submitting anyway?  I will answer.

     If I hadn't submitted, then I would have 0% chance.  I love my story.  I love my characters.  I find myself daydreaming and thinking about situations and stories I can put them in. I have several plot ideas for dear Grimmack to walk through, and even being 75% finished with his second books first draft, I can see the growth the character has gone through.  I think this book, his first book is good, salable, and that many people would enjoy it.  So yea, I did my editing and took my chance.  I am not sorry I did either.  As a matter of fact my other book I'm editing (the dragon's apprentice) I plan on submitting as well to the same publisher.  For the same reason, even though that book is a lot more work than Grimmack to get nailed down and edited well.

     So what did I do when I got rejected you ask?  I didn't grab a pint of ice cream and chain watch Game of Thrones (I can do that without being rejected.) I didn't go through my computer deleting Grimmack's notes and stories in a rage that they weren't good enough.  I did not go online to let everyone know I was a hack and will never be a good author.  I didn't even drive to the mountain top and scream and wail at God because I did not achieve success on my first try with this story.  I did what I feel everyone should do.

     I let myself feel disappointed and a little angry with myself. Those feeling are natural and I'm not going to go blame some editor I have never met because they didn't like my story well enough.  I'm not going to blame my family, God, or anyone else, this was my rejection.  After I let those emotions run through me for a moment, I straightened my back, and got on the internet.  I then found a couple more agents and sent out more queries for Grimmack.

     One rejection is the last reason to stop trying.  five is not,  Even one-hundred is not.  I will keep trying with Grimmack until I graduate DATC next year, which will be about June.  At that point if I can't find traditional publication I will look at self-publishing.  At this moment I don't feel I have the proper time or energy to market myself.  When I graduate though, we will see.

     This is the attitude we have all been told we need to have to be successful.  When you get knocked down, stand up. Take responsibility for your own actions, etc.  They hold true.  The problem is not that we don't know we need to keep getting up to stay in the fight.  The problem is that it is hard sometimes to spit in the eye of rejection and keep going.  That is why I think it's okay to let yourself feel angry and disappointed.  Just make sure you focus those emotions on where they need to be.  Use them to help yourself be more constructive so you can say, "What can I do better next time?"

     That is my plan.  What is yours.  What do you do to help yourself handle rejection.  I don't know if there is a wrong answer here as long as you stand up and get going again.  The taking a moment to down some frozen milk product while watching a show is just as good as turning around and returning a punch by looking for more avenues.  What matters is that you keep going.  There may be miles and miles of road before you make it.  Or it might be over the next hill.

You never know unless you keep moving on.

Ben Marble

If you would like to support the bundle of burning twigs that comprise Ben Marble, think about buying one of his short stories on Amazon.com.

Nailing my Priorities

Guess who’s back, back again!

     So, it has been a little bit.  Time for an update folks.

     Grimmack has passed through edit number three and has now been pushed to a publisher’s inbox whom I won’t name.  I have some hopes here, as I think my story is very fun and solid.  The final product was just north of 50k words which is on the low end of young adolescent to teens which is where I’m aiming this story.  That being said I feel it is something that appeals to older readers as well.  According to the website I should get a response between Thanksgiving and Christmas time.  I was surprised actually as I know that Tor (not the one I submitted this too) has about a six month turn around on a response.

     Now, honestly I am bracing myself for a rejection letter while hoping for an acceptance.  I do believe my story is good, but it is up to someone whom I have never met who digs through these manuscripts to decide if it is something they want to publish. They hopefully will love my story, but they may decide they don’t.  Or they may decide it’s not a fit for their publisher, or… well there are many “ors.”  I have done what I can for now within my sphere of control, for now I have put the story to the side as I wait for judgement.  I also am looking for plan B, C, and so on for if this publisher rejects my story.  Because it doesn’t fit one place doesn’t mean it won’t fit anywhere.

      I have been a little distant from my writing otherwise.  I have been cramming the last few weeks for my Network+ certification and thankfully I have passed.  Now I am on to learning Security Fundamentals and then Security+.  For now, I can take a small breath, but a new test will be on me soon.

     So, what am I working on then?  Well, I am still writing Grimmack 2 on the side.  I also am going to be working on editing “The dragon’s apprentice” which is the other book I have finished that needs some love.  That one I have had on the back burner for a while for a variety of reasons, but I have finally figured out a few things I want to do to fix the story, and while it might mean sacrificing a few darlings, I am looking forward to getting it to a point where I can submit it.

     Oh, and there is this little November thing called NaNoWriMo I am hoping to do again this year.  If you haven’t done it before, you should.  It is a fun challenge for aspiring writers.

      Otherwise life is moving on.  I am continuing in school, working on watching for ways to advance myself in my new chosen career path.  Yes, I want to write for a living, but until I get to that point I do need to pay the bills.

      So, there you have it.  A lot of fun, and work to getting to where I want to be.

      Because, let’s be honest, this is all about priorities.  If I don’t prioritize my writing, then all I am doing is talking.  That doesn’t help anyone, least of all myself.

Ben Marble

If you want to support Ben Marble you can buy his short stories at Amazon.com

Critics and Opinions

I'm raising an eye over Suicide Squad reviews.

     First off, I'm halfway through my second of my edits through Grimmack the Goblin.  I will have this run finished by next week, and then I plan on my third run through being a lot more comprehensive and game changing.  Right now I'm happy with the state of the story.  I am looking forward to strengthening my world building and making the third run through my final one for a bit.

     Big thank you to my alpha readers on this.  They have helped immensely.

     If you haven't heard by now the critics are panning Suicide Squad.  This hurts my heart a little as I have been looking forward to watching this moving for months.  And guess what, I'm still going to see it.  Why?  Because critics aren't my end all be all with media.

     I'm that guy.  You know the one who still enjoys watching Ben Affleck's Daredevil every now and then.  That likes (not loves) Superman versus Batman and while admitting there are several issues in that movie can still sit down and enjoy it.  I liked Man of Steel.  I like the Blade movies, and even the campy Batman Forever, and Batman and Robin because I can see them for what they are.  Moments to turn of your brain and enjoy some action.  I loved the Warcraft movie despite the critics ripping it down.  It is a good movie, and I will stand by that.

    If you hate these shows, your point of view is just as valid.  I'm not going to judge you for not liking some of the weird shows I enjoy.  You are welcome to enjoy what you want, even if I don't as well.  If you like Rap and Nickelback, (ok, I like a little Nickelback) we can be friends.  If you vote Democrat, Republican, or flying spaghetti monster may his sauce be upon you, I am cool with that.  I'm going to bring my point back to critics however.

     Critics have the job to let you know if a movie is good or not.  Or a book,  or any other type of media.  They take their expertise (I'm not sure if there is a movie critic school, degree etc... but wouldn't be surprised if there was.) and give the judgement to the movie on whether EVERYBODY would enjoy a show.  Not just the fans, not just the non-fans, everybody.

      I can walk into Suicide Squad and I'm pretty certain that as long as the movie accomplishes some good action, Harley Quinn and Deadshot fun, and somewhat of a storyline I will be happy.  If it blows my expectations away I'll be ecstatic.  I have no illusions that what i'm going to watch is going to be deeply intellectual or Shakespearean.  It is a pop-corn fueled action flick.

     I look at movies that are supposed critical failures and a lot of times I see the critics points.  Avengers one was great because it was the culmination of years of work from Marvel.  Avengers 2 wasn't likely to reach that high point, but when they made it a move that not only had to be a great flick, but shoved things in there to set up the rest of the MCU that baggage dragged it down.  I look at Captain America: Civil War, and that one was great.  Why? Because it was again the Culmination of several things including Avengers 2 and wasn't bagged down by having to set up a lot of new stuff coming in the Marvel Universe.  I still love both Avengers movies, but I have to admit the second one wasn't as good.  So the critics were right to bag on it a little more.

     However, with Batman Vs. Superman, the critics were right.  If I took my daughter who hates super hero movies to it, she would have hated it.  If I grabbed Joe Shmoe off the street who didn't have an opinion, he might have looked at the ending and been, "ummm Martha?"  Or he might have turned his brain off and enjoyed the action.  The critics are supposed to judge which re-action Joe Shmoe is more likely to have.

     With writing I hear again and again authors warned not to read the reviews on their work.  There are some hateful folks out there and they are happy to let you know if they think you suck.  There are also literary critics who once again are judging based on "If anyone picked up this book," not "If a fantasy nerd picked up this book."  It makes the critics opinions pretty much invalid for a large group of people who fit in the fantasy nerd circle.

    Anyway, I've rambled.  In short, Enjoy things because you enjoy them.  Don't let people be they critics or friends make judgments for you.  If you want to see Suicide Squad vs Batman Vs Ghostbusters, go see it.  If you enjoy it, smile and enjoy it.  If you hate it, well you won't know until you see it.

    Just don't let people decide what you like for you.

Ben Marble

     As always, if you want to support this crazy habit of writing you can purchase any of my short stories on Kindle or Amazon.com.  A Fey Deal, The Choice, and The Black Oak.

Grimmack is coming.

It's been a while.

     I'll be honest, sometimes I feel I neglect this blog just because time is not my friend.  Between school and work I haven't had a lot of time.  However, a couple of good things have come from this. 

     My new job gives me some writing freedom when I don't have homework, and we aren't busy.  It's been sporadic but helpful.  I've gotten some more editing on The Dragon's Apprentice done, finished a short story ("A Fey Deal") and now I'm working on another book.

     Grimmack is the story of a goblin illegally taught magic whose world gets upended.  His master is accused of practicing black magic, and the fallout pulls him out of the safety of his studies into the big wide world of humans.  You know, the big folk who somehow don't understand how the world is supposed to work.

     I'm having fun with this one.  It's a bit of adventure story versus thumbing my nose at a few fantasy tropes.  It's not intended to be a long book, as I'm thinking of young junior high age children for my target demographic, but when I finish I plan on being a little over 50,000 words.  I was originally planning on publishing this book through Amazon and going the self-published route, but I think before I do that I want to see if I can find an agent to try and go traditional.

     I'm also hoping that doing a smaller project like this will help me get my editing brain to the point where I can finish "The dragon's apprentice."  I want to do that trilogy as well, and might jump back and forth.  Grimmak promises to be an open ended story, that I can keep going on as long as I find ideas and situations.  However I feel it will have a more limited audience.  I have an overall story arc for Grimmack in mind, but It will be a long time before he realized it.

    Other than that, I'm progressing in school. I have my A+ certification and am diving straight into my Network+ certification.  Then I have Security+, Administers, and Project+.  Seems a long way to go.

    Kids are great and out of school for summer.  Keeping me busy of course.

    That is pretty much what I have for now, other than buy my new short story, A Fey Deal on Amazon and Kindle if you would like to support me.  I appreciate any reviews, good or bad, people drop on my work as well.

Thank you,

Ben

A Fey Deal

So, my new short story is out.

     This one was a new experience.  I half wrote this a few months ago, and then picked it up and finished it at work.  This new job I have gives me time to do schoolwork and writing etc. In between calls so it's been kind of nice.  I'm looking forward to getting through school quicker, and getting more writing done now than has been possible in the past.

     In this book, my character Elias has his story continued.  It also acts as sort of a bridge between the two other shorts I wrote, "The Choice," and "The Black Oak,"  (I might need to work on more original naming schemes)

     I am going to try and do something else different this time around as well.  The other two shorts I released I did a "Free for five days deal."  That isn't happening this time.  Doing that garnered no reviews or feedback and didn't seem to do much for my stories.  This time around I am going to keep the price at the $0.99 and see what I can do with that.  If someone decides they didn't like it, all they are out is a buck.  If they do like it, hopefully they will go back and check out my other shorts.

    I am presently working on getting a battery for my Laptop.  When this arrives I will be able to write and work more efficiently at my job. No emailing files back and forth.  I look forward to it.  Then I will have the Dragon's apprentice Book  1 finished in the next couple of months as far as edits go, and I will hopefully have Grimmack the Goblin poke his head up sometime as well.

    I am looking forward to considering myself a writer again, as I've kind of had a hiatus from working on my projects due to school and work.  I'm glad to be back.

Ben Marble