feedback

[asakiyume]

I got a story rejection, and the editor said if I wanted feedback, he could give it--because he was always bummed to send stories in someplace and then just get a no--but he didn't want to force it on me if I didn't want it.

My first instinct was to say thanks-very-much-but-no-thanks, but then I thought, What the heck? This is a story that has had only three readers--or rather, only three readers who talked to me about it (it's been out on submission to other places and gotten form rejections). Here's a reader--and an editor, to boot!--offering his reaction. Why not find out what he thinks? So I said yes, please, and thanked him for the generous offer.

And I was quite pleased, because he said he loved the characters and the pacing and the plot, just not the ending. He didn't like how the ending just ... happened... how things could have ended some other way, but happened to end this way, how close to much-worse it was, and yet it didn't end with everything fixed, either. He wanted a little more, he said.

And that kind of pleased me too, because the thoughts he had, the feelings he had, were exactly what I wanted to leave a reader with--so, yay! I did the thing! But boo, too, because it was an experience that was dissatisfying for him. I'll muse on that a bit.

Sometimes you can try to bake a cake and you forget baking powder, and it comes out like a brick. Then, if someone tells you, "If you add baking powder, this will be much more light," you can do it, and yay! Proper cake.

Other times you make a cake--let's say a lemon cake--and the person says, "this is a great cake, but it's lemon flavored, and I prefer cakes that are chocolate or vanilla flavored." Then your question is, does all the world prefer chocolate and vanilla, or are there lemon-cake fans out there?

To continue talking in metaphor-eeze, I hope someone out there will like lemon cake and will decide to serve it up for people to eat, and that there will be many happy eaters of lemon cake. One day!

Comments

[sovay]

And that kind of pleased me too, because the thoughts he had, the feelings he had, were exactly what I wanted to leave a reader with--so, yay! I did the thing!

That's pretty neat! So now you just have to find an editor the feelings work for.

[asakiyume]

That's right! Working on that ;-)

[okrablossom]

I know this is an odd response: but how wonderful to learn you conveyed what you wanted with your writing!

[asakiyume]

It's not an odd response at all! It's what prompted me to make the post--I was very pleased, actually! I mean, I would have preferred him to have enjoyed the experience more, but it was the experience I wanted to give, so I'm happy about that.

[gwynnega]

I'm glad the feedback turned out to be useful!

[asakiyume]

Me too--I'll put it in the win category even if ultimately it was a rejection.

[pameladean]

I like the lemon cake analogy. And I hope you can find a fan of lemon cake for your story.

P.

[asakiyume]

I hope so too. Fingers crossed!

[queenoftheskies]

I'm sorry you received a rejection, but glad to hear that your story accomplished everything you wanted it to.

[asakiyume]

Thank you ^_^

[sartorias]

Now to find the editor who likes lemon cake!

[asakiyume]

I'll start prowling the bakeries ;-)

[marycatelli]

The really funny ones are those that say "This cake tastes like lemon" as if it were missing baking powder. Once had a scene where one character said of another, "What a prig," and a beta reader objected that the other character really was coming across as a prig. Err -- yes?

[asakiyume]

Wow, yeah! That's very ?????

[nineweaving]

Mmm, lemon cake!

Nine

[asakiyume]

*blows kisses*

[osprey_archer]

It's so good to know that the story is working the way that you want it too! Even though obviously it would be nicer if the editor enjoyed stories that worked that way and accepted it.

Endings are so tough. Happy endings are always crowd-pleasers, but I think bittersweet/unresolved/sad/dark endings often stick with the reader longer, especially if the story earned that ending. Although I guess if the story didn't earn it, that also sticks with the reader, ha: "Cannot BELIEVE that story about a happy picnic in the park ended with the characters literally getting struck by lightning!"

[asakiyume]

Giggling in my seat here. We've all read stories like that. WHAT THE HECK.

[amaebi]

There's such a matching phenomenon at the heart of every reading, and thus of every editorial acceptance/refusal.

[asakiyume]

Absolutely!

[med_cat]

Best of luck with the revisions, and I hope you share the link with us once the story is published :)

[asakiyume]

Oh definitely! Thank you.

[wayfaringwordhack]

I would have opted for feedback, too. And it sounds like you just need to find the right fit because you are obviously achieving what you wanted to achieve!

[asakiyume]

*fingers crossed* 😉

[lizvogel]

I have stories like that, too. Had quite a dilemma recently when I found out why a particular story wasn't working for >50% of the people who read it (including all editors so far)... and it's the bit I like best about it. Finally decided, as you have, to keep holding out for that editor who likes lemon cake.

Go you for getting the feedback!

[asakiyume]

Thank you! And good luck to both of us. Fingers and toes crossed. SOME people have to like lemon cake!

[rimturse]

Editor feedback can be such a help, and I'm happy you decided to take him up on his offer. Fingers crossed for lemon cake lovers!

[asakiyume]

Thank you for the good-luck wishes!