Rejections

Having been on the receiving end of editor and agent rejections, I don't like giving them to the enthusiastic writers who have sent me things for the Cactus Rose line. But in order to make this a publishing house that can become RWA recognized we have to put out the best work. I wish enthusiasm was enough to get a book published. If so, I would have been published long ago as well! But I've got a huge file of rejection letters to prove it takes more than enthusiasm.

It takes learning your craft and honing your voice to get published in this genre or any genre. You can't just dash a story on paper and hope to sell. You have to work at piecing together the best words, in a logical order, and bring in emotion as well as excitement. When I start spewing about something I'm working on and the problem I'm having with a story to anyone who doesn't write, they look at me and say, "Don't you just put words on paper?". That is the misconception most non-writers have. We just sling words on paper and there is the story they want to read.

Writing is about constructing an interesting story and weaving it into a spellbinding book with POV control, emotions, pacing, wording, and making your hero and heroine so likeable the reader doesn't want to put down the book when they get to the end.

That is writing, and that is what I am looking for when a submission is sent to the Cactus Line.