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Wanna Read My Book?
Hey all --
I’ve written a novel (my second, actually), and I’ve been circulating it to agents, looking for someone to represent and sell the thing. A couple have read partial manuscripts and one’s read the whole thing, but no one’s bitten. That would be OK, except the responses I get are leaving me baffled, just kinda vague things like “the voice didn’t resonate with me” or “the writing didn’t draw me in as I’d hoped” (and that was after complimenting on the plot and characters!) . . .
The people I usually have read my stuff have been generally positive, and they’re not just being nice -- they’ve provided plenty of negative comments (from “you lost me here” to “I didn’t buy that happening that way” to “way too talky” or “way too short” or even --on another project “I just don’t see any value in this idea”), so I do trust they’re not sugarcoating things for me.
I know there's some writers among us, and I think this group's comprised of the kind of people who would be the audience for this, so I’m looking for a few more readers . . . think of it as beta-testing the manuscript. Here’s the “jacket flap” description I’ve been using in my query letters:
Prent Porter begins eighth grade like a lot of other kids: trying not to get caught drawing when he should be paying attention in class and spending his free time pouring over comic books with his best friend.
When his father loses his job and money starts to get tight, Prent worries that his life is slowly unraveling -- until a horrifying shooting at his quiet, suburban school changes everything, leaving a stunned Prent to wonder not only how he survived the attack, but how his father seemed to miraculously appear in his school at the very moment the violence ended.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Prent becomes increasingly withdrawn. But as he begins searching for a way to make sense of a senseless, violent act, he sees his suspicions confirmed one by one -- even against his hopes -- as he uncovers secrets about friends, teachers, and family that lead him inexorably toward perhaps the greatest secret of all -- the one he believes his own father is keeping.
Is it all a figment of a fertile imagination kicked into overdrive by the trauma he's suffered, or is he the only one who sees the truth?
Is it possible his father is a real-life superhero?
If anyone’s interested in reading it, I can email it to you in a Word doc or PDF. The only requirement I have is that if you read it, you shoot me feedback on what you liked and didn’t like, where I hooked you, where I lost you, and later maybe answer some questions I might have based on your feedback.
PM me if you want a copy . . .
Thanks,
--Pat
I’ve written a novel (my second, actually), and I’ve been circulating it to agents, looking for someone to represent and sell the thing. A couple have read partial manuscripts and one’s read the whole thing, but no one’s bitten. That would be OK, except the responses I get are leaving me baffled, just kinda vague things like “the voice didn’t resonate with me” or “the writing didn’t draw me in as I’d hoped” (and that was after complimenting on the plot and characters!) . . .
The people I usually have read my stuff have been generally positive, and they’re not just being nice -- they’ve provided plenty of negative comments (from “you lost me here” to “I didn’t buy that happening that way” to “way too talky” or “way too short” or even --on another project “I just don’t see any value in this idea”), so I do trust they’re not sugarcoating things for me.
I know there's some writers among us, and I think this group's comprised of the kind of people who would be the audience for this, so I’m looking for a few more readers . . . think of it as beta-testing the manuscript. Here’s the “jacket flap” description I’ve been using in my query letters:
Prent Porter begins eighth grade like a lot of other kids: trying not to get caught drawing when he should be paying attention in class and spending his free time pouring over comic books with his best friend.
When his father loses his job and money starts to get tight, Prent worries that his life is slowly unraveling -- until a horrifying shooting at his quiet, suburban school changes everything, leaving a stunned Prent to wonder not only how he survived the attack, but how his father seemed to miraculously appear in his school at the very moment the violence ended.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Prent becomes increasingly withdrawn. But as he begins searching for a way to make sense of a senseless, violent act, he sees his suspicions confirmed one by one -- even against his hopes -- as he uncovers secrets about friends, teachers, and family that lead him inexorably toward perhaps the greatest secret of all -- the one he believes his own father is keeping.
Is it all a figment of a fertile imagination kicked into overdrive by the trauma he's suffered, or is he the only one who sees the truth?
Is it possible his father is a real-life superhero?
If anyone’s interested in reading it, I can email it to you in a Word doc or PDF. The only requirement I have is that if you read it, you shoot me feedback on what you liked and didn’t like, where I hooked you, where I lost you, and later maybe answer some questions I might have based on your feedback.
PM me if you want a copy . . .
Thanks,
--Pat
British by birth....English by the grace of God. 
Yes Jamie...it is big isn't it....
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