ABNA and Publisher’s Weekly
Posted by William Bain on April 23, 2009
My Publisher’s Weekly reviewer describes my novel’s world as “macabre” and “disturbing.” The reviewer also says that I “[render] its illusory world intriguingly enough to entice the reader to try to keep up” and closes with “It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but this novel has cult potential.”
Boo Yah!!
But I’m out of the contest. No semi-final round for me.
Boo…
I can’t pretend to know how the decision for the contest was made. I thought I had a pretty good shot at the semi-finals, but the novel is strange. And the PW review doesn’t dispel that particular quality. When I read the review, a few days after learning I wasn’t in the contest anymore, I laughed. I liked the review. I still do. But I have a hard time believing that the words “cult potential” are the ones that Amazon and Penguin publishers want to hear.
The review and the fact that I was eliminated from the contest echoes a chorus I’ve heard from several agents:
“Your writing is great. I can’t sell it.”
I’ll keep sending it out. I’ve another book in the works. Can’t sit still.
If you know an agent or a publisher looking for something with cult potential and an ” impressive unity of vision” gimme a shout.
