A Tale of Two Types of Feedback

 

Photo Credit: Mikhail Nilov via Pexels

 

Ah, feedback. That Golden Fleece so many writers wish a rejecting editor would give to them, just so they know how to improve their work!

 

I am grateful to the editors who DO take the time to provide feedback when rejecting a piece, because those nuggets of wisdom are what will help me to improve the work for the next editor I submit it to, but not all editors who reject our work will provide that feedback. Alas! But it’s understandable, given that editors receive So Many submissions (I know of one editor who received 700 submissions for an anthology call), and nothing will bring on serious writer’s cramp like ALL of that typing involved in providing feedback to Every Single submission being rejected.

 

But when we do receive feedback from an editor, whether they are rejecting our work or giving us another chance, that is when the writer will sit up and hang on every word they read.

 

Yes, there are many writers out there who are already soliciting feedback – from both alpha and beta readers – but the type of feedback we are most hungry for is the kind we receive from an editor who is in charge of accepting or rejecting our work. THAT is the kind of feedback we want, the kind of feedback we hope for, because if there is something in our work that makes the editor say “not for us,” then we want to know what it is! We want to know what that THING in our work is that has editors rejecting our work, because we want to fix it! If that is the thing keeping our work from getting published, then we want to fix it so that we have a better chance of our work being accepted somewhere else.

 

For the longest time, I had a novel rejected by one publisher and agent after another. I finally tossed the thing to my beta readers and asked them if they could figure out what was wrong with it. My beta readers told me what was wrong with my manuscript – they literally tore into that thing! – and after I revised the manuscript based on their feedback, it was accepted by the next publisher I submitted it to.

 

This has also happened with poems and short stories I have submitted. One story was rejected many times, but after I received feedback on certain things that were wrong with the story, I fixed those problem spots, and it was accepted by the next editor I submitted it to.

 

However, recently, I received two different forms of feedback from editors that really made me do a double take.

 

In one case, the editor rejecting my poetry showed me exactly how to fix those poems so they would meet the standards of what is acceptable in literary journals. Unfortunately, this made me realize that my poetry is not right for that journal, because I don’t write those kinds of poems. My horror poetry is not written in the style of literary horror. So, I thanked the editor and removed this publication from my list of places to submit work to.

 

In another case, an editor providing feedback was not doing so while also rejecting my submission. This editor pointed out some things in my story which were taboo and therefore unacceptable. This editor said, “If you change those things, as well as how they affect the character, I’ll give your story another look.” This particular feedback blew me away, because the editor saw things that I hadn’t. Of course I am grateful to this editor, but I had to wonder if this story was rejected by other places because of that very reason. I never received that kind of feedback from one publication that rejected it; their gripe was mostly about the character arc in the story. But I could see how that taboo subject would have bothered them, as well as other editors who had rejected this story. None of them told me what this editor did. If they had even seen those things, it would have been nice to know about it! But I’m grateful THIS editor told me, and that THIS editor is giving me a second chance.

 

And that’s another thing we writers hope for: A second chance. Or even a third or fourth chance. (I’m looking at you, Carnage House. You’ll be hearing from me again!)

 

In my role as acquisitions editor at Twisted Dreams Press, I do give authors that second chance – as well as others, if needed. I’ll read a manuscript and, if there’s something that I feel could be fixed to improve the story, I will let the author know. For example, with one manuscript, the story had characters dying and the friends of these characters did not react at all. There was no emotion, no tears, nothing. They just continued on their way. After I finished reading the manuscript, I asked the author to revise those areas because, hello, their friend was just murdered, and they’re not going to react at all? With another manuscript, I asked the author to change a nurse’s reaction to a patient’s story of ALL of the horrors she has been through, because the nurse’s reaction was not realistic.

 

So, yes, the feedback we receive from an editor can be amazingly helpful. Our alpha and beta readers may provide helpful feedback on our work, but it’s the feedback from editors that gives our work a better chance of being accepted, because those editors are the people more attuned to what kind of work is right for publication, as well as what aligns with the publication they are in charge of receiving submissions for.

Dawn Wilson Writing as Dawn Wilson

 

“Writes as Dawn Colclasure.” For a while, this is what I put on all of my profiles that had the name “Dawn Wilson.” (Wilson is my married name.) I was published under the name of Dawn Colclasure before I got married, and after marriage, I didn’t want to change that. I would have to start all over again and I didn’t want to. So I kept getting published with my maiden name, even though it bothered my husband at first. These days, he understands.

 

After I got involved in publishing, I used my married name. I was happy I could FINALLY have something going on with this name! And, of course, my married name was used when I worked jobs outside of the home.

 

So, for a while, I was Dawn Wilson the editor and Dawn Colclasure the freelance writer, columnist, book reviewer and author.

 

Then came the opportunity to have my children’s books published. Until that time, I published children’s books under the name Dawn Colclasure. This was before I started writing horror. Then I started getting published under that name in the horror genre. When I had a publisher interested in my children’s books, I expressed my concern about being published under the name of a writer of horror. What if the parents of kids who read my children’s books saw that and didn’t want their kids to read my books? So my publisher suggested that I use the Wilson name for my children’s books.

 

Then that publisher shut down before the books were published. And the unpublished children’s books manuscripts I was going to have published with her were in limbo.

 

After that happened, I decided to self-publish these books instead. In fact, I have a whole series that I had an illustrator for and I didn’t have much faith in finding a publisher for these books – or my other children’s books, either.

 

After making this decision, I changed my mind about using the Wilson name for these books, figuring that I could be the kind of author who writes children’s books AND horror. I mean, I’ve been doing that all along, right?

 

A few days ago, I was looking at the children's books page on my author site. I noticed there were not many books. Well, that’s going to change after I get my series published! Once I realized that, I thought of something else: Why not use the Wilson name for these books? After all, “Wilson” would be easier for kids to remember, as well as pronounce, than the last name “Colclasure.” I mean, I should keep my audience in mind for this, right? Wilson is an easier name for kids.

 

Once I decided on this, I made the decision that, yes, I will go ahead and use the Wilson name for my children’s books. It’s not like I have a TON of children's books to change the cover or interior files for this! There’s just a few of them. That’s not too much.

 

And it’s not like I’m known for writing children’s books under my maiden name, anyway. Really, I’m not. None of those books are bestsellers, or anything. So this name change won’t affect sales at all.

 

When I first entertained the idea of using the Wilson name as an author, I had one concern: What if this difference in name was being dishonest? Like I was trying to hide who was REALLY writing those books, or something? It’s not that way at all. I am not trying to hide – just make it easier for kids to remember and pronounce my dang last name! I would never hide my identity from people; I’m proud of my identity and got no problem with saying that, YES, I DO write horror in addition to stories for children. I am flexible like that.

 

But then I realized that using my married name for these books is not a form of dishonesty, but a form of rebranding. Authors rebrand themselves lots of times! Nothing wrong with it.

 

So, that set my mind at ease. And, anyway, I have the name “Dawn Colclasure Wilson” for my emails and some of my social media accounts. (I had to add my married name after I took on the position as editor, as well as proofreader.) Both names are there to let people know that I am one and the same person. I’m one person with two names. Ha. I will answer to either or both names. And both names will still be in those children’s books, on the copyright and “About the Author” pages. Just not as the author listed on the cover.

What Do Authors Want? Their Books to Be Published, Somehow!

 

Posing with my poetry book, Touched by Fire. I was thrilled when it was published!

This year has not been a good one for me author-wise so far. Not only did I receive the news that two publishers were shutting down, but books I was hoping to get out earlier in the year did not get released.

 

But like every good author, I’ve been picking myself up by my bootstraps and pressing onward.

 

The first thing I did was make a list of which one of my books was going out of print, and which publisher they were from. Up until then, I was able to keep this list in my head because there were only two books by two different publishers that were out of print. But recently, that number shot up to the double digits, so I had to write everything down.

 

Then I studied this list. After some thought, I selected which of my books would be self-published and which ones I would submit to a publisher who is willing to republish a previously published book. (I know of a few.) And I have been working on making that happen.

 

I have been posting about my ongoing quest to get my books back into print on social media. While I’ve been working on finding the right method to do so – such as getting books reformatted and either getting new or fixing up old covers for them – I have seen posts on social media from other authors way ahead of me in the game running into some problems. And it has really gotten me worried about running into those problems, too! Which is why I reached out to them to start a conversation on what sort of problems they were having and what’s being done to resolve these problems.

 

And while all of that has been going on, it has got me thinking about all of the things that we authors have done and are doing to get our books back into print.

 

See, when you’re a writer trying to get a book published, having a publisher accept your manuscript for publication is the best thing ever. Some of us are willing to sign with ANY publisher; a Big Five press, a small press, an independent publisher, or a hybrid publisher. Heck, even going through a POD service is not out of the picture – nor is self-publishing our books.

 

Whatever it takes to get a book published, that’s what we authors willing to make such concessions are willing to do!

 

Because then, our book will be published!

 

I know of one author who works with a publisher who doesn’t exactly do business as a publisher by the books, but he STILL publishes this author’s books and gets them out there. When I asked the author if he was okay with the way this publisher was doing business, he said he was just happy that his books are being published.

 

For many writers, that’s what they’re after. That’s the golden egg: Publication. And for many, they’re willing to get published no matter what it takes (well, outside of sacrificing their firstborn, of course).

 

Of course, some of us can only do so much to get our books published. There are many of us not willing or able to part with hundreds or thousands of dollars to get our books published. (Sadly, many authors are, and realize too late that they have been scammed.)

 

The reality is that there are many independent publishers out there willing to publish an author’s book without charging them an arm or a leg, but the author who is usually taken for a ride by a scammer is either not aware of them or they don’t do enough research into the many publishers that are out there. This isn’t to say that all of them are really gullible – scammers can be really good at what they do to get cold hard cash from a newbie author – but taking the time to really do some research on publishers is worth it if an author does not want to be scammed.

 

While I understand that many authors really want to get their book published, it’s not worth it if you get scammed. Do your research. I know that getting published is important, but getting scammed by a so-called “publisher” will really sour the experience of getting your book published if you’re out thousands of dollars in the process. (I recommend consulting Writer Beware and subscribing to WritersWeekly. The Horror Zine also maintains a list of reputable publishers.)

 

Aside from this unfortunate pitfall in an author’s quest to get published, today’s technological advances means there are unlimited possibilities for an author to get their books published. Even getting a book published as an audiobook is an option. Books can also be published as installments on sites such as Substack or even through blog posts. Podcasts may also be helpful for the author trying to find a way to get their book published. There are just so many choices available.

 

On the other hand, getting a book published digitally is not the same as having an actual book you can hold in your hands. Many authors prefer this, so they do what they can to make that happen. I strongly recommend that such authors proceed with caution and do their research to find a reputable publisher for this if they do not wish to self-publish their books.

 

Most authors are willing to snap up the best method of publication that works for them, even if some people feel it is not the right one. But as long as their book is published, or back in print, the author will be happy that they have accomplished that goal. And for such authors, that’s all that really matters.