Chapter 40
Lilac from the bee's point of view
Chapter 40 I said I was going to share the ups and downs of this whole book marketing adventure. A few months ago I entered The Perfect Song in a couple contests. The entry fee for the first one was $50. I didn’t get an acknowledgement of receipt, nor did I ever hear from anyone on the book’s status, whether it won, lost or put a judge to sleep. The second competition was with The Writer’s Digest. Writer’s Digest has been around a long time and I’ve dealt with them before. I trust them. Finally, after a long wait, I received an envelope in the mail in mid April. It contained a polite letter from the editor saying, unfortunately, I didn’t win. Then I went to the judge’s sheet. The scale was 1-5 with 5 meaning excellent. The results, and judge’s commentary were as follows: Plot (4) “A decent allegory with music substituting for religion. The ending is satisfying, albeit downbeat.” Grammar (5). The writing is excellent, practically error-free.” Character development (4) Poul grows and changes by the conclusion. Mendel and Beasely are not as dynamic, but don’t need to be.” Cover design (4). Eye catching, good looking cover that nicely represents the theme of the book.” Under the Judge’s Commentary, What did you like best about this book? the judge wrote: “The prose is very good. Tight structure, decent description, and the plot moves along nicely. This is a good book, with plenty of conflict, and an interesting hook. One of the better self-published efforts I’ve read.” How can the author improve this book? “Toning down the exposition and interior monologue, and doing more showing and less telling. Often weeks, months or years pass with only a few sentences to describe them. I would have liked to have spent more time with these characters, and have been privy to more of their defining moments. But overall, it’s a good book.”
As Kurt Vonnegut said, “and so it goes. . . .” (Commercial: If you haven't bought The Perfect Song yet, I do have PayPal. Go to the store and check it out. All profits from the book will be used to create a scholarship for future writers).
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