"Every critic knows the first pages of a book can mislead. A lot of authors need a few chapters to hit their stride, find their voice, or move beyond their throat clearing."
Isn't the goal to work with your editor (and trusted readers) to weed out the throat clearing and seduce your reader before you file your manuscript 'final'?
Yes, absolutely, it is the writer's job to work with the editor to week out the throat clearing. And I suspect there are two main reasons why you still see it:
1) Many young editors lack the time and experience (and maybe the patience) to be able to weed out all the early throat clearing and other flaws.
2) Editors at all levels may be reluctant to do heavy editing with big, money-making authors for fear of driving them away as publishing becomes ever more driven by hits. It's hard to quantify the decline of editing in book publishing--given that it involves subjective judgments--but in my experience, alas, it's real. Thanks so much for giving me an opening to clarify this.
As a reader, I subject novels to a 50-page test. If it hasn't grabbed me by page 50, I give up on it. If a book is a known classic, I might go somewhat longer. But in general, life's too short and time is too precious to spend it reading books you don't like (or thinking "maybe if this gets to a certain point, it will be good enough to continue").
Thanks! I hate it that agents expect your FIRST!Pages!To!JUST SCREAM!!! or they don't think it will engage readers (so they reject it on a first-ten-pages submission. Your 69 is a much better test!
Another problem with those screaming first-10-pages is that they can misrepresent the book (and pressure writers to juice up openers in a way that isn’t faithful to the rest).
I'm intrigued by this:
"Every critic knows the first pages of a book can mislead. A lot of authors need a few chapters to hit their stride, find their voice, or move beyond their throat clearing."
Isn't the goal to work with your editor (and trusted readers) to weed out the throat clearing and seduce your reader before you file your manuscript 'final'?
Yes, absolutely, it is the writer's job to work with the editor to week out the throat clearing. And I suspect there are two main reasons why you still see it:
1) Many young editors lack the time and experience (and maybe the patience) to be able to weed out all the early throat clearing and other flaws.
2) Editors at all levels may be reluctant to do heavy editing with big, money-making authors for fear of driving them away as publishing becomes ever more driven by hits. It's hard to quantify the decline of editing in book publishing--given that it involves subjective judgments--but in my experience, alas, it's real. Thanks so much for giving me an opening to clarify this.
Thank you. That's an interesting point you make about money making authors.
As a reader, I subject novels to a 50-page test. If it hasn't grabbed me by page 50, I give up on it. If a book is a known classic, I might go somewhat longer. But in general, life's too short and time is too precious to spend it reading books you don't like (or thinking "maybe if this gets to a certain point, it will be good enough to continue").
Thanks! I hate it that agents expect your FIRST!Pages!To!JUST SCREAM!!! or they don't think it will engage readers (so they reject it on a first-ten-pages submission. Your 69 is a much better test!
Another problem with those screaming first-10-pages is that they can misrepresent the book (and pressure writers to juice up openers in a way that isn’t faithful to the rest).
Absolutely!
brilliant
Thanks, Stephanie. I’ve road-tested that one many times :).
I used to read the foreward, if I was at the library or bookstore, or maybe the second chapter. Now, I read a review before going to Barns & Noble.
I read reviews before buying, too, and have never really understood why people don’t. A critic you trust can save you a fortune at B&N.