Tag Archives: Jim and Jack

August 16, 2010 · 10:16 pm

Making Lemonade

I spent the first half of today feeling discouraged, and the second half of today feeling like my writing is so terrible that I shouldn’t waste my time trying to get published. In other words, I had my normal response to a partial-manuscript rejection.

By this evening, I had straightened around to deciding that I should at least consider an idea proposed by the agent that would, in her opinion, increase my likelihood of securing representation:
Drumroll, please…

Switch it from YA to MG.

This agent is not the first to suggest that Jim and Jack has a Middle Grade feel to it. Two of my critique partners also mentioned this, but I have stayed true to my original vision of the novel being for gifted eighth-grade boys (as well as a grade or two in both directions).

Why?

1. Boys mature at a significantly slower rate than girls during those tween/lower teen years.

2. Boys are generally not as emotionally complex as girls (read The Male Brain, by Louann Brizendine, MD, if you disagree with this. If you are still doubt, go make friends with a 12-15 year old boy.)

The Male Brain

3. Gifted kids of both sexes are known for their asynchronous development, in that their emotional maturity frequently lags behind their intellectual prowess.

4. 1929 (in which half of Jim and Jack is set) was a simpler time in many ways. Even though adolescents typically had more responsibilities at a younger age, frequently getting married right out of high school, there was a naiveté that doesn’t exist today. Society as a whole was more focused on developing character rather than on “being cool,” and I want that lack of sophistication to be reflected in my 1929 characters.

5. Just to make sure I was right, I had my manuscript test driven by ten 12-to 16-year-old gifted boys (nine of whom did not know me) before I started querying. On response sheets, in answer to the question, “Do you think you were the right age to read this novel? Why, or why not? What age would you think IS the right age?” every one of them thought that theirs was exactly the right age, for various reasons. Which says to me that it is right on target.

I am willing to consider the change, though. Clinging to my rationale won’t bring Jim and Jack any closer to publication. As the litmus test, I have recruited my reluctant-reader middle grade son to read it. If he likes it, I will pitch it differently and see what happens.

They say that you know you’re getting closer when you start to get personalized rejections. We’ll see.

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May 13, 2010 · 6:34 pm

On Giving Up

Cate Woods blogged recently about beta readers, and the comment that I wrote has been rolling around in my brain this week, due to the rejection of yet another partial manuscript.

I have sent out more than sixty queries. One agent has requested to see my full manuscript, and six others have requested partials. All of these submissions were ultimately rejected. Many of the responses have been that the manuscript seems like a good, well written story, but no one is AS in love with it as they would need to be to sell it in this market, and/or they are not sure where they would place it.

This is discouraging. It makes me wonder if I should throw in the towel, and maudlinly reflect that my manuscript might just be too beautiful to live. But then I start to think of why I should keep going.

When I was finished with the original draft, I contacted a few teacher friends around the country to ask if they would offer it to students in my target group (gifted middle-school boys) to read and answer an accompanying questionnaire. I didn’t want kids who knew me, because I thought that might interfere with the honesty of their answers.

I ended up with ten guinea pigs beta readers, all tempted by the promise that I would put their names in the acknowledgments section if the story gets published. A few girls wanted to read it, too, which was fine with me. I stressed in the questionnaire that I wanted to know what was wrong with it, and that anything just written to be nice might hurt the chances of it getting published. I also asked them to write down the words they didn’t understand, so that I could include it in a glossary (gifted kids enjoy things like glossaries).

Although one girl wanted me to work a vampire into the story, the rest of the readers really liked it. They mentioned a few questions they’d had that had gone unanswered (which I fixed), said that they would recommend it to friends, and offered unsolicited ideas for sequels. One said to his teacher that Jim and Jack is one of the best books he has ever read.

One question on the form was about whether or not they thought they were the right age to read it, and if not, what age would they recommend? The students ranged from 11-16, and each thought that their age was exactly the right one, for different reasons. None of them wrote down words for the glossary, which didn’t surprise me; gifted boys don’t usually like to admit when they don’t know something. 

This is what keeps me going, when I am feeling down about querying, and when adult beta-readers/critique partners suggest that it might be MG instead of YA. I’m not sure exactly how to find an agent who thinks like a gifted teenaged boy — that’s not the sort of information that gets shared in profiles or on websites. If there’s one out there, though, I intend to hang in there until I find him/her.

What keeps you querying?

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