tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post7341376468633826452..comments2024-03-25T20:40:44.806-04:00Comments on Literary Rejections on Display Now Has Long COVID: Look Homeward, RejectionWriter, Rejectedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17241982229214057815noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-28190763478278490762008-02-20T14:47:00.000-05:002008-02-20T14:47:00.000-05:00Thomas Wolfe sold this kind of writing to magazine...Thomas Wolfe sold this kind of writing to magazines like VOGUE, COSMOPOLITAN, VIRGINIA QUARTERLY REVIEW ... how many of these magazines today would buy anything like this at all, or are even looking?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-35018327191705331872008-02-18T10:04:00.000-05:002008-02-18T10:04:00.000-05:00I agree, anon, that a book like this would have a ...I agree, anon, that a book like this would have a tough time today. (I mean Really! First time novelist with 200,000 word manuscript and no plot! I can't imagine William Morris or ICM out scouting for an author like this). <BR/><BR/>But to be fair, it was also quite tough for Wolfe. Some of the publishing houses refused to even look at it when they saw the size of the ms. Some started reading and said it was awful, all purple prose. Only John Hall Wheelock and readers at Scribners gave it a chance and knew it was great.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-77111272717551347362008-02-18T09:51:00.000-05:002008-02-18T09:51:00.000-05:00A book like LHA would never get published today, a...A book like LHA would never get published today, and that's crazy because there would be a market for something big and lyrical and elegant like that. But it doesn't fit into a focus group. Agents hate it. Did you look at the first 50 manuscript pages of LHA (that's the first 25 pages of the print book)? What agent would take that partial and ask to read the rest (180 some thousand words)? It goes nowhere, no tension, no plot. It's flat and linear. Big words, long sentences, and you have to take your time and READ it. But it's great literature and there is NOTHING LIKE IT today. Nope, just read those partials Nathan Bransford has in his contest. You'll see nothing like this. And if you did, it would be rejected immediately.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-33222356494387832452008-02-17T19:51:00.000-05:002008-02-17T19:51:00.000-05:00I notice that the first commenter usually tends to...I notice that the first commenter usually tends to agree with the rejection you are posting. Why is that, I wonder. Human nature? Editors crawling the blog? Or just easier.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2703861414547309188.post-34535563077297821382008-02-17T18:54:00.000-05:002008-02-17T18:54:00.000-05:00Look Homeward, Angel IS kind of terrible. It's emb...Look Homeward, Angel IS kind of terrible. It's embarrassing, like a grown man sobbing at your feet over his childhood teddy bear. It's also wonderful, if you want it to be and if you let it.<BR/><BR/>I happen to love the book, but I never recommend it to people.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com