tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post2227493485259928370..comments2024-03-26T18:28:06.391-04:00Comments on Evil Editor: Face-Lift 1198Evil Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03879826770199639420noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-64052770338542084542014-04-10T21:10:03.441-04:002014-04-10T21:10:03.441-04:00Which word count to use... okay, that's a ques...Which word count to use... okay, that's a question I can't imagine asking. I use the word processor's word count because it takes five seconds, whereas counting the lines and averaging the number of words per line and the number of lines per page would take forever. And we only used to do that, back in the day, because we didn't <i>have</i> word processors.<br /><br />It matters not. It matters not at all. It matters not in the least. Two things matter, and these are the things.<br /><br />1. That you write a kick-ass story.<br />2. That it be marketable.AlaskaRavenclawnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-65579040588070015682014-04-10T15:33:00.454-04:002014-04-10T15:33:00.454-04:00Change the last three numbers to 0. The other numb...Change the last three numbers to 0. The other numbers stay the same unless you believe the agent will think your book is too short, in which case you round the number directly before the three 0s up one.Evil Editorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03879826770199639420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-36309285796362382472014-04-10T14:40:42.949-04:002014-04-10T14:40:42.949-04:00Author-
Actually, I have a question now that I am ...Author-<br />Actually, I have a question now that I am trying to rewrite my query. I have read different opinions about what to use for the word count. Is it alright to use the MS Word, word count? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-16009282475427741482014-04-09T20:43:10.677-04:002014-04-09T20:43:10.677-04:00Evil editor and friends,
I am a newbie, which you ...Evil editor and friends,<br />I am a newbie, which you ALL picked up - shame on me. I am extremely pleased with the advice and intend to take nearly all of it. <br />By traditional word count, I simply meant counting lines and words and doing the math rather than using the MS Word count, which is 156,000. The statement is clearly a mistake. <br />It's a bit of a kick in the teeth, but thanks for getting me out of my head. Also, thanks for your time.<br />I shall carry on! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-78814372811219406922014-04-09T17:38:39.629-04:002014-04-09T17:38:39.629-04:00Superman's a wuss, this sounds like a job for ...Superman's a wuss, this sounds like a job for Kratos en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kratos_(God_of_War)<br /><br />175K words better be LotR or a GoT worthy to hold my interest.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-13822444588504495012014-04-09T15:40:15.495-04:002014-04-09T15:40:15.495-04:00I changed passwords yesterday after Google told me...I changed passwords yesterday after Google told me someone tried to log on using my password. What gives? Of course there's no guarantee that was really Google, but I changed from my Google account, not from any link they sent me. Guess I'll try changing again.Evil Editorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03879826770199639420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-89884014821907086452014-04-09T14:41:28.101-04:002014-04-09T14:41:28.101-04:00EE dear, your aol email account has been hacked an...EE dear, your aol email account has been hacked and is sending out spam. Time to change the password!nonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00415222406280230021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-29292967962344340652014-04-08T16:33:08.143-04:002014-04-08T16:33:08.143-04:00Torwand's story is, to my mind, the most compe...Torwand's story is, to my mind, the most compelling of the lot. We rarely see just how someone manages to kill gods. <br /><br />But we see Raizsha's story all the time. And most involve surviving trials, and being spirited, and I'm not going to read any further if I'm an agent because I've seen it all before.<br /><br />Stick with Torwand, if you really want to talk about the death of gods.khazar-khumnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-69948993987006053652014-04-08T14:00:05.175-04:002014-04-08T14:00:05.175-04:00This query suggests excessive verbosity, and the 1...This query suggests excessive verbosity, and the 170k word count backs that up.<br /><br />Example:<br /><br /><i> I thank you for your time and effort in reviewing my submission. If you find that my story excites your interest, I would be happy to supply further materials for your consideration.</i><br /><br />Would read better as:<br /><br /><i> Thank you for your time.</i><br /><br />I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that in calling the 170k word count "traditional" the writer might be thinking of LOTR. Now I'll google my supposition and... whups. Only <i>Fellowship</i> clocked in over 170k, but some other high fantasies are twice that:<br /><br />http://www.cesspit.net/drupal/node/1869<br /><br />I suspect this may be why so many people don't like high fantasy. With me it's more the stony humorlessness of the genre that I can't stand. This humorlessness becomes most painfully obvious when, every 150 pages or so, an author will dust off and display with considerable pride A Joke.<br /><br />But I digress. I suppose on consideration, yeah, there's a genre out there where people actually treasure verbosity and would read this.<br /><br />However, it's important to note that big name writers get read in spite of the crap they pull (eg failing to edit themselves) rather than because of it.<br /><br />Carry on.<br />AlaskaRavenclawnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-84050833610593100932014-04-08T09:56:50.666-04:002014-04-08T09:56:50.666-04:00This sound like two ACTUAL books, especially consi...This sound like two ACTUAL books, especially considering the word count is EXCESSIVE AND NOT AT ALL STANDARD FOR A FIRST BOOK IN FANTASY.<br /><br />Sorry. I got all flustered right out of the gate.<br /><br />Ditch the rhetorical questions. Cut the plotting of the trilogy and speak only of the manuscript you have written. The other stuff is noise. Focus on the plot. <br /><br />From my, albeit minimal, understanding of the plot we have three lines: Pissed God, Unwitting God-killer, And Savior. The first two pair well into a single story, the third seems to take place (centuries?) later, and would be a smart place to begin a sequel...<br /><br />There is a LOT to be learned from reading the query archives, author. Sure, it will take days, but you probably (hopefully) spent years writing, revising, rewriting this doorstop of a novel so a coupla more days spent learning HOW to write an effective query is time well spent.<br /><br />In contrast to Anonymous above, your long sentences in the query gave me the distinct idea that you had (at least) 50% static to muck up the book. And your word count will turn off any agent in the business. For real, not maybe. <br /><br />Think about the comments you have received. Do your research. An uninformed writer is an unpublished author. This letter screams a lack of understanding about expectations in the publishing business. The information is a few clicks away, truly. I am not actually criticizing your "writing" for the most part, though the style is not to my taste, I do believe that you need to learn a lot about writing, both mechanics and in a business-sense. This is easily gained knowledge and I advise you to acquire it. <br /><br />Just as an aside, I have sent query letters as poor as this in my past. They were appropriately rebuffed. I went back and revised and rewrote and got queries that yielded requests. It's a big deal to get that far. Keep writing, keep learning. Publishing is a tough business, and if you want to be successful you need to keep trying, keep improving....Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18159799725109784001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-40840303757600424082014-04-07T19:45:32.604-04:002014-04-07T19:45:32.604-04:00My first thought upon reading the query was needle...My first thought upon reading the query was needlessly verbose.<br /><br />I like long sentences, but every word in the sentence needs to be there for a reason that can't be accomplished by something more laconic.<br /><br />With a word count of 170,000 you don't want anyone thinking the book is 50% meaningless static noise that will need to be cut to find a publisher.<br /><br />The world setup sounds interesting. I'd like to know more about what actually happens in the book--is the part with Torand all backstory?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com