 I’m busy writing book3 but in the meantime, I sending book1 out into the world. I’ve polished my manuscript, I’ve hand-crafted my cover letter and honed my one-page synopsis. My critique partners, beta readers, expert publishing professionals, even the odd agent here and there have given me excellent feedback.
So, you think, why haven’t I got 99-book deal?
Several things, actually…
– numbers: there are an awful lot of people out there nourishing, cherishing and polishing their oeuvre. Publishing gurus (e.g. How Publishing Really Works) say many are poorly presented, badly written, punctuated, have a poor plot, implausible characters. Of those which are perfect on those counts, there are still quite a lot competing with my beautiful book;
– agents’ lists: many agents have a full list of clients, so obviously spend 98% of their work time looking after them (as you would hope to be). Sure, they all keep a weather eye out for The Next Big Thing. I mean, who wants to miss the next Harry Potter? Or Lee Child? But when that eye droops with tiredness at a 32 hour day, then perhaps we can understand;
– publishers’ lists: some do a wide spread of book types, others narrower, so your well-written, innovative and exciting book may not fit in with the rest of their catalogue. They may also have full schedules for a good period in the future. And they have the same problem with the 5,000 manuscripts they have to read each week.
But I think the big one is failure to resonate, also known as ‘I didn’t love it enough.’ As a wannabe author, it’s such a teeth-gnashingly irritating answer and something entirely out of your control. But set aside the anger and despair, have a think about it.
Picture yourself in your favourite bookshop. You have 30 minutes before the other half comes back from selecting your Christmas present. You browse the best-sellers, the tables, the 3-for-2, the new stuff, the ‘We recommend’ books, you look to see if your favourite author has brought another one out. But how do you choose what to buy? You read the blurb, you admire the cover, you read the first page or so, then you decide. Why? Because it calls you, it has a certain something that pulls you to it, that resonates. So I often get to the cash desk with a thriller, a historical, a fantasy adventure and the Booker Prize finalist. No logical pattern, just what attracts me.
So despite your beautiful oeuvre and perfect package (if you see what I mean), an agent or publisher may not ‘get’ your book. A very difficult thing to accept, but something writers need to swallow when submitting and reacting to rejections.
I was given a hard piece of advice. When you get a rejection, get another submission out the same day. If your book really is ready for market and your package so good, it should only take a few tweaks. This takes a bit of the sting out and you feel more in control of events. Another writer friend who has several books published says to submit widely (not to the agent not taking your genre, obviously!). You just never know who your idea is going to resonate with.
And lastly, all writers get rejections. Don’t take it too seriously, but here are some famous ones. You’re not alone. It’s never easy, even for the best writers.
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Welcome to the home of the Roma Nova thrillers. Please look around while you are here.
Nails and horses, a stitch in time, plugging a hole, greasing a cartridge, dropping a letter, not changing the batteries – all tiny things which can spark off heavy consequences. And a great technique for writers to plant an insignificant seed at the beginning of their book which later becomes a full-blooming crisis. The clever reader picks it up and thinks ‘Aha!’. And the clever writer scatters a load of them to attempt to confuse the clever reader…
 But nobody could have foreseen the catastrophic effect tiny germs could have on the largest superpower the world had ever seen.
In AD 165 a plague hit the Roman Empire which by AD 180 had killed thirty percent of the population.
A pandemic followed soldiers returning home from campaigns in the Middle East. Army units lived in tight quarters, whether tents or barracks, and while generally well fed, they often fought or trained to exhaustion. And let’s not mention illness or wounds…Even if not messengers or liaison officers, they moved between different units, regrouping as military circumstances required.
So, what was it? Many scholars believe it was an outbreak of smallpox. The most definitive account comes from the Greek physician Galen, who witnessed multiple outbreaks firsthand. Galen described numerous unpleasant symptoms, but one that stands out is pustules or boils which sound similar to the characteristics of smallpox. Some historians think that Galen was describing two different strains of the smallpox virus in his notes, which would explain why the disease remained deadly over a 20-year period.
It rampaged throughout the Empire from Persia to Spain and from Britain to Egypt. It probably killed Lucius Verus, the co-emperor and brother of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. For the first time, the Roman military started accepting significant auxiliary units in the form of Germanic tribes who fought under their own autonomous Germanic commanders which began the process of de-Romanizing the Roman army.
The impact of this was so great politically and morally that the plague was called ‘Antonine’ after the brothers’ family name. In AD 178 it caused 2,000 deaths a day in Rome, a quarter of those infected, according to Roman historian Dio Cassius. Total deaths are reckoned at around five million.
 The results were catastrophic:
- it decimated (reduced by 1 in 10) the Roman Army, by now consisting mostly of non-Italians and struggling against barbarians in the north and Persians in the east
- it cut a naturally dwindling population by a third, wiping out whole villages, even towns
- it shrank the labour force
- it diminished the reliability of transport links,
- it weakened trade, so wrecking the whole economy
- it promoted increasing religious fervour which split Romans from their traditional martial and pragmatic values
- and all these combined to reinforce social disintegration.
In brief, the Antonine Plague may well have created the conditions for the decline of the Roman Empire and, afterwards, for its fall in the West in the fifth century AD.
So it’s not only taxes, corruption and apathy that get you, but the tiny little bugs.
Today’s suggestion: keep washing your hands, maintain your distance and wear a face covering/mask on transport and in shops.
Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers – INCEPTIO, PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO, AURELIA, INSURRECTIO and RETALIO. CARINA, a novella, and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories, are now available. Audiobooks are available for four of the series. NEXUS, an Aurelia Mitela novella, is now out.
Download ‘Welcome to Roma Nova’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email newsletter. You’ll also be first to know about Roma Nova news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.
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 The minute I announced on Twitter that today I was going to make
The Christmas Cake, memories of cinnamon, oranges, brandy and cake mix poured into my head.
I saw myself aged six or seven standing by my mother at the kitchen table. It was half-term and my mother, a teacher, had that precious week at home. I reached up to take the wooden spoon she offered and stirred the mixture in the caramel-coloured white-lined earthenware bowl. I closed my eyes and made a wish.
Many years later, my own six year old son standing on tip-toe, eyes shiny, cheeky grin, finger poised to pinch some of the cake mixture, was initiated into the Christmas cake stirring and wishing ritual.
These memories open the door to what we are, what we aspire to be and what we hope our legacy will be.
Ditto our characters. What did they do at six or seven? You don’t need to tell your readers, but you do need to know.
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I’m busy writing book3 but in the meantime, I sending book1 out into the world. I’ve polished my manuscript, I’ve hand-crafted my cover letter and honed my one-page synopsis. My critique partners, beta readers, expert publishing professionals, even the odd agent here and there have given me excellent feedback.
