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Q&A Are competitions worth it in order to get published?

I have recently finished my 25,000 word novella and contacted some publishers and agents about a month ago. I have only heard back from a couple rejecting me but considering the format of my boo...

posted 5y ago by Liquid‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T11:56:53Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48925
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T13:14:01Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48925
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T13:14:01Z (about 5 years ago)
> I have recently finished my 25,000 word novella and contacted some publishers and agents about a month ago. I have only heard back from a couple rejecting me but considering the format of my book as well as the fact that it is highly experimental and does not fall into any specific genre, I do not find it highly probable to get published as it is despite its quality.

If you are in contact with those agents/publishers, I'd advise trying to get feedback on why they rejected your book, instead of assuming that it's due it being "highly experimental despite its quality". Maybe you're overlooking something.

Anyway, you can **always** finish a longer book. But it's also a good moment to hone your editing skill, getting beta readers, and understand what your target audience should be. Maybe one of the problem of your book is that you didn't "pitch" it well enough.

If all of those options don't work out and you find that there is no more editing to be done on your 25000 words novel, joining competitions is surely better than leaving it in a folder.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-11-13T12:40:45Z (about 5 years ago)
Original score: 5