So with a great heavy feeling in my heart, I post up my Publishers Weekly Review - it is a good review and has some constructive points for me to address, but I am sad to not be going through to the semi finals. I am taking note of the fact that I have written for a younger audience than that which the contest asked for. Young Adult being serious Teens, and yes, I did originally write for the 10-14 market, so it shouldn't come as a surprise. My next task is to find how to convincingly pitch to a publisher and make no pretence that this is a Young Adult novel.
Publishers Weekly Review:
"In this short and sweet novel, mainly set in a far-away Faery world, four siblings who are the children of the elements have been reunited after being separated years before. They have returned to the land of Encantadora from the Human world because Lithendor, the Dark One, has a plan to take over the Faery and Human worlds. He needs the four elementals -- Edward, son of Earth, Wynne, daughter of Water, Fiona, daughter of Fire, and Andrew, son of Air -- to relinquish their powers so that he may regain strength and travel between the two worlds. As they train together to harness their elemental powers, days pass until Fiona is captured by Lithendor. They must stand together, as four, to destroy Lithendor and rescue Fiona. Readers will enjoy this quick fantastical read; most of the story focuses on Edward and his journey to reunite himself with his siblings after he falls off a dragonfly en route to rescue Fiona. This story is quite succinct -- almost too much so. It would have been enjoyable to learn more about their lives before transport back to Encantadora and to read a more detailed explanation of the Faery land and what led to the decision to send the siblings into hiding in the Human world. All in all, this is a fun and enjoyable read, although it might be best suited to younger ages. Although the main characters, except for Fiona, are teenagers, the book seems to be skewed younger due to the shortness of the story and the absence of any violence or scary situations."
4 comments:
It's been a tough couple of days for us! I think your PW review is very positive. Good job!
Thanks Jeana, After a couple of hours of head clearing, have accepted the review with as much Grace as I can muster. I realise that my greatest mistake was to enter the novel for a Young Adult contest, and I clearly wrote with a younger audience in mind: as the reviewer says (right on the mark) ages 9-13. This is the age group I want to write for, the age group I know well and am passionate about. So now I just need to make some tweeks and pitch to the right market. All good. I do question the need (if I were to venture into the Young Adult area) for violence and such. Are we feeding into a downward spiral by saturating Young Adult Fiction with ever increasing violence and sexual tensions? I don't know. I read a very different kind of book as a young adult I suppose. Anyway - here in South Africa we have a saying "More is nog 'n dag" - "tomorrow is another day". I am happy with the review. Sad to not be a semi-finalist, and glad to have a novel up on Amazon in two formats :-)
I agree that our 9-13-year-old kids don't need more violence and sexual tension than what's already out there. I say write what feels right to you and what's right for the story. That's what really matters. I'm interested in reading your book when it's available on amazon. Be sure to let us know when it's ready!
I am so proud of your for making it this far. You have a pretty good review from PW - I think you should be able to query the heck out of your work now.
BEST OF LUCK!!!!!
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