Reddit reviews The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile

This post made me really sad. I'm really sorry to hear that. Do you have an agent? Have you read this book?: http://www.amazon.com/The-First-Five-Pages-Rejection/dp/068485743X/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367421178&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=staying+out+of+rejection+desk

Here's a list of some of my favorite books on writing:

• The Art of Fiction
  
• Techniques of the Selling Writer
  
• Sin and Syntax
  
• The First Five Pages
  
• The War of Art

Steps towards Finding an Agent

1. Think of authors who write books very similar to what you write.
   
2. Email said authors and ask them a) who is there agent? and b) what is their opinion of that agent?
   
3. Make sure the agent is someone representing the sort of fiction you want to write. Probably 50% and above of queries agents receive are for fiction they don't represent.
   
4. Query that agent.
   
   Editing your Novel
   
   Now, if you're looking for help editing your book, you probably want to find a freelance editor. This can be expensive. The fellow I use, Joshua Essoe charges around $30 an hour for editing, but he's really freaking good.
   
   This can get expensive depending on how well edited your novel is. It wouldn't be uncommon to expect shelling out $1k+. Before submitting anything, do your own revisions and copyedit. Expect to spend about half as long as you did writing the novel. This includes fixing content and continuity, typos, voice, descriptions, etc. The more of this you fix on your own, the less you end up paying the freelance editor.
   
   Hope this helps.
   
   Further Reading
   
   The First Five Pages. This book is specifically tailored towards getting out of the slush pile.
   
   Writing Query Letters I'd recommend this for the process of query writing. A good query will get you farther than just about anything else.

It will be easier coming from an objective source, rather than a close friend. Give him something to read that will help him critique his own writing. I don't know what he wrote, because you'd already pulled it down, but according to the comments here, he'd probably benefit from something like Noah Lukeman's First Five Pages - where an editor explains how you can pretty much tell amateurs from good writers within 5 pages. Most people make multiples of the errors he points out.

Get him that book as a way of encouraging him to prepare his book for publication, in the spirit of support. He'll figure out his own flaws soon enough...

Your query letter doesn't explicitly state that the manuscript is complete. At least then they'd know that they don't have to deal with a writer flaking out in the middle of writing it, and that, should they get interested, they can read the whole thing and judge it immediately.

Read this book and follow its advice:

http://www.amazon.com/First-Five-Pages-Writers-Rejection/dp/068485743X

I would tend to send out the first chapter. Electrons are cheap. That way they can judge you from your writing rather than your blurb. Of course, the judgment might not be any different, but...

Congratulations on your book, getting it out there is quite an accomplishment!

I'm adding it to my to-be-read list, which seems to be growing all the time. I have a young daughter interested in math, so if I like it I might share it with her.

That said, the very first sentence is a little awkward:

> The last camp of the summer science camp had been such a bore, but Alex's father had really pushed for her to go.

Say that out-loud to yourself a few times. The last camp of the camp. Doesn't sound right, does it?

Is the first 'camp' supposed to be a different word? Maybe session, or week, or day, or something? Not sure why but it just sounds weird, and takes me out of the story before it even starts.

Also, in the first sentence of the second paragraph:

> Her dad worked for this big company building...

Sounds a little weird to say 'this big company', unless we are dealing with and angsty teenager speaking. Maybe 'a big company'? Not really sure. I'd probably use something more specific, like 'a multinational construction company' or 'a large conglomerate'.

Further slightly odd phrasing in the blurb "a young precocious girl".

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you've got one chance to make a good impression. I read the 'look inside', notice the writing that doesn't quite flow so nicely, and maybe I move on to buy a different book.

This idea, and similar ideas about grabbing a readers attention from the start is explored further here:
http://www.amazon.com/The-First-Five-Pages-Rejection/dp/068485743X

The cover is very nice, although I would punch up the yellow lettering, make it a little brighter. It definitely catches my attention, and would get me to read further.

Was this book edited by a professional? Just wondering, not being snarky, because I think an editor might catch some of the odd phrasing that grates on my ear. Another trick is to read it out loud to yourself, or use text-to-speech on your computer.

I'm rambling, ignore me. Great job! Keep writing and polishing and you might really have a winner on your hands!

Maybe I'm a slow reader, but for me 15 mins equals roughly the first five pages, which is a pretty accepted 'hook 'em or die' cut off point. I remember reading this book about it...actually, I lie. I really only read the first five pages of it!

I'd be really interested to see what conclusion you come to.

I found this book very helpful.

https://www.amazon.com/First-Five-Pages-Writers-Rejection/dp/068485743X

Short version: your opening is a promise of what the rest of your story is about.