A rejection by any other name is still a... rejection

A couple of weeks ago I received a rejection via email for a paranormal mystery set in Hawaii that I'd submitted to a rather prestigious small press. When the editor first read the partial, he told me they never consider paranormal but would make an exception due to what he read in my synopsis. He asked for the whole manuscript. That was this spring. Unfortunately, the publisher's first readers didn't care much for the book. Loved the beginning, but the rest...

Well, suffice to say it didn't meet their standards. And that's fine. It was a long shot because this press publishes books that lean more toward the literary, and my stuff is totally commercial. Some might describe it as "cinematic." This publisher used the words "television reruns." Ouch.

Now I'm seriously considering repurposing the story as a YA. It wouldn't be that difficult to do, and perhaps the theme would appeal more to young people anyway. It'’s a reunion story about close friends who rekindle a torn friendship after one of them dies. Each character has a psychic gift, and there's a mystery involved. I'd have to change the ages of the characters as well as a few other details, but the result would be something like Nancy Drew meets Medium. What do you think?

But this project goes on the backburner for right now. I need to get my UF in shape, especially before the Colorado Gold conference in September.

If you'd like to read the first chapter of my rejected manuscript "Reunion in Paradise" you can find it here. It's the next story after the first few paragraphs of "Chalice" (which, by the way, has been retitled "Cursed." But that's for another blog. Stay tuned.)