"Is My Story Any Good?" Why Even A Professional Editor Has Trouble Answering That Question
I love to do picture book critiques. And I’m pretty good at it. A growing number of my clients have gone on to get agents and traditional publishing deals, or to have success with their self-published books.
I am highly confident that I can take a picture book manuscript and help you make it better than it was when I got it.
So... if I’m confident in my ability to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a story and help the author improve it, why do I balk when someone asks me:
“So…is my story any good?”
"Do you think this has potential?"
"Is this worth pursuing?"
Man, I hate these kinds of questions!
It’s not that I blame the authors for asking! Believe me, I get it! When you’re new to the industry and you have no idea what the standards are, it’s hard to know if you’re capable of meeting them. New authors are frequently just trying to get a general feeling for where they stand. They want to know if they have a shot. They want to know if their dreams are achievable. It's a totally reasonable ask!
But, yet, I find myself stammering and mumbling and doing my best NOT to answer them.
Why?
Writing is subjective!
While I’m confident in my ability to improve a manuscript, I’m also smart enough to know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and writing and publishing is a VERY subjective industry.
I’ve edited and critiqued stories I thought would NEVER get published, that went on to sell quickly (and for a high advance!).
I’ve worked on stories that were so amazing, I was SURE they would sell…and they didn’t.
I am just one person, and my tastes are specific to me - just like there are millions of readers out there whose tastes are specific to them! It is so hard to tell what will "hit" with a wider audience.
Now, of course, there is a point where quality is objective. A manuscript riddled with spelling and punctuation mistakes, for example. Or a story that is obviously, and grossly inappropriate for kids. But, beyond that, we’re all just giving our own best (albeit, educated) guess!
I would HATE to tell you what I really think, and be WRONG!
Take that example above. What if the author of that story that I thought would NEVER get published, had asked me, “Is it good enough?” and I had said no? They might have given up! Stopped submitting! They would have never gotten their book deal!
Like Uncle Ben told Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.” And if you’ve chosen me as your editor…it means you’re likely giving my opinion some weight. And I’m flattered! But, it’s my responsibility to guide, encourage and educate… not be the deciding voice.
I’m a teacher at heart, so I tend to focus on growth vs. judgement.
As I said, I am confident I can help authors improve their stories. But, there’s an unspoken and sometimes discouraging truth hiding behind that statement that’s really hard for a lot of authors to accept...
A great editor is definitely going to make your story better than it was when you handed it to them…but that doesn’t mean it’s going to end up being…good!
Maybe this is the very first picture book manuscript you’ve ever written! The draft you send the editor might be…really awful! (That's totally okay, by the way! We all start off awful. Really.)
So, the editor works and works with you on round after round of edits. You make so much progress! Your story is leaps and bounds ahead of where it started! But in the grand scheme of things...compared to all the books out there...your story could still just be, "okay."
Am I, as an editor and author coach, going to say after all that work…. "Nope, this is still not good enough?”
No way!
I once wrote a blog post that compared getting published to climbing a mountain. So think about it like this. If you are at the very beginning of your publishing journey, and you come to me with a manuscript to edit, I'm going to jump in and help you take that manuscript as far up the mountain as it can go. We might work and work, and end up here:
When you ask me, "Is this good enough?" you are asking me if it's at the peak of the mountain. But I know that the reality is that you can't make the whole climb with your very first story. No one does.
I'm your sherpa! Your mountain climbing guide! So, the last thing I'm going to say is, "Nope. You've failed. The end."
Instead, I'm going to say, "This is great! It's come SO FAR! Look at all the progress you've made!" And then I'm going to encourage you to write another story! To keep climbing that mountain. And pretty soon, you'll end up here!
I’m a teacher and an author myself. I know that the real work towards becoming a successful author takes years, and no one survives that process without some encouragement and support. My job is to help you make your story the best it can be, and keep encouraging you to grow as a writer.
“Good enough” is different for everyone.
Another reason it’s hard for me to tell you whether your story is good enough, is that “good enough” means different things to different authors.
Now, for the record, I hold every manuscript to the same standards. I push my self-publishing authors just a hard as I push my clients who are pursuing traditional publishing. After all...all the books are competing in the same market.
But...
Some authors who hire me to edit their stories, have already decided they ARE going to self-publish. They’re not asking me if the idea or concept is good enough to be a book - they’ve already decided it is.
So, when they say, “Is this good enough?” they’re asking… “Can I hit publish on Amazon yet? Will I get embarrassed by bad reviews? Will my audience be happy with this product?”
But others are hoping to query agents and traditional publishers. They have way more gates to go through, more people to impress - and those people are pros!
So when they ask me “Is this good enough?” they’re asking me… “How likely is this story to impress the gatekeepers enough to get me a book deal? How does this compare to other professional published books on the shelves? Is this ready to query? Should I put this one aside and start again?”
Those two types of “good enough” are VERY different! And honestly, lots of authors don’t even know what their own goals are yet! If I’m not sure which mindset the author is coming from, it’s really hard for me to give a good answer.
So, how do you answer the question, "Is my story any good?"
So, if I can’t tell you your story is good enough, how do you know?
The decision about whether a story is ready to self-publish or submit to agents and editors, is truly up to you. And unfortunately, there’s only one way to really get good at making that decision…
Experience!
When I was first starting out, I queried with several stories that were definitely NOT “good enough.” I learned from all those rejections and wrote a better story the next time! As with anything in life, the best way to learn is to DO.
But what about the standard publishing advice, "Don't query too soon!"
I hear that advice from industry pros a lot. And I totally get it. They don't want you to shoot your one shot with a shoddy manuscript, and they don't want their inbox clogged with unedited, rough drafts. (Yes, this happens more than you think.)
But....sometimes I think querying too soon is HOW we learn and grow as writers!
We send out 20 submissions and hear nothing.
So...we take another hard look at our story and our query letter.
We get a little nugget of feedback from a particularly kind agent and it makes us see our manuscript in a whole new light.
We get so bored waiting for responses that we come up with an new idea to work on....and it's so much better than the first one! (Why is the latest idea always my BEST IDEA EVER?)
Just Do It!
So, I say...as long as you've really worked to make your story the best it can be. Go ahead and jump in to the querying or submission process. You're bound to learn something along the way.
Want support while you climb the writing and publishing mountain?
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