Very disappointed

heather

heather

Having spent the last 9 months writing my novel I sent sample chapters out to agents a fortnight ago. I did look at the market before I started writing and could find nothing similar. I clearly didn't look hard enough.
In the hairdressers this morning I read an article that mentioned a book that sounded similar to mine, written by someone with similar experiences to mine. I looked it up on Amazon and found it was published about a year ago and I could have written the synopsis myself. I also read the first few pages - the main character is very similar, the setting is virtually identical, the writing style is pretty much the same. The worst part is that what I considered to be my very original slant is the same slant that this other author took - that had 'never been done this way before.'
Looks like I missed the boat. I know there are only so many plots etc out there, but this is really so similar that I can't imagine that anyone would take mine now and I couldn't face a complete rewrite.
Guess I'll just have to start on the next thing, but I'm so very disappointed that at the moment I couldn't face that either.

Mad Doctor Dribble

Oh heather, don't give up.  Just take some time away from it and then reattack the novel.  Think about the rewrite.  Otherwise, put it aside, start the other book and then, who knows, you might be able to face re-writing the first one again in the next year. 

Carol

Nothing is totally lost.
Have a look at it again as said, and see if there is something else that would allow you to take a different slant.
Write it from one of the other characters viewpoints- with more new material.
Great minds think alike they say. So if it got published, your writing has a chance, you just need to step away from it and re-consider.

Isabella King

That really is an awful piece of bad luck, Heather. I don't know what to say. No wonder you're disappointed.

Jay Mandal

I echo what has been said. But don't lose heart. Could you ask agents who realize what's happened if there's still a market for your book; and what, if anything, you should do to make it more distinctive from the other book?

I wrote a novel in the eighties when the law regarding homosexuality was different. I was sure I'd missed the boat, but it was published in 2002, and has sold over 1,000 copies. It's now going into a second edition - which is pretty good for a print-on-demand book.

heather

Thank you for your comments.
I would like to say that this experience has already inspired me to write - lots of very bad words in block capitals and heavy pencil completely filling a sheet of A4. Who knew I could think of so many? (The best ones are repeated several times)

Is there any way of finding out how many copies the other book sold? As said above, if it was popular then at least there may be hope for a rewrite one day.

Stan2

Sorry to hear your news, Heather. Don't give up!

dorothyd

that is awful, and I know how you feel. There is me, coming up with the 'unique' idea of autobiography of a famous person from the past. I write the book, I start marketing, then the Medieval Newsletter arrives from ASK, promoting the POD book of the autobiography of Eleanor of Aquitaine ... I am persisting, though, as I am going for different people and definitely not POD.

Jay Mandal

I'm not sure if you can tell how many have been sold, but have you looked at the details on Amazon? Both UK and .com.

Allie

I think you should get hold of the actual book and read it. Then you'll see how unalike they actually are. That would mean you have to alter your synopsis but not your manuscript. Someone once told me that one of my stories was identical to one she'd read elsewhere and I was sunk in gloom like you. But when I found it and read it, they weren't alike at all, only in theme - and I read recently where a writing teacher said she could give out a particular theme, complete in the same details, to a whole class year after year, and she hadn't got anything approaching the same story twice.

Daisy

I suppose that is an unfortunate coincidence.  I wonder, like Allie, if the two books might be less similar than you think.  I think you should read it and find out before you change anything and, who knows, yours could still be accepted.  One of my children's books which was published in 2005 was queried by my publisher as being too similar to another book just published elsewhere.  Or so it seemed.  When we got hold of it we discovered it was very different.  So mine was published too.

heather

Well it's already with some agents so I'll wait and see what they say of course.  And you may well be right - no two books are going to be identical. But it really was incredibly similar. I read the pages out to my mum without saying why and she thought they were from my book (which she has read)!
It's just really knocked me back. I expect I was being a little arrogant in thinking I had done something quite new and different, so it's that as well as the publishing angle.
Anyway, it's not the end of the world. I don't suppose I will feel so bad tomorrow.

heather

Forgot to add thank you all so much for your ideas and support. It has helped a lot.

midia

Heather, just remember that one reason an agent or publisher won't take on a book is because they cannot place the genre anywhere on the booksellers lists. At least you now know that there is a market for your type of book out there! One of the questions a publisher will ask an author is whether their book is like any other book available. If the answer is yes, that is good news because the publisher knows that there is already a market out there for that particular genre, so discovering that someone else has written something similar to you could well be an advantage. Best of luck with the agents:)

Butterfly

Heather,
When a publisher/ agent likes the look of a piece of writing that can sometimes lead to better things. So the fact that you've sent it out and it is similar, it is different. You're voice/style might standout and you may find that you get a positive reaction, even if it isn't the yes you might crave.
Writing is exactly as it says. We write it, rewrite it and rewrite, edit, rewrite, edit etc. So you will find that when you start to get something back you may find a different angle on it or be able to look at it with fresh eyes. Don't give up on it.
Back in 2002 I wrote the first version of Symidan a book for children, after many rejections, positive feed back and 5 rewrites I'm currently working on the 6th and hopefully last edit/rewrite. This has been hard but the book has improved imensely and now has a full rounded feel. Once it is finished I've been invited to resubmit to one of the publihsing houses and will do just that, so please don't give up. You obviously had a great idea, but you missed the boat this time. Work on how you can change and improve the work. Good luck with it.

Woll22

Heather, this may or not be much of a consolation to you but there is no such thing in reality as an original idea yet as someone suggested, read the one that has been published, there might be a difference so cheer up. All is not lost in love and war

JonP

Let's imagine that around ten years ago, J.K.Rowling, having finished her first draft, happened to come across a copy of Jill Murphy's The Worst Witch series. Would she have thought "Oh dear, someone's beaten me to the idea of a school for magicians"? No. There's very little new under the sun. What counts is how you write it, and what original angle you can take.

Allie

That is an excellent example, JonP. :)

Butterfly

It is not the idea - it is the way it is written that counts. In a writing class that I ran, I gave all the students the same idea, but the results were vastly different. There are no new ideas, just the way you interpret them.

Carol

So agree with all that's been said, look at it again and see what you can make of it.
If we all gave up because another writer had used the same one as us, and got it published, there wouldn't be many books available.

Celtic C

Can't say anything new here heather but it's so true that YOUR perspective and how YOU write will make for a very different take on the same plot written by someone else. Your confidence has taken a knock but it will return. Good luck.

Woll22

Heather, this might encourage you to have another go. I am reading Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave. The characters in it stand out in terms of the fact that I can see where J.K.Rowling has emulated some of the ideas as well as pinching concepts from that trilogy written by that Oxford author whose name seems to escape me.  Ask yourself what is an original idea or think, if J.K.Rowling can get away with it, so can you with a bit of tweaking here and there

heather

Thanks Woll22.
I've since discovered that the other book was self published. Not sure if that is a good thing (fewer people will have seen it possibly) or bad (no-one wanted to publish it - unless she chose that route for another reason).
Anyway, nothing I can do about any of that. I can only work on my own book and make changes if necessary. Sample chapters currently out with some agents (some back already)so I'll see what happens and go with the flow.
Thanks to everyone for their support. All the things you said got me through a very bad day!

Mad Doctor Dribble

Hope you're feeling better this evening, heather.

Hickey

I've just found this and want to add my support. Please accept an ethereal cup of virtual cyber-hot-chocolate.  I've put sprinkles on top and given you my best virtual-mug.