Book Review: Toxic Feedback - Helping Writers Survive and Thrive - Page 2

Or I’ll phone Deb, a no-nonsense editor who actually came over to my house in response to one of my calls and decluttered my impossible desk.

Or I’ll call John, an academic, because he is the smartest book-person I know in real life, which makes him the perfect test subject for my half-baked ideas.

Or I’ll email Beth, an army sergeant once stationed at Saddam Hussein’s presidential palace, because Beth writes honest, funny prose and stops me from being too writerly or sounding like Madonna with that faux British accent”

Cole laid out the chapters in her book Toxic Feedback in a logical sequence, but each one has the lovely advantage of being able to stand-alone. She also gives the reader an additional bonus by including anecdotes by several well-known authors such as Jennifer Cruise, Ernest Herbert and Julia Alvarez. These supplementary pieces add clarification of the main point of individual chapters. 

One that strikes a chord is the story of Samina Ali, author of Madras on Rainy Days. Ali was 40 pages into her novel when she submitted a proposal to various agents. She soon received a call from a very enthusiastic agent who kept calling her ‘darling’ and wanted to not only make her a star, but also change the title and format of the story.

The agent was so persuasive that Ali signed a contract, however, since it was the weekend, she had to wait till Monday before she could mail it back. In the meantime, she received another call from an agent in New York, who spoke to her for two hours, and who understood what Ali was trying to say in Madras, and wanted to help her get her own story told, and not publish someone else’s vision. Ali ultimately signed with this man from Janklow & Nesbit, who sold the manuscript to Farrar, Strauss & Giroux – and earned Ali the largest advance the publisher had ever offered to a first-time author. 

It’s alarming to think what would have become of Ali’s work, had she listened to the initial feedback, and not listened to her inner voice. I’ll offer that it’s also troubling to think what would have happened if Joni Cole had heeded the “it’s all wrong” comment. Now that – would have been very wrong.

Article Author: Mary K. Williams

Mary K. is a freelance entertainment writer living in the Greater Boston area. She pens CD reviews for Metronome Magazine and is a former Features Editor for Hot Psychology Magazine. Mary K. has also contributed to the anthology, Brewed Awakenings.

Visit Mary K. Williams's author page — Mary K. Williams's Blog