The First Five Pages: A Writers Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile is a valuable book for any aspiring writer to read. The rejection pile at any publishing office contains the vast majority of all manuscripts submitted to them.
I have to admit, when I completed my first book, I thought I was kind of special. I thought I had accomplished something unique. Little did I know, everyone and their cat has written a book and all hope to have their work published. When I read The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman, my eyes were opened a little bit and I realized I was actually just one of the masses.
What made my work special? How would it stand out in the crowd. When I realized that publishers are inundated with manuscripts, and that their main goal is to simply get through their pile of paper, it made me realize I may need to rethink my first 5 pages. I had to make my first 5 pages interesting enough, that the editor would find it worth their time to keep reading.
The first thing I did, was re-read my manuscript and cut out 3/4 of all adverbs and adjectives I had included, thinking it made the text rich and beautiful. I realized that the extreme use of adverbs and adjectives simply made my work seem silly and amateurish.
This was a great read, and very valuable for me personally.
