Keep Reading - My Story is Amazing By Chapter 10

I read two comments from authors frequently in submissions. The first is after a rejection of just a query letter or even a partial that "the story is really good later on, you just need to keep reading." The second is when an author sends me random chapters, or chapters 7, 8, & 9 because "these are the really good chapters."

And then the author is rejected.

Why, you ask? Because your story needs to be good from the first page to the "THE END." Sure, you might have slower chapters, but all of the writing needs to be good, especially those initial pages. If you cannot hook the reader in those opening pages, the reader will move on to the next novel in the TBR pile. You have now been rejected by the reader.

Oh, I know there are a lot of you who will claim you read "every book from cover to cover, including the bad stories." The reality is that you are a VERY limited number of authors. Think of it this way. In bookstores, you look at the blurb on the back of the novel, you read a few pages and you make a decision to buy or not to buy. Hmmm, sounds a lot like those submissions you send to editors and agents. We are doing the same thing. 

When we read submissions, we start thinking about if we like the book from the moment that email query hits our inbox. We start thinking if this is something we would connect to AND more importantly, if it is something that would sell in today's market. When we read those initial pages, we read it like a reader would, and not someone who (according to a lot of rejected authors out there) "just wants to make millions off of one book." We read it like a reader. Can you hook us? Can you tell a story that makes us want to keep reading and turning the pages?  Can you get me to the point that I want to tell others about your story? Can you make me feel that I will miss out on the greatest thing out there if I stop reading and move on? 

I get your critique group loved your Chapter 8. But did they totally love Chapter 1 or did you skip that one and just "workshop those later chapters?"