What is "Voice?"

I've written a book about my experiences with animals who have died shortly after they've met my acquaintance. After over 100 animal deaths, and about the same number of animals who didn't die after meeting me, I came to certain conclusions about the place of animals in our lives. These conclusions are far from what mainstream Americans believe, and I understand that my book is a tough sell and needs someone with a unique set of traits to champion it.

One of those traits, unfortunately, is an appreciation of the macabre and a sense of humor and irony. And those come through in the "voice" of the book, which two agents have told me they found, shall we say, not to their liking.

Now, I can easily write something in a different voice, but I am a bit dark and twisted by nature. Furthermore, what the world doesn't need is another sweet book about a person whose relationship with a dog or cat makes them realize that there just might be something more to nonhumans than instincts and reflexes.

Voice is very subjective, and though there are many criticisms that you shouldn't take seriously, voice isn't one of them. Your voice is the personality--the person--behind the writing. And when someone doesn't like the voice of your writing they're sort of saying they don't like you--the way you present yourself in your work.

If you're a journalist, voice should be something no one notices, as you're reporting and your personality shouldn't be noticeable. But if you provide commentary--think Andy Rooney--people will react to what you say, but they might react more to how you say it. Your diction, syntax, tone, inflection and pauses tell your listener a lot about you and how you see the world. And the same is true of your writing.

If an agent or publisher doesn't like the voice of your work, it shouldn't be entirely surprising as you should choose agents and publishers wisely, based on whether they have appreciated writing or topics similar to yours in the past. If your work has a distinctive voice that you know isn't for everyone, here's my advice: Your topic is secondary to voice when you're searching for agents and publishers (unless you change the voice, which I can do with a rewrite of about a month, and it will be far more acceptable for most people, but that's not the book I want to write). For instance, though it's important to find someone who wants to read about animals, it's more important to find someone who appreciates quirky or dark voices.

What's the most distinguishing quality of your book? Is it the topic, the genre, the voice? Whatever it is, find someone who appreciates that quality, and assuming your writing is great, the rest should fall into place eventually.