I know I've been very quiet, but I've been working hard. It seems irrelevant to put my word count up on my blog as I used to, because this is something that is meant to inspire me, but could irritate those who are in the doldrums with their own work. So nothing about the new book. Absolutely nothing.
My agent is due to check in with me any day. I am not feeling very optimistic right now, as it's been a long time since she sounded really gung-ho about my book's prospects. So, in the interim, pragmatist that I am, I've started querying agents about my other books, not the one that's presently spoken for. Figured that if I got an offer, I could then decide who I go with.
And what a wild ride it is. I'd completely forgotten the amount of work involved in querying. At least now I have the luxury of deciding which book might suit which agent, and it's rather an enjoyable experience, despite the usual rejections.
Speaking of rejections, does it hurt for an agent to set up a nice, friendly, personal-looking form letter that almost uplifts us? I find the "Not for us, thanks." response totally degrading. Are we not worth just a little bit extra for all the research we do -- all those lovely letters we compose directed to their special preferences, the carefully submitted synopsis and chapters in the body of the email, or as attachments in Word, or submitted via their online forms, no synopsis because they're evil, letter query only, or five pages, ten pages, one chapter, fifty pages, whatever? I am going a little mad here, you'll see... And all of this AFTER we've written the best damned book we were capable of, perfectly proofed, edited again and again, and formatted within an inch of its life.
So (takes deep breath) I sympathize with all of you in this rocky boat. It takes huge courage to decide we are ready to put our work out there. It takes a massive amount of faith and belief in ourselves. I salute all of you for hanging in.
But when we rush to our computers every morning to see what the overnight mail has brought us, it would be so nice, assuming there is yet another rejection, for it to be worded kindly, with empathy. "Not for us, thanks." is like a slap in the face.
Good job we all have thick skin (don't we?) and know we are worthy of far, far more. It will come!
Love you.
Showing posts with label Literary Agents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Literary Agents. Show all posts
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Friday, February 6, 2009
Publishing On-Line and Vanity Press, and New Writers' Forum
During my research, I've come across many articles, ads, blogs, and websites that talk about the alternative to dealing with agents and/or publishers.
So many frustrated writers out there, weary from rejection, tired of the hype, the rules of submission, and on and on, decide to do it for themselves, like good sisters (and brothers) do. So, publish yourself and not have to deal with all that submission stuff, right? Hence: vanity. You want to see your name on a book jacket. NOW!
If any of you are even vaguely considering this relatively-easy plan for delivering your beautiful, clever words into the hands of your adoring public, think on.
Vanity press companies have always been here; some very well known writers from days of old used them. You write a brilliant book and you know it's word perfect, so why waste time waiting for one of those difficult, remote publishing people to recognize its marketing potential?
Are you really sure your book is so brilliant? Is it really ready? Oh, your Mom and best friend said it was? Your on-line writers' site said it was?
Look, writing rejection can be unfair, we all know that, but we also must accept that - in most cases - it separates the excellent from the mediocre (although trash does get through). Go browse any writing site and you'll immediately see the disparities.
On those sites, poor punctuation, spelling and grammar abound. Some writers even explain that the MS "still needs work". In that case, why is it there? Add weak story line, bad dialogue, unconvincing characters and you have an unpublishable book. No agent would touch it.
Agents Know what they're doing. If they were unnecessary, the profession wouldn't exist. Publishers trust them to offer only the best.
But why is it that even the very best writers get rejected, possibly through no fault of their own, but from some wicked circumstance that meant the MS was never seen by the right reader? (Well, that's what they tell themselves.) But, even for them, each time it happens, even without comments on the rejection slip, the good writer will take yet another look at the book. Perhaps there's still something not quite right here, after all, and they do some more polishing.
I could run up to Staples now and have them whip something up for me. I could flog it door-to-door, advertise it on eBay, put a big ad on my blog. But what would that do for my writing? Sure, I'd perhaps get feedback, but considering my belief in the brilliance of my book, I'd ignore bad reviews. I could be picked up by some hot agent who recognized its real potential as a hard cover best seller. Do you really think that's likely? I know you've read stories about self-published authors hitting the big-time. How many?
So, if you believe it's just been dumb luck that no one has picked up your manuscript, start researching print-on-demand or other self-publishing options right away. Oh, and you will need your check book.
I want to be published, not simply printed. I will never pay someone to produce my book; they will pay me. If you believe in your work - and you MUST believe in your work - it will happen exactly this way.
On a less cranky note, Emily Cross has started a writers' forum. We are all at different stages of our writing process, and blog postings can be hit-or-miss with your particular issue. This is a chance for you to talk about things that are important to you at this precise moment in your writing journey. The forum will handle all those questions as they present themselves to you. Here's the link:
See you there!
So many frustrated writers out there, weary from rejection, tired of the hype, the rules of submission, and on and on, decide to do it for themselves, like good sisters (and brothers) do. So, publish yourself and not have to deal with all that submission stuff, right? Hence: vanity. You want to see your name on a book jacket. NOW!
If any of you are even vaguely considering this relatively-easy plan for delivering your beautiful, clever words into the hands of your adoring public, think on.
Vanity press companies have always been here; some very well known writers from days of old used them. You write a brilliant book and you know it's word perfect, so why waste time waiting for one of those difficult, remote publishing people to recognize its marketing potential?
Are you really sure your book is so brilliant? Is it really ready? Oh, your Mom and best friend said it was? Your on-line writers' site said it was?
Look, writing rejection can be unfair, we all know that, but we also must accept that - in most cases - it separates the excellent from the mediocre (although trash does get through). Go browse any writing site and you'll immediately see the disparities.
On those sites, poor punctuation, spelling and grammar abound. Some writers even explain that the MS "still needs work". In that case, why is it there? Add weak story line, bad dialogue, unconvincing characters and you have an unpublishable book. No agent would touch it.
Agents Know what they're doing. If they were unnecessary, the profession wouldn't exist. Publishers trust them to offer only the best.
But why is it that even the very best writers get rejected, possibly through no fault of their own, but from some wicked circumstance that meant the MS was never seen by the right reader? (Well, that's what they tell themselves.) But, even for them, each time it happens, even without comments on the rejection slip, the good writer will take yet another look at the book. Perhaps there's still something not quite right here, after all, and they do some more polishing.
I could run up to Staples now and have them whip something up for me. I could flog it door-to-door, advertise it on eBay, put a big ad on my blog. But what would that do for my writing? Sure, I'd perhaps get feedback, but considering my belief in the brilliance of my book, I'd ignore bad reviews. I could be picked up by some hot agent who recognized its real potential as a hard cover best seller. Do you really think that's likely? I know you've read stories about self-published authors hitting the big-time. How many?
So, if you believe it's just been dumb luck that no one has picked up your manuscript, start researching print-on-demand or other self-publishing options right away. Oh, and you will need your check book.
I want to be published, not simply printed. I will never pay someone to produce my book; they will pay me. If you believe in your work - and you MUST believe in your work - it will happen exactly this way.
On a less cranky note, Emily Cross has started a writers' forum. We are all at different stages of our writing process, and blog postings can be hit-or-miss with your particular issue. This is a chance for you to talk about things that are important to you at this precise moment in your writing journey. The forum will handle all those questions as they present themselves to you. Here's the link:
http://thewriterschronicle.forumotion.net/forum.htm
See you there!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Literary Agents - Boadicea is Back
I feel so much better today, all ready for battle and holding back an ocean or two with my spear. Or was that Canute?
I spent over an hour this morning tweaking even more query letters. The list of literary agents is long, but I'm gradually working through it, making my notes, giving each a kind of one to ten grading. There's such a mystique about agents. They are so remote from you as you sit at your computer, despite their internet proximity.
When you find a nice one, from reading their blog or a comment by a writer, you want so much to just pick up the phone and chat, because they seem so approachable. I'd start off with, "You must get so many emails, so I thought I'd just call you to make things easier. Perhaps we could grab a coffee and I could show you my..."
- Of course, no chance of that, but it would be nice.
Anyway, from my rating system so far, here's a bit of a summary, in no particular order of relevance:
They are all a bit bossy - the writer must do this, and mustn't do that, redolent of school. I hated school - except for Art, English, and History.
They can be so dogmatic about their realms of interest or preferred genres, usually with some form of qualifier, so that you come away from that bit of research wondering where on earth your work fits in.
They all seem to have different submission requirements. Couldn't this be standardized throughout the industry, in some way? Why are they not expected to conform to norms?
Some are sweet, others are surly, judging by their blog tone; some seem to enjoy their reputation for prickliness.
Some are famous for responding speedily, and there are more with the 'I'll-probably-never-get-back-to-you-because-my-daily-inbox-is-SO-HUGE' attitude. How would that play for us mere mortals at our jobs?
They have funny blogs, terribly serious blogs, and downright impatient, unkind blogs.
They are revered everywhere and probably get good restaurant tables.
They have posh offices and crappy ones.
They can be gushingly-friendly, or overly-formal.
They all appear to enjoy a wonderful kind of love/hate relationship with one another.
There are rather a lot of women agents; I wondered at the significance of that.
Finally, writers hang onto their every word, and lose sight of the fact that the agent is there to provide them with a service.
It's unscientific, this little research of mine. But I have come away from it with names of people (all women) to whom I think I can trust my work. Dare I say, my heart?
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The Query
I've reduced Hafan Deg by another 1000 words. More would have been achieved yesterday, but it was a running-around day with grocery shopping, dentist, house-cleaning - all those things you can't quite picture when you think of the literary process. I mean, try to imagine Martin Amis or Joanna Trollope at the supermarket; it's difficult. I CAN, however, see Stephen King, standing in two feet of snow, packing the groceries into the back of his car, so there are exceptions.
When I first completed Hafan Deg some time ago, I received a request from publishers Allen & Unwin, in Sydney, for the full MS, as a result of my dynamite query letter. That letter is still my first choice, because the editor commented on how intrigued she was by it, and nothing has changed to warrant further refinements. I have a couple of new ones, ready to go, for agents I've since become familiar with, where I understand precisely what they need to see, over and above my first option.
So far I have around thirty agents to pursue, vetting each one as I go through my list, because I won't approach an agent I think will be a poor fit, regardless of what genre they claim as their preference. I want to know as much as possible about them, down to what kind of coffee they drink, if necessary. (We are going to have to work closely together, after all.) We could easily become too eager to be read, writing willy-nilly to all and sundry. Why waste time on that, especially as we're bound to get rejection slips from even the likeliest ones? Although my list presently reflects the U.S. market, I am actively seeking British agents, because I'm more Brit than anything else, and speak the vernacular. I know a good British agent will sell to the U.S. anyway, but I'm sentimental.
Which leads me to the word 'shilly-shally', a good word that Lapillus of Literary Rambles wanted to know more about in her blog yesterday. I explained it to her. Brits have no difficulty understanding Americanese, because we grew up on U.S. film and books. The U.S. notoriously have never quite understood the British, whether they just haven't been exposed to it as much or are more insular in their tastes. Anyway, if you want to know how to use the word 'shilly-shally', don't mess about, don't shilly-shally, go to Lapillus's blog.
I'm re-reading 'Eats, Shoots & Leaves', by Lynne Truss, a book about the pitfalls of poor punctuation. If you haven't already laughed over this one, you must get it. I am a punctuation nut, probably from years of professional editing, and I expect the written word to be in clear, unambiguous form (English or US usage), so for me it's a case of preaching to the choir with this book, but it is just so funny. For those of you who are less particular - or just plain insecure - about punctuation, you might want to take a little look, just to remind you of how important it all is. And you'll have a good giggle.
When I first completed Hafan Deg some time ago, I received a request from publishers Allen & Unwin, in Sydney, for the full MS, as a result of my dynamite query letter. That letter is still my first choice, because the editor commented on how intrigued she was by it, and nothing has changed to warrant further refinements. I have a couple of new ones, ready to go, for agents I've since become familiar with, where I understand precisely what they need to see, over and above my first option.
So far I have around thirty agents to pursue, vetting each one as I go through my list, because I won't approach an agent I think will be a poor fit, regardless of what genre they claim as their preference. I want to know as much as possible about them, down to what kind of coffee they drink, if necessary. (We are going to have to work closely together, after all.) We could easily become too eager to be read, writing willy-nilly to all and sundry. Why waste time on that, especially as we're bound to get rejection slips from even the likeliest ones? Although my list presently reflects the U.S. market, I am actively seeking British agents, because I'm more Brit than anything else, and speak the vernacular. I know a good British agent will sell to the U.S. anyway, but I'm sentimental.
Which leads me to the word 'shilly-shally', a good word that Lapillus of Literary Rambles wanted to know more about in her blog yesterday. I explained it to her. Brits have no difficulty understanding Americanese, because we grew up on U.S. film and books. The U.S. notoriously have never quite understood the British, whether they just haven't been exposed to it as much or are more insular in their tastes. Anyway, if you want to know how to use the word 'shilly-shally', don't mess about, don't shilly-shally, go to Lapillus's blog.
I'm re-reading 'Eats, Shoots & Leaves', by Lynne Truss, a book about the pitfalls of poor punctuation. If you haven't already laughed over this one, you must get it. I am a punctuation nut, probably from years of professional editing, and I expect the written word to be in clear, unambiguous form (English or US usage), so for me it's a case of preaching to the choir with this book, but it is just so funny. For those of you who are less particular - or just plain insecure - about punctuation, you might want to take a little look, just to remind you of how important it all is. And you'll have a good giggle.
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