This pretty much sums it up. I'm still at the editors from publishers saying no (although it's still with two biggies and they have said no once but are looking at it again and the longer I don't hear from them the more insistent the voice that is saying 'it's gonna be a no' but so too the greater my inclination to NOT follow up with those two editors because then I'll just nudge them to the no a little quicker).
I tried the agents step but no, no, no.
One thing I'm wondering with MS #2 which I'm still on second draft of so very early days, do I do the agent thing or straight to publishers? I'm thinking maybe straight to publishers because I now have email relationships with some of them...
Hmmmm.
6 comments:
I need to make an adjustment. Last time I looked, Nathan Bransford was an agent but now his blog lists his occupation as 'author'.
This is something I've wondered about: are agents wannabe writers or writers supplementing their interests/income? I know, I know, there's little money in it but when you have an agent who's also a writer, couldn't that be a conflict of interest? There's an agent/writer in Australia who also offers mentoring services (which are charged for). Is this not a conflict of interest or am I just over-thinking?
Well, I can definitely see how this could be abused. It's not a good thing to say, but I fear this type of thing is probably just a standard part of "that world" that you're keen on getting into. I suppose it's going to be the case in every artistic field. People talk about passion and integrity and blah-de-blah, and I guess everyone believes it to some degree; but at the end of the day, business is business, and everyone's got bills to pay.
You know, I think you may be over-thinking it? I don't think you'd miss out on a publishing deal directly because of another writer, even if they are an agent-writer. I think what you write reflects your sensibility (not necessarily your personal philosophies but your mechanics of thought, the way you look at things). I'm not sure this could be imitated, by agent(-writer) of (client-)writer.
I think good writing is irrepressible, and what you write is good Melbs.
Yeah I probably am over thinking it, Kettle, thanks. And Alex, I think those concerns, if they are concerns, would be concerns in any type of industry generally.
And I'm not wanting to get into the world, so much as get published. Maybe it's the same thing but I would hate to have to be public about it and have to appear at public events. I know some people are almost in it *for that* but I'm not, couldn't think of anything worse. It's a bit of a paradox, I want to write my stuff, I want to get published, I want that public response but I don't want to be public. Don't try to analyse, this will probably never be something I will really have to face or suffer.
This comment is kind of related to all the stuff you've put on here recently about the process of getting published; but it's also kind of round-about, so hear me out. Remember that YouTube erotic bookclub thing I mentioned a while back? I went and read one of their books for this month. Now, I'm not saying the underlying ideas in the story were completely terrible; but ... well ... look at some examples of the way it's written ...
This is the opening line of chapter 1: Come on, come on, come on. Kelly was not a patient woman. None of the Maloys was.
And this is my favourite bit: Kelly understood. She clenched her fists to keep from reaching out and helping him hurry the process along. Taking a deep breath, she tried to gather together the old familiar parts of herself, the parts that didn’t think they’d shrivel and die if she didn’t lick every inch of his yummy body, the parts that enjoyed sex but didn’t drown in it. Deep breathing didn’t work. There was a whole new gang in town, and they were ready to turn loose the tsunami if something didn’t happen damn soon.
The experience was like watching a B-grade film that you can't stop laughing at. In fact, by chapter 8, I was seriously questioning whether it might have been a cleverly written spoof of some sort.
Okay, the point: Admittedly, I don't know much about fiction; I don't know if the way things work in different genres is wildly different; I don't know if the way things work in different geographical regions is wildly different; I haven't even read any of your stuff; but I think I can confidently say that if this woman can make a living from her work, get over a dozen books published, and describe herself as a New York Times best-selling author, it is not the quality of your prose that's holding you back. Perhaps I'm pointing out the obvious here, but I thought I had to mention this, just on the off chance that you're sitting at home, polishing some piece of work over and over again in an attempt to get it "printable", or something.
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