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winton
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Talk about the ups and downs of this writing racket, three months ago, in a one month period, I had seven agents ask to see part or all of my Beyond Nostalgia. Four contacted me in a 24 hour period. Though I still figured it will never happen, I couldn't extinguish the persistant rays of hope that lit  the edges of my conciousness. I allowed myself to believe that, just maybe, my work was on its way. As it turned out, one highly-regarded agent never got back to me (even after two follow up emails), the two that wanted to see the entire manuscript gave me a thumbs down, and the other four told me to hit the bricks. Has anybody had a lousier experience?
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spotty leopard
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Quote: winton, Tuesday, 20 Jul 2010 13:30Talk about the ups and downs of this writing racket, three months ago, in a one month period, I had seven agents ask to see part or all of my Beyond Nostalgia. Four contacted me in a 24 hour period. Though I still figured it will never happen, I couldn't extinguish the persistant rays of hope that lit the edges of my conciousness. I allowed myself to believe that, just maybe, my work was on its way. As it turned out, one highly-regarded agent never got back to me (even after two follow up emails), the two that wanted to see the entire manuscript gave me a thumbs down, and the other four told me to hit the bricks. Has anybody had a lousier experience? Yes. I don't talk about it. 
LexiTrying to be a Time Lord: click here for my blog
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sulcus
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I wonder what the percentage of book deals offered from calls to see the full MS actually is? It seems to spell the kiss of death in my experience. In the 2 months between them reading the initial submission and reading the full MS, they seem to have changed their opinion on the hookability of your book. Surely we can't ALL have failed to sustain the promise of the opening chapters?
This post was last edited by sulcus, 20 Jul 2010, 13:50
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
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winton
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I've read that only five percent of query letters get a personalized rejection, all the rest get the dreaded form variety. What the odds of an entire manuscript being read before getting the axe, I haven't a clue. I'm afraid we'd all have a much better chance for success panning for gold. Writing may be easier on the body, but it surely isn't easier on the mind. What the hell...I just might give it one more try, eventually.
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sulcus
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Quote: winton, Tuesday, 20 Jul 2010 15:33I've read that only five percent of query letters get a personalized rejection, all the rest get the dreaded form variety. What the odds of an entire manuscript being read before getting the axe, I haven't a clue. I'm afraid we'd all have a much better chance for success panning for gold. Writing may be easier on the body, but it surely isn't easier on the mind. What the hell...I just might give it one more try, eventually. Don't despair. The publishing route is one albeit remote option certainly. But have you conssidered taking control of the whole process for yourself and going down the self-pub route?
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
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dancingsue
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Quote: winton, Tuesday, 20 Jul 2010 15:33I've read that only five percent of query letters get a personalized rejection, all the rest get the dreaded form variety. What the odds of an entire manuscript being read before getting the axe, I haven't a clue. I'm afraid we'd all have a much better chance for success panning for gold. Writing may be easier on the body, but it surely isn't easier on the mind. What the hell...I just might give it one more try, eventually. Keep trying. If it's good enough, someone will eventually take it up. I don't advocate the self-pub route for novels unless you have masses of spare time to devote to publicity. There are several people who can give you tips on that, if that's what you choose to do. My feeling is that most writers want endorsement from the professionals - to know that their books qualify for publication by reaching a certain standard. I realise that standard fluctuates between genres, but I'd say 6 rejections isn't enough to give up. You did well to get asked for a full ms, so you're already in with a better chance than most.
the long and the short of itTriclops: a collection of forty short stories by Avery Mathers, Susan Howe and Lee Williams.
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sulcus
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Quote: dancingsue, Tuesday, 20 Jul 2010 16:08Quote: winton, Tuesday, 20 Jul 2010 15:33I've read that only five percent of query letters get a personalized rejection, all the rest get the dreaded form variety. What the odds of an entire manuscript being read before getting the axe, I haven't a clue. I'm afraid we'd all have a much better chance for success panning for gold. Writing may be easier on the body, but it surely isn't easier on the mind. What the hell...I just might give it one more try, eventually. Keep trying. If it's good enough, someone will eventually take it up. I don't advocate the self-pub route for novels unless you have masses of spare time to devote to publicity. There are several people who can give you tips on that, if that's what you choose to do. My feeling is that most writers want endorsement from the professionals - to know that their books qualify for publication by reaching a certain standard. I realise that standard fluctuates between genres, but I'd say 6 rejections isn't enough to give up. You did well to get asked for a full ms, so you're already in with a better chance than most. Sue I wouldn't disagree with you about wanting validation by the publishing industry. But until that happens along, I'll go out and seek the endorsement of readers directly. Somehow more satisfying.
"A,B&E", "Not In My Name" and "52FF" (flash fiction anthology) all available on Amazon Kindle"How a psychopath makes sweet love. I can get you ringside. Royal box even."
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Sammy
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I went back and forth with a couple of agents almost two years ago (with a previous novel). Eventually one signed me up. Bloody hell, I thought. I've made it. My book will be on the shelves of Waterstones and WH Smiths. I'll be a published author. Yay! A year down the line, after being asked to do several major re-writes by the agency's editor, the person in charge of the agency read the final draft and decided it still needed work and they wouldn't be taking it to a publisher. I was told to get on with the next one...which (swallowing my disappointment) I did. Now, I'm in a similar situation. Big re-writes required and I'm still not convinced it will go anywhere. I'm starting to fear I signed with the wrong agent and have been desperately writing to please them and ended up not pleasing anybody! Anyway, didn't mean to add to your woes. Keep your hopes up. To even get requests to read a full M/S is a big deal. Many agents freely admit they're looking for reasons to turn down work rather than take it on. Most new authors don't make money on their first book and agents want a commercial investment. Sadly, it's all down to the money. Did any of the agents offer any reasons for not wanting to represent you or give an opening to approach them again?
'Stay away from your potential. It's like your bank balance. There's never as much of it as you think.'
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dancingsue
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Quote: sulcus, Tuesday, 20 Jul 2010 16:35Sue I wouldn't disagree with you about wanting validation by the publishing industry. But until that happens along, I'll go out and seek the endorsement of readers directly. Somehow more satisfying. I understand your viewpoint. I've only read two self-published books and neither were quite up to scratch in my opinion. The stories and ideas were good, but they both needed a professional edit to smooth out the lumps and 'writerliness' that kept jumping out and spoiling the read. And I've reviewed a couple of openings on here that were published far too soon. Even when a manuscript goes through all the processes, the writer may not be entirely happy with it - and I think that's natural and even desirable. It means the writer is always striving to improve. For myself, I can't make the judgement that my work is good enough for print. I need someone else to say it. I'm continuously asking for comments and revising. I may well put out a collection with two other writers, but I have their endorsement, and that's important to me because I respect their talent.
the long and the short of itTriclops: a collection of forty short stories by Avery Mathers, Susan Howe and Lee Williams.
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winton
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Yes, Sammy, one agent gave me a long, long critique. But, just as you experienced, such a monumental undertaking must be done with no guarantee. Had she said, make these changes and I'll represent your novel, I would have started pounding keys immediately. As for self publishing, one needs to have a network the size of CNN (almost) to pull it off. Though my marketing skills are reasonably good--having a sales background in a previous life--I have no network. I believe what makes landing an agent so damn difficult (forget that the number of publishers is dwindling faster that the number of shyster banks left out there) is that most of them already have more clients than they need. So...to get them to add yet another, they'd have to believe what's in their hands is the work of the next J K Rowling. Well, maybe it's not quite that difficult, but you get my drift.
This post was last edited by winton, 20 Jul 2010, 17:44
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Replies from six agents
20 Jul 2010, 13:30
