Like many people, instant gratification seems to be the only way, and I am no different. The funniest yet most depressing thing happened to me today. I sent out an e-mail query letter to a literary agent that only takes e-mail queries. I had a well thought out yet brief letter and submitted the first five pages of my book Miss Dare. After hitting the send button, not more than an hour later I received a cookie cutter type message in return:
Thank you for your recent e-mail. I regret to say that I don’t feel that I’m the most appropriate agent for your work.
However, opinions vary considerably in this business, and I wish you the best of luck in your search for representation.
Best wishes,
There was no time for him to even read it. Honestly, if the agent had only read a page of the book, there would be no way they would have been informed enough to turn me down that quickly.
I feel better after that vent, but it still erks me that I may never make it as a professional writer after putting my blood, sweat and tears into my work. Some amazing authors spend years of their lives going unnoticed, which makes me think, why even try when these agents aren't even taking the time to consider the possibilities.
I guess for now I will keep plugging along and write my novels, that will most likely never get read. At least I will read them :)
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Okay, I've ridden in this rodeo many times Jami -- and first off let me say that it is a VERY TIGHT MARKET. Someone twittered the other day how books that would have sold within two weeks are now being rejected. Publishers and lit agencies have had to layoff due to the economy, so they're really only going with the surefire winners AKA things that follow Twilight or True Blood themes.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I got rejected by like 40 agents before being published by Vamplit. Sure, she's not as big as Random House, but she sure has alot of smart, interesting books out there and e-books are now a growing market and she's going into print early next year. And I do know that other people aside from me and my mom have read my book -- not the millions I was hoping for right away (okay, I admit it -- I was hoping what happened to Stephenie Meyer would happen to me and I'd be an overnight success), but it's growing, slowly but surely.
Have you finished Miss Dare? Because I've read lots of advice where the agents won't consider your work unless it's complete. They're looking for instant gratification too, i.e. something they can read right away.
Finally, the internet is really changing how things are published. Did you know that you can upload your work as an e-book on Kindle? You'll need to read their instructions, and possibly get your own ISBN, but that's an option. Rhiannon Frater (who's got her own blog) self-published her zombie trilogy, and now she's getting to be a pretty big success and I believe signed on to have her trilogy made into a tv show or something.
I know it's hard, but it does indeed take time and patience. And the old adage, 'any writer worth their salt has received enough rejections to paper a room' is indeed true!
Take heart and keep on writing!
Miss Dare isn't a Vampire novel so I thought Gaynor wouldn't be interested. I will ask her to take a look at it when I'm done. I guess I just thought what the hell I will try it out. I just was in shock about how fast it happened, like they didn't even read it! Oh well. I still love the idea and it is unique.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Vamplit will be interested. I honestly didn't know what I was thinking.
Thanks so much for listening!
Oh no -- check out ebookundead.com, and you'll see that there are several books for sale that are not vampire novels. Descending Skies, The Rise of Deadhand, and Shadow Storms have darker themes, but not vampire-centric. Definitely try Gaynor.
ReplyDeleteThe rejections can be hard, but in the end, you'll find the right agent. Look at it this way -- if the agent didn't read it, do you really want them representing you? It's almost like finding the right partner (husband/wife) ;)
I talked to Gaynor and she is totally interested! I guess there is a way to make it without and agent. It sucks, literally, sometimes that this business is so cut throat.
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