This week I did not read about breasts once. (I know, my life has become sad and empty.) In fact, for all the questionable manuscripts I read last week, I must have read twice that number of really good samples of writing.
I don't know what's worse.
The problem with the good ones is that most of them are missing one crucial factor, just that extra je ne sais quois to make it spectacular. It might be underdeveloped characters, stilted dialogue, a weak premise. And that's harder. To read about each character's breasts thrice on each page makes my life easy; it's a fairly quick rejection. To read the good stuff with the interesting plot and carefully constructed characters makes it quite difficult. I want to respond to each manuscript with things like, "Please keep writing!", "Revise and submit again in six months!", "I love the part where Cynthia tells Jake she loves him for the first time but it's already too late because he's accepted the job in Asia and married the woman from the prologue!"
But I can't. No one can. Sadly, there are not enough hours in a day to write out detailed reviews of everything I liked and didn't like. Once I thought a story showed a lot of promise, but it was so not the genre my agency looks for, so I took the time to look up the information of another agent who does rep the genre, and I passed along the info. This will probably not happen again. There are not enough hours in a day.
As a result, I do give serious attention to every piece of writing I read. It's a big responsibility having other people send in their stories for consideration. I know all of them have put in serious work, so I must give serious consideration. I do. Like I said, it's tough not being able to do more in terms of feedback for the ones that get rejected. (Except for that guy with the breasts. Oh my God, I don't think I'll ever recover from that one.)
But just because I (or any agency) cannot give more feedback, doesn't mean that no one can.
http://www.critters.org/ is a good website for fantasy and sci-fi writers to receive feedback. This website also makes it a requirement that members give detailed feedback about other writing as well, which is super useful because it means you have to take the time and figure out what did and did not work for a certain piece. As a writer, once you start seeing what does and does not work, you will be able to see those things in your own writing. Really, feedback and critiquing are equally useful.
http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/ - this is another good website for finding agents. Like I said, some of the really good stuff I see just isn't right for the agency I represent, but there could be other agencies out there who are interested.
In conclusion, there is lot of good writing out there. A rejection doesn't mean it can't be published, a thoughtless response doesn't mean your story was thoughtlessly reviewed, and ultimately: a breast doesn't mean an intern will automatically reject a manuscript.
(But within reason, people, within reason...)
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
life at a literary agency (and breasts!)
I’ve recently started an internship at a literary agency, which I’m very much enjoying. Literary agents are the step in between authors and publishing houses, for those of you who don’t know. It is possible to get a novel published without an agent, but I wouldn’t advise it; most publishers won’t read unsolicited manuscripts, and agents will know which editors to get your novel to. Agents will negotiate the best deal financially.
At the end of my first full week, I’ve already learned a lot.
Like … what not to do when trying to get a novel published.
I get to read many of the submissions that come in, and a number are well-written, interesting, addressed politely and have followed the submission guidelines. These are not the majority.
Though our submission guidelines are clearly posted on the website, which ask for a hard copy, there are many people who seem to be confused by this. I get emails every day (usually addressed: “Dear Sir or Madam”) asking for representation, and often with no message about the novel in question. When referring one individual to our submission guidelines on the website, he acknowledged that he had read them, but asked for a five minute phone call or in-person meeting with the agent (whom he didn’t address by name). He insisted that he wouldn’t be doing this if he didn’t know his novel would be a best-seller.
Readers, do I take his word for it?
In this business, like in most businesses, business etiquette will only get you far. When seeking representation, ask politely, address the agent by name, include information about the novel, and above all, follow the submission guidelines. If someone hasn’t bothered to read the guidelines, I can only assume they haven’t bothered to write a decent novel. Every single submission whether it comes by email or by post is read and considered, but the ones that don’t follow the guidelines have done themselves a huge disservice. Whoever ends up reading it at the agency is already annoyed that they’re reading yet another person’s email who couldn’t be bothered to take the time to read the guidelines.
The ones that come in having followed the guidelines are already miles ahead. I kind of want to see them all represented. And isn’t that something you want the agency thinking as they go through your submission?
I’ve heard other agents going on and on asking people to follow the guidelines, and I see now how much restraint they’re actually showing.
For those interested, I’ve also noticed a few reoccurring traits that rejected manuscripts share:
1) Breasts. Breastsbreastsbreasts. I just read a manuscript that had breasts mentioned – in no connection with the plot – on page 3 (twice), 4, 5 (twice), 6, 8 and 9 (twice). Then I stopped reading. Sure, most female characters will have breasts, and sure, most straight male writers will think about them at some point. But I don’t want to read a story and be left with the impression that the author was thinking about sex (and breasts!) the whole time. I read another manuscript where every single female character was sexualized in some way by the end of the third chapter – in no connection to the plot. Again, sure, male protagonists will think about other characters’ breasts. But do we need detailed physical descriptions of all the side female characters in the story when we have yet to learn what the two male leads look like? I don’t want a book like that, and I doubt most men want a book like that – if they’re looking for breasts, they’re looking at porn.
2) The assurance that this novel will make an excellent movie. Are you writing a novel or a screenplay? Because we represent only novels. (As stated in our submission guidelines.)
3) Self-insertion. The really cool guy syndrome. The beautiful girl whom everyone wants – she can’t even walk down the street without leaving a trail of broken hearts in her wake. You know what I mean. Go on – give the character a flaw or two. Maybe the guy lost his smokin’ Ferrari to his gambling addiction, maybe the girl has cast a spell that went horribly wrong and she’s left with the guilt of destroying every marriage in town. I don’t know. But it would make the story more interesting.
That’s all for today. Tune in next week for when I snap and lobby to have our submission guidelines re-written saying we don’t accept manuscripts with a single mention of breasts.
At the end of my first full week, I’ve already learned a lot.
Like … what not to do when trying to get a novel published.
Though our submission guidelines are clearly posted on the website, which ask for a hard copy, there are many people who seem to be confused by this. I get emails every day (usually addressed: “Dear Sir or Madam”) asking for representation, and often with no message about the novel in question. When referring one individual to our submission guidelines on the website, he acknowledged that he had read them, but asked for a five minute phone call or in-person meeting with the agent (whom he didn’t address by name). He insisted that he wouldn’t be doing this if he didn’t know his novel would be a best-seller.
Readers, do I take his word for it?
In this business, like in most businesses, business etiquette will only get you far. When seeking representation, ask politely, address the agent by name, include information about the novel, and above all, follow the submission guidelines. If someone hasn’t bothered to read the guidelines, I can only assume they haven’t bothered to write a decent novel. Every single submission whether it comes by email or by post is read and considered, but the ones that don’t follow the guidelines have done themselves a huge disservice. Whoever ends up reading it at the agency is already annoyed that they’re reading yet another person’s email who couldn’t be bothered to take the time to read the guidelines.
The ones that come in having followed the guidelines are already miles ahead. I kind of want to see them all represented. And isn’t that something you want the agency thinking as they go through your submission?
I’ve heard other agents going on and on asking people to follow the guidelines, and I see now how much restraint they’re actually showing.
For those interested, I’ve also noticed a few reoccurring traits that rejected manuscripts share:
1) Breasts. Breastsbreastsbreasts. I just read a manuscript that had breasts mentioned – in no connection with the plot – on page 3 (twice), 4, 5 (twice), 6, 8 and 9 (twice). Then I stopped reading. Sure, most female characters will have breasts, and sure, most straight male writers will think about them at some point. But I don’t want to read a story and be left with the impression that the author was thinking about sex (and breasts!) the whole time. I read another manuscript where every single female character was sexualized in some way by the end of the third chapter – in no connection to the plot. Again, sure, male protagonists will think about other characters’ breasts. But do we need detailed physical descriptions of all the side female characters in the story when we have yet to learn what the two male leads look like? I don’t want a book like that, and I doubt most men want a book like that – if they’re looking for breasts, they’re looking at porn.
2) The assurance that this novel will make an excellent movie. Are you writing a novel or a screenplay? Because we represent only novels. (As stated in our submission guidelines.)
3) Self-insertion. The really cool guy syndrome. The beautiful girl whom everyone wants – she can’t even walk down the street without leaving a trail of broken hearts in her wake. You know what I mean. Go on – give the character a flaw or two. Maybe the guy lost his smokin’ Ferrari to his gambling addiction, maybe the girl has cast a spell that went horribly wrong and she’s left with the guilt of destroying every marriage in town. I don’t know. But it would make the story more interesting.
That’s all for today. Tune in next week for when I snap and lobby to have our submission guidelines re-written saying we don’t accept manuscripts with a single mention of breasts.
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