Reality Check Have I slipped into the twilight zone?

Paul Whybrow

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Robinne Weiss said:
Dear Dejected Writer,
Thank you for your submission, whose title I can't remember. I was impressed by your sample chapters. You write with a strong voice, and your characters are lively and realistic. The plot progressed well, and there were some intriguing elements. In fact, your manuscript was perfect in every way, but I just don't think it's a fit for Boffo Books. Because of the small volume of titles we handle, we need to be confident that every title is commercially viable. Yours, while good, isn't the sort of book our readers--divorced men over the age of 45 who enjoy cross dressing, cricket, and vegetarian sushi with avocado--would buy. Remember that this is just one opinion, and you may have success with other publishers. Good luck with your manuscript.
Kind regards,
Mona Carbondale
Underpaid Intern
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Exactly!!!!!
 
On a separate note, I've been spending a little bit of time diving back into the #MSWL list on twitter and looking at the corresponding website for what agents are looking for. I think the biggest issue is that agents have absolutely no clue what they want. The other day, I saw that an agent was looking for a scifi novel set in space that was a mix between commercial and literary, but was not a space opera. I was like...wut?

Regardless of what I send out, I can't help but feel like the work just isn't "right" for anyone. It's to the point where I actually do wonder whether the querying landscape would look like a post apocalyptic wasteland if it had a physical manifestation. Would conferences and workshops be small communities in that wasteland, then? Would running into the right wastelander (a "Mad Max" type) be what gets you past the golden gates leading into the promised land of publishing.

Gonna stop before I go any further down the rabbit hole...

(And I promise I haven't gone insane...yet...)
 
It's a good thing I can't reach my own backside to kick it, that's all I can say. Not because I've done anything 'wrong,' but because I need to go faster, but writing is a physical effort as much as a mental effort. I'd try the boozed off my skull approach, and see if that served me as well as rocket- fuel as it's done for certain well known greats, but I don't really like booze. A vodka tonic now and then, and that'll fuel a paragraph.
 
Chase Gamwell said:
On a separate note, I've been spending a little bit of time diving back into the #MSWL list on twitter and looking at the corresponding website for what agents are looking for. I think the biggest issue is that agents have absolutely no clue what they want. The other day, I saw that an agent was looking for a scifi novel set in space that was a mix between commercial and literary, but was not a space opera. I was like...wut?

Regardless of what I send out, I can't help but feel like the work just isn't "right" for anyone. It's to the point where I actually do wonder whether the querying landscape would look like a post apocalyptic wasteland if it had a physical manifestation. Would conferences and workshops be small communities in that wasteland, then? Would running into the right wastelander (a "Mad Max" type) be what gets you past the golden gates leading into the promised land of publishing.

Gonna stop before I go any further down the rabbit hole...

(And I promise I haven't gone insane...yet...)
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When I'm feeling particularly generous, I remind myself that we're all just muddling along. If you consider authors, agents, publishers, editors as individual people...none of us really knows what the hell we're doing.
 
bella-agent-at-coffee-bar.png
 
Robinne Weiss said:
When I'm feeling particularly generous, I remind myself that we're all just muddling along. If you consider authors, agents, publishers, editors as individual people...none of us really knows what the hell we're doing.
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It's funny you say this, because we just had a safety meeting at my workplace (a monthly occurrence) that was about depression. The meeting brought up this exact point - that many people are just getting by and that it's pretty easy to fall off the wagon or become dejected. For writers, I feel like this potential is amplified simply because they spend so much time being rejected.

(That's one of the reasons I started writing articles for a website. I was getting into a massive funk from constant rejections, so I needed some small wins to balance out all of the "NO!" I was getting from agents)
 
Chase Gamwell said:
It's funny you say this, because we just had a safety meeting at my workplace (a monthly occurrence) that was about depression. The meeting brought up this exact point - that many people are just getting by and that it's pretty easy to fall off the wagon or become dejected. For writers, I feel like this potential is amplified simply because they spend so much time being rejected.

(That's one of the reasons I started writing articles for a website. I was getting into a massive funk from constant rejections, so I needed some small wins to balance out all of the "NO!" I was getting from agents)
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Absolutely right, Chase. I know the publishers/agents didn't ASK for my submission, I know they have hundreds to get through a week. I understand all that. But it really is depressing not to get even a reply/standard letter from them. Half the time you don't even know if your submission got through and you wobble between just checking or leave well alone. Would it be so hard for agents/publishers to generate an automatic response: "thanks for your submission. It may take us a hundred years to get back to you. If you haven't heard from us by then let us know". Something like that.
 
Chase Gamwell said:
It's funny you say this, because we just had a safety meeting at my workplace (a monthly occurrence) that was about depression. The meeting brought up this exact point - that many people are just getting by and that it's pretty easy to fall off the wagon or become dejected. For writers, I feel like this potential is amplified simply because they spend so much time being rejected.

(That's one of the reasons I started writing articles for a website. I was getting into a massive funk from constant rejections, so I needed some small wins to balance out all of the "NO!" I was getting from agents)
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This is why I really recommend churning out a few short stories. It's easier to get a short published than a novel, and when you do you get a little boost...though that is often followed by 'writer's regret' [did I really write that? why didn't I edit it more? etc]. And I find them incredibly good ways to learn about writing. I'd be in a very bad place if I'd jumped into novel-writing straight away, because it would have taken me so much longer to understand what I was doing wrong. With a short, I find I learn much more quickly, I believe. But many others clearly have no problem going for a full-length piece straight off. Everyone's different.
 
SueRoe said:
Absolutely right, Chase. I know the publishers/agents didn't ASK for my submission, I know they have hundreds to get through a week. I understand all that. But it really is depressing not to get even a reply/standard letter from them. Half the time you don't even know if your submission got through and you wobble between just checking or leave well alone. Would it be so hard for agents/publishers to generate an automatic response: "thanks for your submission. It may take us a hundred years to get back to you. If you haven't heard from us by then let us know". Something like that.
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On top of that, it hurts the most not getting a response from the agents that actively WANT stuff from the genre you're writing in. My biggest issue at the moment is that the current MS that I'm shopping around is, apparently, untouchable because it is a space opera. The more I look, the more I'm starting to think I'll never be able to find an agent for it just BECAUSE it is a space opera. Not to mention how many queries I've sent out for it only to hear nothing.

And here's the worst part: with my luck, by the time I'm done with my YA scifi novel, the market will have shifted to something insanely different...
 
Marc Joan said:
This is why I really recommend churning out a few short stories. It's easier to get a short published than a novel, and when you do you get a little boost...though that is often followed by 'writer's regret' [did I really write that? why didn't I edit it more? etc]. And I find them incredibly good ways to learn about writing. I'd be in a very bad place if I'd jumped into novel-writing straight away, because it would have taken me so much longer to understand what I was doing wrong. With a short, I find I learn much more quickly, I believe. But many others clearly have no problem going for a full-length piece straight off. Everyone's different.
Click to expand...

And you write a darn good short story too.
 
Chase Gamwell said:
It's funny you say this, because we just had a safety meeting at my workplace (a monthly occurrence) that was about depression. The meeting brought up this exact point - that many people are just getting by and that it's pretty easy to fall off the wagon or become dejected. For writers, I feel like this potential is amplified simply because they spend so much time being rejected.

(That's one of the reasons I started writing articles for a website. I was getting into a massive funk from constant rejections, so I needed some small wins to balance out all of the "NO!" I was getting from agents)
Click to expand...

I think those of us in and around Christchurch are particularly aware of the fact we are all just muddling along. It's been a constant issue here in the past six years since our big quakes. You never know who is (still) dealing with having lost friends, family, homes, jobs, or whatever. You never know who is still silently freaking out about the fact the ground won't stay still. We've all learned to be more forgiving of others. I am slowly learning that it doesn't take a natural disaster, and that everyone else is as freaked out by life as I am, no matter how with-it they seem on the surface. The key, as a writer, is to remember that agents and publishers are people, too. I do wish they'd see us as the same, but it doesn't do anyone any good to get upset when they blow us off.
 
Perhaps agents / publishers could use some sort of rejection index, where numbers are used as to how the work was valued. 1 - We advise you take up pottery, or anything not related to the written word, 2 - pretty dire, but at least your efforts provided the office with a humorous five minutes, 3 - ranks equal to primary school level material. 4 - there were one or two moments that kept our reviewer from falling asleep. 5 - good, but alas, not quite good enough. Another five years should do it.
Instead of a rejection letter or email they just have to type a single number.
 
I can't decide whether to not reply to help you feel rejected or whether rejection needs to be more proactive, like NO. Tricky.
 
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Paul Whybrow

Graphic Novels

  • Paul Whybrow
  • Replies: 6
Paul Whybrow

Perseverance

  • Paul Whybrow
  • Replies: 6
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