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Jan. 31, 2007 The search for a literary agent continues here. I've lost count of how many query letters and partial manuscripts I've sent out, but I guess the number is getting close to fifty. I only sent two to publishers because almost all the big publishers and most of the small print publishers won't even look at unagented submissions. I sent one to Knopf which requires an agent, but statistically twenty-five percent of their books are published by unagented writers so I gave them a chance. That was sent in May and I've yet to hear from them. Tor Books is the other publisher I sent a partial to, and they rejected me with a form letter. I've read a number of their novels and have noticed that many are tedious and bloated. Maybe my novel wasn't tedious and bloated enough for them. Most of the agents reject my queries with form letters too. The following is a typical response. Dear author, We are sorry for the impersonal response, but the number of queries we receive makes it impossible to respond to every one. We didn't feel your manuscript was right for this agency at this time. This is a subjective field and another agency might feel differently. We wish you luck in finding an agent in the future. Sincerely, Judith Tukoustein Kill Writer's Dreams Literary Agency Actually, I prefer these generic arrows of rejection. The ones that take the time to comment generally reveal ignorance. I had one guy tell me I was using the wrong font. He said, "the font you use is a no no. You need to use New Times Roman." I use New Times Roman. He couldn't tell the difference. Another agent told me I slip back and forth from old fashioned Welsh to modern English. This was a ridiculous criticism because if I actually used old fashioned Welsh, not only would no one who reads English understand it, but no modern speaker of the Welsh language would either. Anyway, if she really wanted to work with me, she would have helped me fix what she considered was the problem. It's difficult to break into fiction writing these days. The fiction market is crowded and big publishers, owned by multi-national corporations, prefer to mass market established writers with big names--a guaranteed profit. I think greed endangers the future of literature. My first novel, Talk Radio, was good, albeit it needed professional editing. I did a good job editing it myself, but a novel needs many experienced eyes. Lord Madoc is much better, however, and I'm reluctant to go the PublishAmerica route again. It deserves better professional editing and marketing. That's why I'm determined to find an agent. The unfortunate reality of today's fiction market is writer's wading through blood sucking leeches just to have a chance to get published. Of course, agents asking for fees up front should be rejected out of hand. It might be a while before Lord Madoc gets published. Until then, you can read exciting excerpts from it on my website. Tell me what you think. ------------ About the author Mark Gelbart: My book, Talk Radio, is a black comedy about a radio talk show host who gets kidnapped and psychologically tortured by a loser. www.mark-gelbart.com Email: agelbart@aol.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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