The following five phrases all fall into the “I never want to hear it again”-category.
Especially if they’re all used in the same sentence.
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Ouch. Agent trouble again, huh?
Ooh… Number four… I know that one all too well. Ouch.
As for number five, I work in finance. I wish I’d hear more of that one. As it is, the industry is currently operating with blissful ignorance, thinking it can help the situation by lending more money to even more people who have neither the intention nor the ability to pay us back.
Not yet, Mike, mate — but within a month or so, who knows?!
Number four is nasty, isn’t it, David. Stings a bit.
What, the industry is still blissfully ignorant? That’s frightening, but not really surprising. Seems like me and my father have been saying for at least five years that this pattern of behaviour cannot continue. They shit always hits the fan eventually… but it’s remarkable just how long it takes some people to notice.
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Four is a toughie. I had a four the other day. My first.
The agent rejection letter makes for good coasters, Gary – if it ain’t commercial crap, they don’t want it. They want a quick buck noting that this quick buck will not bring them in anything more than a single payment.
Look at the blogs that have book deals off of wordpress – says it all really.
kallioppe: Sorry to hear that. Bloody horrible, isn’t it? To paraphrase Martin Amis, however, the difference between a published author and an unpublished author is that the unpublished ones give up. Keep submitting!
Actually, Will, I’ve insulated my loft with my rejection letters 🙂 Apart from the really bad ones, that is, which, if the paper is nice and soft, I use to wipe my…
You’re dead right about the industry’s psychology, mate. There are a few first signs of a change, however. A handful of top UK agents have already voiced concerns about the future of publishing — essentially, how it’s shooting itself in the foot by focusing on celebrity autobiographies and the quick buck projects you mention. I still think it’ll be some time before things change for the better, though. It’s a bit like turning around one of those massive oil tankers, you know?
Those blogs are pretty pitiful, aren’t they? Or the ones that I have seen are, at least.
Get out your frustration by writing a rejection letter REJECTING the rejection letter you received. Thank them politely, but let them know you just don’t feel “sufficiently committed” to their rejection to accept it. (Feel free to note as well any and all improvements they might make to their style and approach to rejection letters and tell them “better luck next time!”)
I’m not saying you ought to send it, but I’d sure have a lot of fun reading a letter like that. 🙂
Hang in there!
Funnily enough, Carrie, I have a friend who is now published and quite successful. Before he was published, however, he was of the mind that writers should actually reply to rejection letters — actually send them, I mean. His argument was that the shoddy treatment aspiring authors often receive justifies it, and whether they liked it or not, agents/editors deserved to be told. I tend to feel that there is a good argument for this, though I doubt it would actually achieve anything other than ensure that said editor/agent refused to read any of the authors future submissions!
I always take solace in the fact that I did have an agent at one time. And I fired his sorry ass!