Purgatory's Pit of Doom

kellion92 said:

(((Ink))) That stinks, sorry. A year for an agented sub? What's up with these people? I didn't realize your agent had nudged. I fear nudges.

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Isn't it totally crazy?

I posted this quotation before: Sending a manuscript to New York is like dropping a feather into the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.

LKP doesn't get much more pittish than that, now does it??

((Ink)) I'll admit, I'm surprised your agent caught the chicken pox so late in life. I usually think of that as a kids illness.

Cricket18;7208332 ETA: {{{Cat}}} Gross. I found a dead bird on our driveway a while back. Not fun. Btw said:

Yeah, about those cats dropping dead...they had mange. This morning I took one of my cats to the vet for the same skin infection + ear mites. $200 later I have come to the realization that it doesn't pay to feed strays![/B]

I think we all know by now that we constantly hear "you can't do this" and "you can't do that" and then you read too many books that defy that advice. You can't win, so don't bother.

A+B does NOT=C in publishing.

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Except when I enter a contest I get told I have info dump. WTF?

Snappy said:

Is it one of her newer books? My guess is that if the answer is yes, it's because she's "allowed" to get away with it. Or maybe, I'm just cynical.

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The book was written in 1997. The author has been writing since 1982. I thought that too, but who knows. I imagine editors give their best-selling authors some slack.

soulcascade said:

LKP doesn't get much more pittish than that, now does it??

((Ink)) I'll admit, I'm surprised your agent caught the chicken pox so late in life. I usually think of that as a kids illness.

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I didn't get it til my late 20s. Back then I don't think they did the vaccine for it. My son still hasn't gotten it. He's 9.

{{Ink}}

It's 94 degrees here where I am if anyone cares...

We joked she could cross it offer bucket list.

I'm just surprised we heard at all at this point. Last time I was on sub, I had a bunch of non-responders. But that was with a different agent, so who knows.

ink wench said:

We joked she could cross it offer bucket list.

I'm just surprised we heard at all at this point. Last time I was on sub, I had a bunch of non-responders. But that was with a different agent, so who knows.

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I've had non-responders with all three of my post-RW agents

Prior to 2000, I never once had any editor or agent not respond.

Also back then all communication was through the regular mail and telephone, which probably had something to do with it.

(You know you're old when you talk about back then.)

ink wench said:

We joked she could cross it offer bucket list.

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Ink pardon me if this comes across as a nitpick (wasn't intended to!) but you said 'offer' instead of 'off her' and I thought 'Freudian slip! Ink's got submissions on the brain!

{{{DVI}}}

LOL, Teri, that's a perfect analogy

Oh, poor Ink's agent! I'm surprised she didn't get the vaccine if she made it to adulthood pox-free.

I don't think readers mind infodumps nearly as much as writers do, because we're not "allowed" to have them, and thus we're indignant when we read them in published books.

Hey, Steve, how are you holding up? Do you have the submission crazies yet?

Snapps, it's hard to believe you've been on sub so long! I bet if someone told you you'd still be on active sub 8 months later, you would have cried. At first it seems so hard to take but you get somewhat used to being crazy...

Thanks everyone. I'm blocking everything out. All the news, all the deals. Concentrating on me. It's the only way I can knock these revisions out.

((Ink)) Passes suck. Especially passes from eds who have your ms for a year. You'd think being an agented sub would get editors to respond/read faster but the industry, it is a-changing.

And don't worry about your outline...you'll figure out what's best. I honestly agree with Steve in that you should choose the one that poses the most difficulties for your mc, but you know what's best. But I'm right there with you re: revisions. I'm slowly taking a look at what I've done so far, hoping that now that school's done I can concentrate on it and it alone and just work through the day. That's my goal anyway.

Snappy, may the force be with you.

Also woah dead birds. Gross. I did get poo'd on last year by a flock when going for a walk with my mom. And now I have no sympathies for the feathered-sort...and I always walk with a hood on.

So what's going on with the B1g6ix vs. Am3z@n this time? Meh, whatever, like kell and ink said, they're both pretty much out for themselves. I still want to be published via a traditional pub, but I know that may not mean as much these days unless you're one of those 7 figure sorts.

soulcascade said:

LKP doesn't get much more pittish than that, now does it??

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The problem, soul, is that it probably does.

Well done on those queries, even if they only result in silence. I'm hoping to get back on that train to nowhere one day...

How pittish was my day? Well, I'm back on my ancient Mac. WTF, it works fine for AW - I should keep it as a standby.
I could use a drink. If I don't see you now, I'll see you later!

{{{Ink}}} TGIF, chica. Lloyd, give her a maggotini, and make it a double. I hate nudges. Nothing good comes of them.

lkp, poor bird! Don't know whether to laugh or wince.

Sending a manuscript to New York is like dropping a feather into the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.

LOVE it.

Bummer about the mange, Cat. Our poor puppeh had a teensy bit of it when we got him from the pound.

Well, well, well, speaking of sh*t, I walked my dog today at the beach. He did his thing. I went to scoop it up, but there was a huge hole in the bag. *squish* Right into my fingernails.

Oh, 2+ years later I still have subs out....12-14 if you can believe.

I got a zombie R for Molly today. It only took the agent 13 months to send it.

He did wish me luck finding representation, though. That was sure swell of him.

Well, Vandal, that is annoying. You can always use luck though, just not for the thing he suggested.

Yuck, Cricket, I hate when that happens.

Well, it's morning, isn't it? Hope your happy weekends have you out and about.

Ugh, I am going to have what I expect to be a very, very difficult conversation with my XH this morning. So I am back here behind the bar chugging maggotmimisas to give me courage.

(((lkp))) Good luck and be brave. Take a hellhound -- they usually follow us anyway. Might as well use them for intimidation.

Lol Cricket -- I've done that. It sucks because then you only have the use of one hand for the rest of the walk!

{{Vandal}} Hate when I'm wished luck finding representation. They always make it sound like they're so sorry they're passing, but they're sure the very next agent will swoop me up.

{{lkp}} Any time your day starts with an ex, it's doomed...

Ugh, Vandal. Yeah, it's like, gee thanks for that.

{{{lkp}}} Cat's right: Any day that starts with the ex is never a good one.

We have maggotmimosas? Mmmm...flat champagne, thickened oj, garnished with a maggot twist.

Thanks guys --- it actually went okay. Must have been the hellhound's glowing red eyes.

ETA The orange juice is a little fermented too. Not in a good way.

Fermented OJ makes for a dandy mimosa.

*turns on a light, shuffles over to the fridge for a maggotini*
It's quiet in here tonight.

I have to review the threads on self-publishing, particularly where Amazon is concerned. My aunt called me very excited, after reading in the NY Times about the unknown authors making millions with their unpolished tripe. She really thinks I should go for it.
I love her like a second mom, but it was just a bizarre conversation.

God. Why won't any of my ideas come together? Why do I fucking suck? </whine>

Mario, the Amz millionaires are still a very small minority. That said, I've made $7k on one novel at Amz in 10 months that's all mine except for Uncle Sam's share. I made around $12k for my first full year of self-pub, on 4 paid titles and a few free ones.

KT, those are great numbers. I'd be pleased to make that from writing through any publishing channel. Let's face it -- millionaire writers, whether through the big 6 or self-publishing -- are rare indeed.

Mario, it's possible that your work would succeed. I don't know! One thing I believe is that successful books by self-publishers are not raw and unpolished crap, although there's plenty of that out there too. The books that succeed are good stories that the big 6 should have snapped up, but it's an imperfect system. It's wonderful that readers get a chance to choose now.

Thanks, Kell.

Yeah, Mario, it still depends on genre/subject matter, but with a bit of patience self-pub can bring in enough to at least give you some cushion, if not a career.