Agents that can't read

Mat · Aug 11, 2008

need to vent,

when the first line of my query reads,

"I invite you to review my unpublished autobiographical nonfiction travel memoir manuscript..."

seems clear?
Well, I have had three agents reply, saying;

"Sorry but we only represent nonfiction"

And one say;

"we only represent unpublished books"

one agent queried the history of contests won, other agents contacted, etc then requested a MS, read the whole thing and replied,

"Enjoyed your novel which was well written and very engaging but unfortunately we don't represent fiction."

These are reputable agents, and the letters were not form letters but personalized, makes you wonder of their competence! I know the difference b/w a nonfiction and a novel, do they?

Siddow · Aug 11, 2008

Shorten that to 'memoir' and let the rest of the query describe it (and btw, your memoir better be non-fiction, just ask James Frey).

Oh, and they assume 'unpublished'. Unless you state otherwise.

Memoir/autobiography are pretty redundant as well.

Siddow · Aug 11, 2008

Oh, and it would be "Agents who can't read."

Mac H. · Aug 11, 2008

Don't worry - I'm sure they can read. They probably just selected the wrong form response to send you.

I know, I'm sure it was a personalised form response, but it would be an easy enough mistake to make.

Good luck!

Mac

virtue_summer · Aug 11, 2008

I don't know. I had a bit of trouble getting past that sentence so I can kind of see where an agent who has been reading queries all day might have trouble. The problem is that you say unpublished, which is what they assume anyway, so then I wondered if you mistyped and actually meant "published" because otherwise why would you feel the need to point it out? Then you said autobiographical which is usually only used in reference to fiction (to point out what can't be assumed) and not in reference to memoirs that are obviously autobiographical. Also, a memoir is nonfiction. There's no way around that, so to say so is redundant and is an extra word in an already too wordy sentence. Change your sentence to "I invite you to review the manuscript of my travel memoir. . ." and then if the agents respond that way you have a reason to complain. Right now your sentence is kind of clumsy so I can understand where some agents might stumble over it and get the wrong impression. I'm not trying to be mean. Just honest.

Riley · Aug 11, 2008

Like several others, I see where the problem is. Agents read a lot during the day, so their tired eyes probably just scanned that heap of a sentence and assumed. It's a shame, though, that they don't take at least another half-glance. It seems words like "autobiographical", "memoir", and "non-fiction" would give them a hint.

On the other hand, maybe this is the agent's extremely roundabout way of saying your letter needs to be smoothed over.

blacbird · Aug 11, 2008

"unpublished autobiographical nonfiction travel memoir manuscript"

Man, that's a batch of consecutive adjectives. Reduce to "travel memoir" and you might get further. Of course it's "unpublished" (otherwise, why would you be seeking an agent?); of course it's "autobiographical" (it's a . . . memoir); of couse it's "nonfiction" (it's a . . . memoir); of course it's a "manuscript" (otherwise, why would you be seeking an agent?). What you've accomplished by stringing all this redundant verbiage together in your query is convince the agent that you don't write concisely and haven't edited your writing, and that resulted in a boilerplate rejection, regardless of how inappropriate it may seem to you.

caw

KikiteNeko · Aug 12, 2008

I thought "manuscript" meant fiction? Shows what I know.

johnzakour · Aug 12, 2008

You may get farther by starting with: Enclosed please find my memoirs... Then give them a brief sentence or two telling them what makes your memoirs are worth reading.

susangpyp · Aug 12, 2008

When I sent out my queries, I did it in small batches of 6. The agents' responses led me to understand what was unclear or what needed editing. Then I sent out another small batch. Again, the agents' responses were very telling as to what was wrong with the query. I edited my query each time. Two agents offered representation on my third batch.

That whole "unpublished...." etc should be one or two words. Unpublished is unnecessary. Autobiographical is unnecessary if it's a memoir. Same for non-fiction.

"travel memoir" sums it up nicely. change it and send out again.

scope · Aug 12, 2008

Don't blame you for venting. We all know how frustrating the entire publishing process is. The only advice I can offer is not to dwell upon things like that. Whether a silly mistake or whatever really doesn't matter. We all make mistakes--agents, editors, writers. I know it's easy for others to say, but just chalk it up and move on to what's really important--tying to get an agent.

Best of luck.

blacbird · Aug 12, 2008

scope said:
Don't blame you for venting. We all know how frustrating the entire publishing process is.

Allegedly it helps if you write a query not bloated with redundant verbiage. If the sentence you quoted in the original post is characteristic of the query, I'd strongly recommend rewriting (and trimming with a machete) your query.

caw

scope · Aug 13, 2008

blacbird,

I must agree, the first line in Mat's query does need an awful lot of work. Hopefully the rest of his query is okay.

Mat · Aug 14, 2008

sorry for venting

and thanx for the feedback

I must confess I abbreviated my opening line which is the line after the hook line incidently

It actually reads;

"From reviewing your website I see you represent nonfiction. I invite you to review my highly commended 75,000 word autobiographical travel memior (book name) and consider being my agent to sell this unpublished MS."

my complaint was that;

agents still said they only represent nonfiction
and that they only represent unpublished MS

I mention it was unpublished because one agent didn't understand why I had a review from PW (even though it was followed with an explanation that it came from the Amazon Breakthrough unpublished book award.

One agent that read the entire MS rejected saying altough it was well written and an intersting story but she couldn't represent me because she only represented nonfiction. Duh! thats why I approached her.

I still have ten MS currently under consideration and one firm offer, so not all agents are complete morons, but it makes you wonder how seriously they consider ur carefully constructed query.

scope · Aug 14, 2008

Sgents that can't read.

Mat said:
sorry for venting

and thanx for the feedback

I must confess I abbreviated my opening line which is the line after the hook line incidently

It actually reads;

"From reviewing your website I see you represent nonfiction. I invite you to review my highly commended 75,000 word autobiographical travel memior (book name) and consider being my agent to sell this unpublished MS."

Mat,

Please understand that like you i am a writer, so look at what I say as not "in defense" of agents.

In the second sentence of the above statement I would have related the specific type of fiction (e.g., history, anatomy) and tied it into my specific work--all in one sentence--no details yet.

You don't have to "invite" or ask the agent to "review." It sounds huffy and arrogant, at least to me. She knows why you are submitting, just tell her what you are enclosing. Strongly suggest you lose the words "highly recommended" unless you have superior sources to back up such a statement and can state them. Even then I wouldn't put that in the opening.

To me it just does not come off right when you say: "...and consider being my agent to sell..." Maybe I'm nuts, but it sounds condescending to me.

Please consider that if I'm right about any or all of the above the agent or her assistant never got beyond your first paragraph before rejecting.

Now if I'm right about any or all of the above I can see how an incorrect rejection was sent --- your work wasn't paid too much attention and the the purpose was just to get it off the desk.

my complaint was that;

agents still said they only represent nonfiction
and that they only represent unpublished MS

As I said in my earlier post, mistakes happen. They pulled the wrong rejection letter.

I mention it was unpublished because one agent didn't understand why I had a review from PW (even though it was followed with an explanation that it came from the Amazon Breakthrough unpublished book award.

Did you ever consider that agents don't read all the web sites of submitting writer's, much less all the details?

One agent that read the entire MS rejected saying altough it was well written and an intersting story but she couldn't represent me because she only represented nonfiction. Duh! thats why I approached her.

Although she probably meant to write fiction, why not email her or try to call her and ask about same. You have nothing t lose.

I still have ten MS currently under consideration and one firm offer, so not all agents are complete morons, but it makes you wonder how seriously they consider ur carefully constructed query.

The rule of thumb is that within a minute or two of reading a query or proposal an agent or editor will decide whether or not to read on. That's why it's sooooooo important for us to hook them immediately and get them interested in the work we are offering.

Siddow · Aug 14, 2008

Mat said:
"From reviewing your website I see you represent nonfiction. I invite you to review my highly commended 75,000 word autobiographical travel memior (book name) and consider being my agent to sell this unpublished MS."

Vent away!

That said, on a quick read of this quoted bit, I read it as 'unpublishable MS.'

Maybe think about the subliminal messages you may be sending when using negative terms.

But hey, why are you venting with an offer in hand? Whassupwitdat?

Mat · Aug 14, 2008

Agent in question that read the whole MS first queried me asking about the PW review,
where she queried if it was published and if it was fiction as it was a unpublished novel contest. I answered her saying it was unpublished and it was NF. Stating how it was my real autobiographical experience. She excusively deals with NF thats why I approached her.

the highly commended is because I've had two published writers give me glowing reviews, one a best seller writer in my genre,as well a good one from PW - but i was at pains about the highly commended bit, maybe I will amend that

thanx for the input Scope

Mat · Aug 14, 2008

dear Siddow,

u r right i am being a bit of a spoilt brat!

I was just surprised by agents that take the time to read a MS and not even know whether it is NF or F.

I guess as well as venting Im trying to warn others that u have to be really clear.

I had so much advice on queries that alot of it conflicts each other, its a quagmere

thanx again

the subliminal unpublishable is something I didnt see!!!

Sophia2 · Aug 15, 2008

Mat said:
need to vent,

when the first line of my query reads,

"I invite you to review my unpublished autobiographical nonfiction travel memoir manuscript..."

seems clear?
Well, I have had three agents reply, saying;

"Sorry but we only represent nonfiction"

And one say;

"we only represent unpublished books"

one agent queried the history of contests won, other agents contacted, etc then requested a MS, read the whole thing and replied,

"Enjoyed your novel which was well written and very engaging but unfortunately we don't represent fiction."

These are reputable agents, and the letters were not form letters but personalized, makes you wonder of their competence! I know the difference b/w a nonfiction and a novel, do they?

Sounds like they never read it due to the pat replies.

Sophia

Mr. Anonymous · Aug 15, 2008

I know how you feel. I had an editor get back to me and tell me recently that in one particular instance in my first chapter, my main character appears to be in two places at once. lol. So I reread, and I clearly wrote, images forced their way into his head, or something to that extent right before. If that's not a cue for a flashback, I don't know what is. Though in her defense, I could see where she was coming from with her other points.

Clair Dickson · Aug 15, 2008

I think the "invite you to review" part may also be a bit problematic. They're not book reviewers. They're agents. You're submitting your memoir (which by definition is autobigoric) to them. Since they're looking for reasons to say no, this may be one that stops agents.

They may also figure that because you don't (seem to) know that a memoir is authobigoraphic, that maybe you don't know what you're doing/writing. Not a good first impression. (At least you didn't call it a nonfiction novel. ;-)

Agents that can't read

Mat

Siddow

I'm super! Thanks for asking

Siddow

I'm super! Thanks for asking

Mac H.

Board Visitor

virtue_summer

Always learning

Riley

They won't let me be good

blacbird

KikiteNeko

.

johnzakour

Dangerous with a Keyboard

susangpyp

scope

Commonsensical Maverick

blacbird

scope

Commonsensical Maverick

Mat

scope

Commonsensical Maverick

Siddow

I'm super! Thanks for asking

Mat

Mat

Sophia2

Mr. Anonymous

Just a guy with a pen & a delusion

Clair Dickson

A dark core to every cloud