Could you explain your checkout analogy? I don't understand it. In a checkout line each customer is giving the checker who represents the business something of worth (money). How does that compare to agent queries?
clearly i thought this analogy was more clever than i had presented. the comparisons come in the for of authors book and the products purchased from the store. the cheetos represented the sample.
Not everything in this business might be convenient for me, but it's not all about me either so why should it be?
Is this just my perspective or do the authors get the worst treatment in this whole process?
We all have done something most people will never do, write a book. we then have to invest hundreds if not thousands of hours trying to find the people to represent us. then after we do, we have to jump through hoops to get them to even read what we wrote. then and only then, if they deem us worthy, they represent us.
this of course is after waiting a while to hope they even respond to us. If we are the lucky ones, we will be graced with their letter of acceptance. yes, they were the ones in the trenches and built the relationships with the publishers, but we are the artists that created something for others. then they submit our work to people they already know.
I understand like any career we must pay our dues. this just seems like a very inane way of doing business. we sit here in forums talking about the amount of rejections and how we value the decency in which we hope to get our rejection letter.
this to me seems like an industry that needs new writers, yet treats them at the same time like second class citizens. i also understand that they have thousands of query's to deal with, but this still seems odd to me.
we could never go into a "target" and ask to be checked out even though we have the money. only to be informed that out purchase of a bag of cheetos is not what the retailer feels like selling. if they told us that we needed to go back into the store and also gather up some soda and maybe lunch meat they might be willing to check us out! when we question them, their response is :"hey, we are busy checking other customers out and we simply can not check out everyone who feels their purchase is worthy enough for our attention."
again, this seems bitter, but i assure you it is not. i know far too well about the "paying dues" and the real process that happens when we query, i just find this as odd that someone has not come out and reinvented the way a company accepts submissions and deal with the "talent".
please share your thoughts. i am a big boy, and i can deal with your opinions. i do ask that you skip "you do not know what you are talking about" or even "you really sound bitter". i am not, i just think as the new kid on the block, this industry has a funny way of receiving new talent. thanks again!
Is this just my perspective or do the authors get the worst treatment in this whole process? We all have done something most people will never do, write a book. we then have to invest hundreds if not thousands of hours trying to find the people to represent us. then after we do, we have to jump through hoops to get them to even read what we wrote. then and only then, if they deem us worthy, they represent us. this of course is after waiting a while to hope they even respond to us. If we are the lucky ones, we will be graced with their letter of acceptance. yes, they were the ones in the trenches and built the relationships with the publishers, but we are the artists that created something for others. then they submit our work to people they already know. I understand like any career we must pay our dues. this just seems like a very inane way of doing business. we sit here in forums talking about the amount of rejections and how we value the decency in which we hope to get our rejection letter. this to me seems like an industry that needs new writers, yet treats them at the same time like second class citizens. i also understand that they have thousands of query's to deal with, but this still seems odd to me. we could never go into a "target" and ask to be checked out even though we have the money. only to be informed that out purchase of a bag of cheetos is not what the retailer feels like selling. if they told us that we needed to go back into the store and also gather up some soda and maybe lunch meat they might be willing to check us out! when we question them, their response is :"hey, we are busy checking other customers out and we simply can not check out everyone who feels their purchase is worthy enough for our attention." again, this seems bitter, but i assure you it is not. i know far too well about the "paying dues" and the real process that happens when we query, i just find this as odd that someone has not come out and reinvented the way a company accepts submissions and deal with the "talent". please share your thoughts. i am a big boy, and i can deal with your opinions. i do ask that you skip "you do not know what you are talking about" or even "you really sound bitter". i am not, i just think as the new kid on the block, this industry has a funny way of receiving new talent. thanks again!
Now you're a cheese-snack maker. What do you do to make sure the grocer wants to stock you? You make cheese-snacks that a whole lot of people want to buy.
Yes, writing is an art. But writing for sale is a commercial art -- and the accent on "commercial" is equal to the accent on "art."
We all have done something most people will never do, write a book. we then have to invest hundreds if not thousands of hours trying to find the people to represent us. then after we do, we have to jump through hoops to get them to even read what we wrote. then and only then, if they deem us worthy, they represent us. this of course is after waiting a while to hope they even respond to us.
yes, they were the ones in the trenches and built the relationships with the publishers, but we are the artists that created something for others. then they submit our work to people they already know.
Is this just my perspective or do the authors get the worst treatment in this whole process? We all have done something most people will never do, write a book. we then have to invest hundreds if not thousands of hours trying to find the people to represent us. then after we do, we have to jump through hoops to get them to even read what we wrote. then and only then, if they deem us worthy, they represent us. this of course is after waiting a while to hope they even respond to us. If we are the lucky ones, we will be graced with their letter of acceptance. yes, they were the ones in the trenches and built the relationships with the publishers, but we are the artists that created something for others. then they submit our work to people they already know. I understand like any career we must pay our dues. this just seems like a very inane way of doing business. we sit here in forums talking about the amount of rejections and how we value the decency in which we hope to get our rejection letter. this to me seems like an industry that needs new writers, yet treats them at the same time like second class citizens. i also understand that they have thousands of query's to deal with, but this still seems odd to me. we could never go into a "target" and ask to be checked out even though we have the money. only to be informed that out purchase of a bag of cheetos is not what the retailer feels like selling. if they told us that we needed to go back into the store and also gather up some soda and maybe lunch meat they might be willing to check us out! when we question them, their response is :"hey, we are busy checking other customers out and we simply can not check out everyone who feels their purchase is worthy enough for our attention." again, this seems bitter, but i assure you it is not. i know far too well about the "paying dues" and the real process that happens when we query, i just find this as odd that someone has not come out and reinvented the way a company accepts submissions and deal with the "talent". please share your thoughts. i am a big boy, and i can deal with your opinions. i do ask that you skip "you do not know what you are talking about" or even "you really sound bitter". i am not, i just think as the new kid on the block, this industry has a funny way of receiving new talent. thanks again!