An agent's advice on blogging... your thoughts?

JennaGlatzer · May 15, 2006

Wow! This is an old post of Agent 007's (from last July), but I just read it today and I'm shocked by the reaction to it. Read.

http://agentoo7.blogspot.com/2005/07/advice-for-authors-turn-beat-around.html

To me, it seems like very good, simple advice-- "if you're looking for an agent/publisher, don't advertise the fact that your work has been rejected all over the place." But a lot of writers there really got upset about that advice. I'm interested in hearing your reactions.

unthoughtknown · May 15, 2006

Jenna,

I'm going to have to agree with that post.

Although, for others, it may depend on why they have a blog in the first place.

I don't see my blog as an anger-management tool or an avenue for emotional-release so that's why I side with the agent. But that's just me.

There's nothing wrong with having a blog to let it all out, and in that case, yes--I wouldn't do it under my real name.

Jen.

bsolah · May 15, 2006

Hmm...I'm not sure on this one. I've only posted an article on my first rejection. It was important and I felt I needed to blog it. I agree with the analysis of the agent's reaction, but I don't like the idea of faking how great my writing career is going, when it clearly isn't.

unthoughtknown · May 15, 2006

I also want to add that I'm a huge fan of empowering, positive imagery and I won't get that from posting about my "failures" and frustrations.

I actually have a mini-newsletter that I send out to a bunch of people with my blog updates, and so if I really wanted to, I could limit the negative stuff to those newsletters.

Besides, I can always come here, and rant and rave... ;-)

JennaGlatzer · May 15, 2006

Hi! I don't think there's any problem with writing about your first rejection, but there are many writers' blogs that are basically tell-alls about the whole process, and I can understand why that's unappealing to agents.

If you blog about how your manuscript has been rejected at Random House and Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins, that's not going to look good to the editor at Penguin Putnam who now has the manuscript. It says, in essence, "My colleagues all thought this was unpublishable." Even if the manuscript is good enough to transcend that bad first thought, it won't inspire a big advance-- the editor will know that the writer is running out of options, so why bother making a big offer?

My "letter from the editor" has been my de facto blog for many years, and in it, I did sometimes write about rejections, but I did so in a few specific ways. Either:

-after the book was accepted (one of my books was rejected by about a dozen houses before it was accepted, and I talked about it after the fact)

or

-without naming names (keeping it vague enough so an editor wouldn't know which project I meant)

To me, it's really self-defeating to tell the world that no one wants your project while you're shopping that product. Just bad business sense, which (to me) trumps the catharsis aspect of it.

Doesn't mean you should lie about how well it's all going; I just wouldn't bring up that whole issue on a public site.

Moondancer · May 15, 2006

I like the way it was put in the perspective of using the negatives after you've been published. I think it has a lot of merit. Even here, I tend to keep my failures to myself... but I'm rather shy about my writing anyway...

James Buchanan · May 15, 2006

I've written about rejections in my blog, but I do tend to keep it to the positive ones. The "gee loved it, can't use it... but I know so & so is looking for that kind of thing send it to them" or one I just got "not right for this Antho but I love the story if you wanna pitch me a project where that will fit we'll consider going with that," (or) "I've showed it to another editor in our house who's got a project where it will fit."

The flat out rejections I just kinda let die a quiet little death over in the corner.

JennaGlatzer · May 15, 2006

Good point. The "positive rejections" are probably fine to talk about.

James Buchanan · May 15, 2006

Yeah, it doesn't give the impression that you're a complete looser. If an editor is taking the time to direct you somewhere where your work will be a better fit it means you don't suck. When you start talking about my 23rd reject on this peice its starts to sound like "it sucks."

DeniseK · May 15, 2006

And a barrage of negative outpouring on a regular basis could become a self fulfilling prophecy. An "I think, therefore I am" mindset.

BlueTexas · May 15, 2006

I agree with the post, too. Assuming you're using your real name, someone somewhere who knows who you are and what you're talking about. I don't leave the house in lingerie - and the couple good connections I've made through my blog sure as heck aren't going to see my unmentionables.

Isn't that what diaries found posthumously are for?

Richard · May 16, 2006

It's sound advice. If you're blogging under your real name, to a large extent you're blogging professionally. The simple truth is that most blog readers don't care about your personal struggles even a little bit, and reading them is a very passive experience. People who read them do so because they find you entertaining to read, then they flick over to another page and probably never think about that post ever again. If there's a clear likelihood that someone you're relying on is in a position to justifiably look down unfavourably - bosses, co-workers, agents, whatever - at what you put down, that really has to take higher priority.

That doesn't mean you can't decide it's worth the risk to post something, simply that it's easy to forget that your blog represents you as much as anything else you might send out or post. Flipping the skirt on the whole process - especially if you don't know what you're talking about - has obvious ramification potential, especially from agents who'll want to ensure they can deal with you on a professional level. Rejection stories can happily wait until the book's in print and selling its millionth copy.

razibahmed · May 16, 2006

I agree with the advice. When we want to face an agent or an editor, we want to present our best and that is why it is natural that we want desperately that the agent or the editor do not know about how many times I have been rejected in the past.
Secondly, a blog entry is like a permanent thing and the older it becomes the more it is ranked better by search engines. Nearly, 3 months ago, when I joined AW forum, I was just a newbie from Bangladesh and I got rejected by virtually everyone. I kept on trying and now I am a professional blogger.
Thus, things change a lot and by keeping detailed record of our rejections we only hurt our future possibilities. I agree with the advice complteley.
Thanks Jenna, for giving us the link.

jenngreenleaf · May 16, 2006

Thanks for the link!

I don't know why, but I've always felt like everything -- positive and negative -- should be secret. Once all the details were ironed out for a positive response, then I would discuss it openly with more details. If I received negative response, I'd post a bit about my reaction or get advice out theirs.

I've been reading a lot of blogs about how people have been sending out 40, 60, 80 proposals to agents trying to get their book sold and that they're going to go the self publishing route if it doesn't take off. I've read about others who haven't sent out more than a few query letters and can't figure out why their book hasn't sold. It interests me, but at the same time, it makes me wonder about the point DeniseK mentions: "And a barrage of negative outpouring on a regular basis could become a self fulfilling prophecy."

rich · May 16, 2006

I don't show my band-aids on my blog. Although this thread has given me an idea. I mostly post my published work, so far. This morning I went to two post and wrote something anecdotal at the end of each piece. It's aimed at the beginning writer. Oddly enough, usually funny, and yet it gives some inside info. for those wanting to take on the neurotic task of writing to be published. It's fun to do as well.

MadScientistMatt · May 16, 2006

My blog is simply not about my writing career. It's more about creating a hot rod than creating a book. Consequently, until I get something published in an automotive magazine or sell my book about cars, my writing isn't going to get mentioned very much on my blog anyway.

jst5150 · May 16, 2006

Whatever you make available is what offers your first impression. Can those rejections be made into a positive? I think if you're 22 and McGraw-Hill smashes you down, then that's probably worth noting as part of your bio ("Aspiring young author seeks an early start with powerhouse publisher"). But if you string a bunch together to show a history of failure ... well, again, THAT'S the first impression you've decided to show to the world.

I would offer that as much as a Web site, an information booth at a convention, a 30-second TV commercial or a personal appearance is about image making and definition, so is whatever you decide to post on a blog. If teenagers want to better frame their angst by posting it on blogs, let them. They can. There's no penalty.

However, if you're a professional writer, and an adult, then it's probably not the best first impression to make -- or a lasting one either. Rejections build character and help you focus your efforts. They are not the best marketing tools.

aka eraser · May 16, 2006

The advice is just common sense. I can only think that those who disagree are those who've already aired their "failures" publically and now feel committed to justifying it.

eldragon · May 16, 2006

I can't believe agents and editor google the author's name!

Shouldn't they be digging through the slushpile?

Googling names should be limited to ex-boyfriends &, oh yeah,....business relationships.

rich · May 16, 2006

yeah, that gave me pause too.

JulieB · May 16, 2006

eldragon said:
Googling names should be limited to ex-boyfriends &, oh yeah,....business relationships.

That's part of the way business is done these days. Companies Google applicants and current employees, universities Google prospective students, and so on.

I have made the decision to talk about my "food on the table" work in only general terms. Sometimes I get to see products before they hit the market so I can write ad copy. Confidentiality is essential in these situations. I may moan about attempting to devise new and improved ways to say "new and improved," but it's more than my paycheck is worth to get too specific.

JennaGlatzer · May 16, 2006

I do a lot of Googling people... when an instructor applies to teach a course at AW, for instance, first thing I do after deciding the course sounds interesting is to Google away. I don't remember specifics right now, but I do know that at least a couple of times, I've turned down someone who sounded much better on their bio than they did 'round the Interweb.

BlueTexas · May 16, 2006

I google people all the time - it's a favorite imsomniac activity, and I would have saved myself a bad expereince a year or so ago if I'd googled someone then...heck, my Grandma googles people!

rich · May 16, 2006

Hey, live and learn. I'm scattered around a bit in Google, but nothing that'll turn anybody's head.

Peggy · May 16, 2006

What I find hard to remember sometimes is that people might be reading my posts and comments decades from now. The archives of Google Groups has usenet posts I made in 1993 - fortunately nothing embarrassing, but I wouldn't have dreamed at the time that they would still be readable today.

An agent's advice on blogging... your thoughts?

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