Why do the fun conversations always spawn when I'm away from my computer for the day?
Catching up and tossing out opinions...
As I am grateful to Absolute Write. Seriously, you guys are going in my acknowledgement section. So many things I know I absorbed bit by bit around here, and it meant I launched into the querying process feeling well-informed and half-way professional.
Ditto to Judg's entire post. And AW *is* in my acknowledgments.
The difference between queryfail and agentfail is that while queryfail is directed at queries (the writing, not the person), agentfail is directed at people. It is much more personal and hurtful IMO.
Yes. It's something that I see commented upon time and again (and again and again....). Rejections are not personal, they are professional. They are rejecting a badly written letter, a boring concept, the wrong genre, a too-long word count, or any number of things that invoke "No."
I also get that some folks are frustrated by the lack of response to queries. Hell, I have unanswered e-queries from three years ago. Do I care now? No. Did I care a year ago, before I was agented or contracted? No.
Thing is, no one group will ever be satisfied. If all agents suddenly gave in and said "Okay, I'll respond to all queries, at the very least with a No," it won't be enough. People will start grousing because they want to know why the agent said "no."
Which is where (to me) queryfail came into play. This was the agent saying (yes, in a mocking and humorous fashion) WHY they are saying no. "No, you obviously didn't read our submission guidelines." "No, your query has half a dozen glaring spelling errors, so I tremble to see your manuscript." "No, my website clearly says I do not represent romance, so why are you sending me a frigging romance?" "No, your book is not the next Harry Potter, so stop claiming it will be!"
Methinks most folks really don't want to know the reason why they're being rejected.
Well, it is a bit different (not that I'm defending the whining). I regularly get unsolicited business offers but I don't really NEED the services. Agents need books to represent.
Only if the agents are actively building their client lists. Many agents read queries year-round, because they'll bend over backward to rep a really good book, if one happens to land on their desk. But that doesn't mean they need new clients or new books.
An agent's needs can be judged by doing a little research. For example, Colleen Lindsay is currently closed to submissions, and yet she still gets queries. These are all unsolicated queries, and she's blatantly said they're getting deleted unread. The only thing she needs right now are for agent-seeking writers to read her submission guidelines.
I am surprised that some people here are awfully willing to leap to the defense of a badly thought out exercise, so desperate are they to avoid even the impression of being in disagreement with a few (and only a few) agents,
Thank you for telling me why I'm "willing to leap to the defense" of these agents. I didn't realize it was because I was so desperate to not be thought of badly.
I don't mean to be flippant, but honestly, if you're so sensitive that those comments turn you off writing then you're not cut out for this business. And if you can't read instructions then you're not cut out for this business(or pretty much any business).
QFT. This isn't directed at anyone in particular, but it needs to be said. Frankly, I'm ecstatic I didn't reach the stage I'm at five years ago. I was too sensitive about my writing, too quick to take things personally that just were not personal. I didn't take criticism well. I've grown a lot, especially after finding AW, and I'm able to see things in their proper perspective.
I don't know if queryfail and agentfail were good or bad things. But in the long run, both exercises got us talking. And if even one or two writers are able to learn something from all of this, and to fix up a query that might otherwise have gotten a quick boot, and eventually give us all one or two new amazing authors to enjoy...wasn't it kind of worth it?