Surprise, two posts in one day
I have to talk about this. Everyday when I come in to work, I check the blogs of SEVERAL agents and editors (from large houses). I try very hard to learn all that I can - these guys are the Oracles of our industry. It's my job to learn everything I possibly can - hell if I could afford to, I would take a free internship at TOR for a summer just to learn the ropes.
There are thousands of authors out there. Everyone wants to write a book. My perception is that they all go to try to find either an agent or an editor to publish their book. I don't really see a lot of people writing a novel and letting it sit there. Let's say 100,000 people want to write a book. 80,000 of them actually write it. Out of that 80,000, I would say the odds are that 100 of them make it to "published" status.
Why is this number so small? Is it because it's such a niche you need to know someone to get in? (NO, and please see my previous post debunking this myth a month ago). 79,000 of them didn't get past the query letter stage.
And surprisingly enough, 77,000 of them didn't follow submission guidelines. These aren't true numbers, but I am betting they aren't far off. I would love to know how many people Agent Kristin has to reject because the submitters didn't even know what genres she represented. And she is nice too - gives even the non-submission-guideline-followers a read. It makes me shudder to think how many Miss Snark has to reject (she is known for her toughness, and right on).
It still boggles my mind. People don't think the rules apply to them, and do what they please, and end up in the reject pile. I follow the rules TO THE LETTER. I recently submitted a short story query to a magazine. Why? Because they said they look at 4,000 words at the largest, and anything larger than that should query first. My story was 4,200 words after trimming every single inch of fat I could from it. A lot of my colleagues said to just go ahead and submit the story without the query. I just had to stand back and shake my head. They said 4,000, not 4,200, or 4,500. Therefore I did what they said and I queried. It's only been a week, and it might still get a rejection. But it wouldn't be because I didn't follow the rules.
And really, that's what guidelines are. Not suggestions - Rules. I read this little quote today on Anna Louise's blog (she is an editor at TOR).
This is a drive by announcement from my intern, who has been opening slush for me for the past few weeks, and stacking it on my shelves.
She said to me yesterday:
"It's amazing how many people say in their cover letter that they read your blog, and then don't follow your submission guidelines."
This tells me that even though people are looking right at the Oracle, they are still either not hearing, or not caring. Seeing as it's written online, hearing has nothing to do with it. Don't be an idiot.
There are thousands of authors out there. Everyone wants to write a book. My perception is that they all go to try to find either an agent or an editor to publish their book. I don't really see a lot of people writing a novel and letting it sit there. Let's say 100,000 people want to write a book. 80,000 of them actually write it. Out of that 80,000, I would say the odds are that 100 of them make it to "published" status.
Why is this number so small? Is it because it's such a niche you need to know someone to get in? (NO, and please see my previous post debunking this myth a month ago). 79,000 of them didn't get past the query letter stage.
And surprisingly enough, 77,000 of them didn't follow submission guidelines. These aren't true numbers, but I am betting they aren't far off. I would love to know how many people Agent Kristin has to reject because the submitters didn't even know what genres she represented. And she is nice too - gives even the non-submission-guideline-followers a read. It makes me shudder to think how many Miss Snark has to reject (she is known for her toughness, and right on).
It still boggles my mind. People don't think the rules apply to them, and do what they please, and end up in the reject pile. I follow the rules TO THE LETTER. I recently submitted a short story query to a magazine. Why? Because they said they look at 4,000 words at the largest, and anything larger than that should query first. My story was 4,200 words after trimming every single inch of fat I could from it. A lot of my colleagues said to just go ahead and submit the story without the query. I just had to stand back and shake my head. They said 4,000, not 4,200, or 4,500. Therefore I did what they said and I queried. It's only been a week, and it might still get a rejection. But it wouldn't be because I didn't follow the rules.
And really, that's what guidelines are. Not suggestions - Rules. I read this little quote today on Anna Louise's blog (she is an editor at TOR).
This is a drive by announcement from my intern, who has been opening slush for me for the past few weeks, and stacking it on my shelves.
She said to me yesterday:
"It's amazing how many people say in their cover letter that they read your blog, and then don't follow your submission guidelines."
This tells me that even though people are looking right at the Oracle, they are still either not hearing, or not caring. Seeing as it's written online, hearing has nothing to do with it. Don't be an idiot.
posted by DanStrohschein at 10:59 AM
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