I was browsing through the blogs of random bloggers as I often do, and read about many frustrated writers and their efforts to find an agent. It reminded me of my search that I found frustrating to a point, so I thought I might talk about that today.
The first thing I want to stress is this: Don't count on writing being your main income. Get a job people. Better still, get an education, and then get a job. If you choose writing as your career, don't expect to be a successful novelist right off the bat. Start out as a writer for a newspaper or something like that. Write, write, and write. It was the same thing when I studied art. Didn't matter who you drew or painted for....just keep doing it. The old adage is true...the more you do something, the better you get at it. It is most definitely true for art...and most definitely true for writing.
But once you do have your first manuscript completed, don't just think it is completed. Keep revising it. Even while you are submitting to agents. When I finished KOK, I thought, wow, what a great story I just wrote, and after spending some time in the blogoshere to learn how the query process worked, I started querying. I got some nibbles right away. In my first round of querying agents I got three requests for partials and two requests for a full. I was thrilled. I had read, even back then, (about a year and a half ago,) that the process to find an agent was near impossible, and here I am, right out of the gate, and getting these responses. Most gave me the usual, "not for me" response, but of the two who asked for a full, one offered representation. Before signing I researched the agency and found that Absolute Write/Writer Beware did not recommend signing with them. I won't get into the reasons, but I figured to wait and see what might happen with my other submissions. The other agent who read the full said that the storyline was terrific, but the writing needed to be strengthened, and I knew he was right.
So I went over the MS and over it. I focused on strengthening the writing...I polished the prose, as they say...over and over and over again. All the while I kept submitting. My second round of queries also resulted in requests for partials, and one request for a full. I got some polite constructive criticism, but no takers yet, although the agent who requested the full hadn't responded. I didn't sit still. I pored over that MS, I rededicated myself to improving the writing. I spent every spare minute on my keyboard, now not only improving the writing, but finding ways to improve the story, too.
My third round of queries didn't even get any nibbles. I started to get depressed. This is what I saw in my browsing yesterday. Some of the writers expressed their feeling of not being recognized as the great writers they felt they were. To them, what I have to say is this: You may be a great writer. But never forget that it is a subjective thing. What you consider great might not be great to someone else. I am never going to forget that, because I realized that no matter how good I thought my writing was, whenever I reread it, I always, and I mean always found ways to make it better. And I kept on.
Then one day, when I was teaching my art class, the phone in my classroom rang. I answered it. The lady said, "This is Anita Kushen, and I'm calling about Killer of Killers. I loved it."
I was astounded. I had to get my classroom full of sixth graders to quiet down so I could hear her. She said to make one more pass through it and send it to her. I did, and I also researched her. Absolute Write/Writer Beware said that this agency was relatively new, but there was no reason not to sign. They had a record of success. She offered representation. I signed the contract and am now represented by her agency. Anita retired a few months later, but I still have a great agent in Ange Tysdal. She is tireless in her efforts to get my novel published.
So, don't give up. Keep writing, and keep revising that MS. No matter how good you think it is, it can always get better. Keep querying and take advice to heart. Like they said in Galaxy Quest: "Never give up...Never surrender!"
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