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Post by Fuck Yeah Dion on Jun 10, 2011 9:45:15 GMT -5
I used to think it was editing, but I'm finding that querying is the absolute worst part of the writing process. How the hell am I supposed to stuff the entire concept of a book into a few paragraphs? And those few paragraphs have to be good enough to get them to read the proposal, which has to include marketing strategies. What the fuck do I know about marketing? And it's got to be confident, but not cocky, succinct, but detailed, and other such contradictions. And that has to be good enough to get them to read the writing sample, which has to be good enough to get them to ask for the manuscript, and even then they might decide to reject your sorry ass.
So what are some of the other stressful, unenjoyable parts of being a writer?
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on Jun 10, 2011 14:39:42 GMT -5
I used to think it was editing, but I'm finding that querying is the absolute worst part of the writing process. How the hell am I supposed to stuff the entire concept of a book into a few paragraphs? And those few paragraphs have to good enough to get them to read the proposal, which has to include marketing strategies. What the fuck do I know about marketing? And it's got to be confident, but not cocky, succinct, but detailed, and other such contradictions. Thiiiiiiis sounds like bullshit (the whole process of it) and I do not envy you your position. Blegh. I've been advised that the way to be picked up for publication is to have a literary agent, and the way to get a literary agent is to a) NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK and b) get shorter things published in literary magazines and newspapers and whatnot. It's a slow but proven process. Also, literary agents (like editors and publishers) work in specific genres, so try to target agents who show interest in memoirs of a political flavor. I actually posted some links to my tumblr a while back on getting into the publishing biz... If you're interested, look under the tags "publishing" or "industry" and you might find useful stuff. I'd give you the specific links themselves but I got up not long ago and my usual urge to be useful hasn't fully awakened yet... |
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Post by Dodger Thirteen on Jun 10, 2011 14:47:13 GMT -5
And it's got to be confident, but not cocky, succinct, but detailed, and other such contradictions. Duh. It's a test of your writing ability. If you can't do that, then why should they spend their time, effort, money, etc. supporting you? |
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Post by Fuck Yeah Dion on Jun 10, 2011 20:39:12 GMT -5
I used to think it was editing, but I'm finding that querying is the absolute worst part of the writing process. How the hell am I supposed to stuff the entire concept of a book into a few paragraphs? And those few paragraphs have to good enough to get them to read the proposal, which has to include marketing strategies. What the fuck do I know about marketing? And it's got to be confident, but not cocky, succinct, but detailed, and other such contradictions. Thiiiiiiis sounds like bullshit (the whole process of it) and I do not envy you your position. Blegh. I've been advised that the way to be picked up for publication is to have a literary agent, and the way to get a literary agent is to a) NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK and b) get shorter things published in literary magazines and newspapers and whatnot. It's a slow but proven process. Also, literary agents (like editors and publishers) work in specific genres, so try to target agents who show interest in memoirs of a political flavor. I actually posted some links to my tumblr a while back on getting into the publishing biz... If you're interested, look under the tags "publishing" or "industry" and you might find useful stuff. I'd give you the specific links themselves but I got up not long ago and my usual urge to be useful hasn't fully awakened yet... Yeah, it's agents I'm querying right now. I got my first two rejection letters this morning, a turnover rate which suggests those first two just couldn't wait to send me that form rejection haha. |
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Post by Fuck Yeah Dion on Jun 10, 2011 20:42:14 GMT -5
And it's got to be confident, but not cocky, succinct, but detailed, and other such contradictions. Duh. It's a test of your writing ability. If you can't do that, then why should they spend their time, effort, money, etc. supporting you? I don't understand how a proposal can be an accurate judge of my writing ability though. If they want to test my writing ability, I don't see why we can't just skip the proposal and go straight to the writing sample. I can write anything and make it fairly engaging and entertaining, but I don't know anything about marketing or how much of a personal voice each particular agent prefers to see in a proposal, so I felt nervous when I was writing it. |
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Post by Eternal Lobster on Jun 10, 2011 20:47:01 GMT -5
Thiiiiiiis sounds like bullshit (the whole process of it) and I do not envy you your position. Blegh. I've been advised that the way to be picked up for publication is to have a literary agent, and the way to get a literary agent is to a) NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK and b) get shorter things published in literary magazines and newspapers and whatnot. It's a slow but proven process. Also, literary agents (like editors and publishers) work in specific genres, so try to target agents who show interest in memoirs of a political flavor. I actually posted some links to my tumblr a while back on getting into the publishing biz... If you're interested, look under the tags "publishing" or "industry" and you might find useful stuff. I'd give you the specific links themselves but I got up not long ago and my usual urge to be useful hasn't fully awakened yet... Yeah, it's agents I'm querying right now. I got my first two rejection letters this morning, a turnover rate which suggests those first two just couldn't wait to send me that form rejection haha. I came across the blog of an agent of some big authors a few years ago. The publishing process is really interesting and she provides a lot of insight into its process. She's found at: pubrants.blogspot.com/ She gives a lot of useful advice to prospective authors and explains what publishers are looking for. Not saying that you don't already know this information, but I thought that I would help : ) |
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Post by Fuck Yeah Dion on Jun 12, 2011 2:53:38 GMT -5
An agent expressed interest. Holy shit.
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