Hi Bluenose,
Halifax? Or did you just like the name?
It matters not - a good and thoughtful post.
It seems that luck plays an enormous part in anything where the submissions vastly outnumber the acceptance rate. I was horrified while working for a large charity to see a manager throwing half of the, thousand or so, new job applications straight into a bin without looking at them.
My gut instinct is that those authors fortunate enough to be published assume that they are not lucky but highly talented. Those that aren't published are highly talented but unlucky
There is clearly an element of luck, but perhaps not quite as much people suppose. I agree with you when you say that most aspiring authors (self perhaps included) regard themselves privately or otherwise as highly talented. It therefore follows that any rejection shows a lamentable lack of taste and knowledge on the part of the person rejecting. If they were good at their job, they would clearly snap up the work immediately and make everyone concerned lots of dosh.
Added to this is the frequent complaint from some writers who seem to believe that they are entitled to a free edit or crit from a rejecting agent - the "
it's one thing to reject it, but how dare they not tell me why they are rejecting - don't they undertsand that I wish to get published?" argument.
Take these two (often overlapping) views into account, and perhaps it becomes easier to see why agents might occasionally feel the need to be blunt about the realities or why they might want to speed up dealing with unsolicited submissions as far as possible. Inevitably, gems are going to slip through the net. But if lots of people are rejecting an aspiring author's work, it may not actually be their fault. It may be because:-
1.
The author is no good at writing. Vast numbers of aspiring authors (and more than a few published ones) must surely fall into this category. And no matter how determined they are or how much they want it, they will just never be good enough. Either because they simply don't have the tools - no matter how much I wanted it, I doubt that I could ever be a Royal Marine - or because they don't really want it so much that they are actually prepared to do what it takes to get it.
2.
The author can write, but the market doesn't want it. This isn't necessarily a problem for hobby writers or for those who claim to be compelled to write, but it is a massive problem for those who wish to earn some sort of a living from writing.
3.
The author has not presented their work properly. The dreaded synopis and covering letter. The need to ensure that the sample chapters hit the ground running. The need to polish the work so thoroughly that you can see your reflection in it.
4.
The author has not done their homework. They have no idea where their book sits or who their audience is. Perhaps they don't even really know what their book is about - the big, central question or tension.
Judging from what one sees, I would estimate that 95% on unsolicited submisisons (mine included) fall into one or more of the above categories. And if they do, then we as aspiring writers are the ones who are doing something wrong.
I think that agents want their clients to be commercially aware and commercially realistic. It's about making money, not massaging artistic egos or preserving great works which will finally come to be appreciated in 2300 AD.
So, if you want to be published, prepare properly. Research your agents, research what people are reading and why, get familiar with how it all works, make your mss the best it can possibly be, do not skimp on the synopsis or the covering letter, follow submission guidelines to the letter. All in all, present yourself as a level-headed, sober, fully prepared and commercially aware person who lives in the real world rather than in some self-created Dreamtime. Give them what they really want, not what you have decided that they want.
It's not easy to be genuinely critical of one's work or one's shortcomings, but it
is necessary to try.
Me? I think I didn't do my homework and got my presentation wrong. So I'm dealing with all of that and will try again. And if it doesn't work this time, I will probably decide that I'm writing the wrong thing. And if it still doesn't work once I've written the right thing, then perhaps I will have to consider whether I really can write fiction at all.
Regards.
Peter
