Better Luck Next Time
I received my first response from one of the agents that requested a partial. It reads as follows:
Hi Erin,
Thanks for the opportunity to view THE SKELETON KEY. I’m not the right agent for it since I didn’t connect with the protagonist, but I do think it’s very well written and seems like it has great potential for character development.
Best of luck in your search for representation.
It’s hard to know how to feel about this reply. Naturally I’m disappointed, since this very well-reputed agency won’t be representing me. On the other hand, it’s not a form rejection – a big step. It actually contains feedback, some of which is positive. Back on the first hand, however, she “didn’t connect with the protagonist”.
What does that mean, anyway? How can the sample both show “great potential for character development” yet leave the reader cold on the protagonist? This requires further thought on my part, obviously. It would seem that, from this agent’s point of view at least, the hero (a) isn’t revealed sufficiently to engage the reader or (b) is bloody annoying -- a hazard of making your protagonist the butt of most of the jokes. I’m not sure which it is, or which is worse. Perhaps there is a third possibility I’m missing? I will have to mull this over.
In other news, I got my shots today – a whole whack of ‘em. It’s starting to sink in that this trip is just around the corner.
posted by E @ 11:44 AM
5 Comments:
Hrrmmmmm, that's very intriguing. I never would of guessed that an agent is a simply a fan with connections to publishers. I orignally thought that agents are people who are like editors in a way to identify whether or not you have a strong story that definitely is marketable or may need a touch-up here and there, or is crap. But, because the agent didn't identify with the protagonist? That seems like a load of crap.
Oh well, I guess, after all they are the ones who are going to go up to bat, right? At least it means that you can submit to their competition now and definitely get published.
Good luck though with another agent!!
~Epheros
More and more, agents are used by editors / publishers as a first filtering mechanism, one that saves them the trouble of having to sort “good” writing from “bad” and leaving them only with saleable -- within the particular demands of their market -- or not. Editors develop relationships with agents and learn to trust their judgment, so if Agent X says, “I loved this book!” the editor knows it’s worth a look.
Most agents seem to agree that in a competitive market, selling books often comes down to the energy authors and their representatives are willing to put into peddling their wares. With that in mind, it makes sense that if an agent isn’t personally excited by your story, it’s pretty hard for them to muster the enthusiasm required to be a good advocate for your work. I wouldn’t want an agent who didn’t love the book and want – really want – for it to see print. If an agent signed you on simply because they didn’t think the book was bad, how much energy would that agent really put into selling your work? Wouldn’t they rather spend their time flogging a manuscript they were excited about and leaving your MS to gather dust on their shelves?
So in a way, agents really are just book buffs with connections, just as band managers are music fans with connections.
I understand where you are coming from, but I think what kind of bothers me more about it - aside from a passion being exploited by business - is that if your agent loves epic level stories, the world-hangs-in-the-balance kinda stories, then your going to be disappointed by the rejection letter you get from the agent who didn't like your submission about a teenage girl that overcomes adversity in school by being a tomboy and being one of the guys.
I'm all for having someone on your side to help get your book published, I know authors nowadays need all the help they can get, but I guess maybe what I could be ignorant of is this, does the agent go over your submission and pass it on to someone else in the agency who may be very much into whichever type of story you've written.
To put it another way, we have two Realms authors in center ring: Ed Greenwood and R.A. Salvatore.
Ed's stories tend to be very overall Realms-focused and he has certain characters perform behind the scenes work that push the Realms toward particular directions.
R.A. Salvatore has Drizzt and Co. These characters are very personal, as readers we get to become extremely intimate with them and their personal battles and dilemmas.
Both stories have larger and smaller picture aspects but both authors' focus is different - intimate vs. epic.
If your agent stands in one camp what kind of success will you have when writing in the other camp. Will he help you get it to someone who will be more interested that could help you or do you have to go back to square one and try to 'sell' your book to another agent? Would it almost be easier to stick with writing stories in the agents particular taste until you've become popular enough in the arena that most agents will at least recognize your name?
I know I'm a newbie at this, but I really don't think I understand the concept of how having an agent REALLY works. Thanks for any clarification you can provide.
By the way, are you working on any new Realms work? If so, when can we expect it - I thought you did a great job on 'Faerie Ire' and would love to see some new stuff from you.
~Epheros
I can’t pretend to be an expert on what agents are thinking (if only!), but I can tell you that most agencies, if they represent fantasy fiction at all, have only a single agent doing so. If you’ve written a world-hangs-in-the-balance story and you’re pitching it to an agent who favours sword and sorcery, you’re hooped.
It’s also important to remember that most agents, especially the good ones, are receiving anywhere from 50-300 queries PER DAY, to say nothing of the partials and full manuscripts they have lying around waiting to be read. And *that* is over and above the day-to-day business of representing their existing clients. Agents simply don’t have time to hand-hold new authors simply “for the love”. Writing may be an art, but publishing is a business, and like any business it runs on money.
Not all authors need agents, and if you’re doing work for hire writing for Wizards of the Coast, you may not. But the vast majority of publishers do not even look at unagented submissions, so if you want to break into “mainstream” fiction (including genre fiction), you probably need an agent. If you’re interested in the nuts and bolts of it, I can recommend two sources: www.absolutewrite.com and The 2006 Guide to Literary Agents.
On the subject of current and future projects, the short answer is no – I don’t have anything new in the pipeline for FR. Thanks for the kind words about "Faerie Ire", though -- it was great fun to write. It’s fairly likely that I will work for WotC again sometime in the future, but I’m not sure it will be in the Realms. There are a lot more Realms authors than there are projects right now, and it could be a long time before something comes along that is right for me. Right now I’m focusing on my own work, but who knows what the future will hold?
Cool, thanks for the clarification. I'm glad I was able to get an honest author perspective of the whole "fiasco". :-)
I will definitely check out the two sites you provided, and I notice the AbsoluteWrite website, you've mentioned it before and I looked at it then, but did not get a chance to really get into the site to see what they have to offer.
I'm not yet ready for publishing but I know it helps to get a good grasp of the behind the scenes stuff early. Thanks again!
It breaks my heart that I won't be expecting another story from you in the Realms (my home since 1988), you have a certain way of grasping personality that is most enjoyable. I'll have to keep an eye out on your other work as it makes its way onto the bookshelves.
Keep it up!
~Epheros
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