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Picking Droplets From a Fire Hose

January 12, 2009 by Nathan Bransford 155 Comments

I have to admit that I was surprised by some of the responses to last week’s discussion about queries. There’s so much angst out there as authors struggle to find agents that some writers adopt an ends-justify-the-means mindset and think there’s something wrong the entire process if their queries don’t work.

But as I said in the comments section of Thursday’s post, every successful debut book should be viewed on the order of a minor miracle. It’s like throwing a manuscript across a river of paper-eating snakes and crocodiles and hoping that all the pages reach the other side. Success is hard and rare, and there is an incredible array of obstacles along the way.

Success is not the default, and success does not come easily.

And yet so many aspiring authors don’t approach the business in this fashion. They expect success. They feel that they’ve earned success simply by completing a novel they think is good. And they feel that if they are not easily finding success something is wrong.

Then you start hearing things like agents don’t know what they’re doing, the query process is stupid, the publishing industry is going down the tubes because they won’t publish MY book, etc. etc.

The system is not perfect, but it’s also not broken. In fact it’s working precisely as it should: It’s winnowing tens of thousands of projects down to the few that are published. There are far more novels out there than can realistically be sold to publishers. Far, far, far, far more. To paraphrase Sean Lindsay, there are too many writers and not enough readers. Getting published is not supposed to be easy.

If there were a more effective system of winnowing down thousands of submissions than referrals and query letters I’d love love love nothing more than to find it and use it (and Jennifer Jackson agrees). But in order to decide if I’m interested in taking a look at a manuscript I need to know two things: what the book is about and whether the author can write well. And I need to know those things as quickly as possible because I have a million other things to do. That’s precisely the point and function of a query letter. If the query did not exist, God would have to invent it.

It’s not fun to be winnowed. But don’t blame the winnowers. Just keep at it. And while you’re at it, try and enjoy the process. Life’s too short.

Please respect the system. It’s there for a reason.

Filed Under: Literary Agents Tagged With: How to Write a Query Letter, literary agents, publishing industry, Staying Sane While Writing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Devon Ellington says

    January 14, 2009 at 5:21 pm

    I think the query process is just as important for the writer as for the agent and/or editor. No matter how much I research a particular agent or house before sending out a query, it’s not until the actual interaction I learn what I need to know.

    To me, placing your project is like finding its soul mate. You have to date around a bit and not expect to find True Love your first time out!

    Sure, it can be frustrating, but I’d rather get a rejection from a place I don’t fit than shove myself in and we’re all miserable.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    January 15, 2009 at 1:06 am

    It seems like the problem is that when you mix art with business, a lot of people get confused. So the artist, in this case the writer, may not understand that just as you wouldn’t throw a tantrum in the middle of a job interview because you got a hard question, you don’t act unprofessionally toward a literary agent to whom you are trying to pitch a query. Just because it’s “art” (or just because you think it’s art) does not give you the right to act like the “temperamental artiste.” Focus that creative temperament on the writing, not the business.

    Reply
  3. Leis says

    January 17, 2009 at 9:09 am

    Hi Nathan, Happy New Year everyone.

    I’ve been away for a couple of weeks and am catching up now–glad to see this post!

    I have a question for my disgruntled fellow writers here: how often do WE take a chance on a new writer, how often do we actually buy a book that, a.) is written by an unknown; b.) is not endorsed by established or favorite authors; c.) has not been featured favorably in the press or is on the bestseller list?

    I can tell you how often I buy such books: never, unless the author is someone I know personally, someone from my writing group.

    Am I the only one?

    Reply
  4. Devon Ellington says

    January 18, 2009 at 7:27 pm

    Leis — To answer your questions — 2-3x per week I buy books by writers of whom I’ve never heard, on most weeks. It’s gotten a bit less right now, in this economy, but then I try to make up for it by buying more books at a time when I buy. That doesn’t count the books I’m sent for review.

    I loathe blurbs. If a book seems interesting, I’ll pick it up and try not to read any blurbs before looking at the cover teasers and reading a random page or two. A blurb is more likely to turn me off a book and cause me to put it back on the shelf than anything else.

    Also, if I’m in the “I don’t know what I want” mode, I’ll pick up an anthology filled with new-to-me writers, and, if I like what’s in the anthology, I’ll hunt down that author’s longer works.

    Reply
  5. pressure washer hose says

    August 9, 2010 at 3:35 am

    "Picking Droplets From a Fire Hose" Interesting topic! I enjoyed reading this post. Anyway, I agree with you there, "Success is not the default, and success does not come easily." very well said.

    -seff-

    Reply
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