Welp. I've submitted about 60 queries to literary agents at this point, and I've gotten nearly just as many rejections. And after hearing about the author who recently made headlines when her tweet regarding her book signing went viral, I think I'll use this opportunity to discuss how hard the path to publishing has been for me so far. I'd normally philosophize about this in my other blog, "Shower Hour," but since this is explicitly about publishing rather than storytelling I feel as though this article fits this thread better.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUchOB7lw6W
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TL;DR: Trying to get a book published sucks. (See Lindsay Ellis for more details.)
So imagine you're me in 2017. You're in a corporate job that's slowly wearing you down, when one day out of pure happenstance a song you've never heard before comes on the radio and washes over you, filling you with inspiration. You take that inspiration and begin jotting the plot points for what will become your first novel. 5 years, one pandemic, dozens of revisions, hours spent towards personal writing education, a reduced social life, and thousands of dollars spent on an editor later, you've done it! You've written a book, and everyone you know who's read it says that its very good! You feel on top of the world!
You dash for the computer and begin educating yourself on what it takes to get it published. You send out dozens of queries to literary agents, and then you wait. And wait. And wait. The rejections start filing in, but its ok, you've sent out so many! Surely someone will ask for a partial manuscript at the very least!
Nope. Not once in the past 6 months. Imagine how bad that feels after all the work you've put into your story, and you'll imagine where my head is at the time of writing this.
For those unaware, querying agents is almost exactly like applying for a job. Every literary agent or agency is different, each cover letter must be tailored towards the person you're querying, and each query must possess a sample of your story that's anywhere from five to fifty pages. If you're lucky some of them will use QueryTracker, which allows you to fill out a form rather than typing it all up manually (and even then I still have several template word files on hand, ready to go.)
The industry is also highly subjective. Some agents will reject your query because you misspelled a word. Some maybe just because they read it on a Tuesday. Some won't read it at all nor get back to you in any shape or form. Who can truly know the ineffable inner workings of a literary agent's enigmatic mind, filled with a perplexing eternity of machinations which, if felt by lesser beings, is comparable only to the existential confusion felt at gazing upon Cthulhu at the gates of R'lyeh which seeps into one's soul and drives all witnesses to the brink of madness?
I kid, but only about that last sentence. The rest is all very true.
In reality, I don't fault the literary agents at all. Here's the thing about that job: their livelihood is tied to the books they bring in. They work on commission, which means the bigger/more sellable the deal, the better their paycheck. In order to get a book publishing deal it helps for them to 1) be passionate about the story they represent, 2) represent works with themes that are hot in the market which publishers are confident can be sold, and 3) represent authors who are marketable.
I fail slightly with point #2 and hugely at #3 for the following reasons:348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsn2xZkdDQ3
a) My book, as I would like to sell it, is now at 209k words. Twice as long as most fantasy novels. This is seen as not particularly marketable. For reference, Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind is around 186k. This is not to imply that a longer book equals a better book, just that if a book set on being published is going to be this long then it needs to be pretty dang good. (Nor will I imply that my story is as good as Rothfuss' work; it is not in my power to judge such things.)348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzC7gMrFZv9
b) While I will maintain that my story is something that I personally would enjoy reading (and therefore good in that regard) it is not set in a world as outwardly unique as NK Jemisin's The Fifth Season. I aimed for a storybook/fairytale theme, and it utilizes elements of european folklore from my youth that many are familiar with. Many agents consider such themes to be somewhat overdone.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTKvo4HxtW
c) I did not write a book to fit commercial trends, I only wrote with me in mind.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsg2qZFn5n
d) I do not have any writing credentials.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw35lLu5qcl
e) #OwnVoices is in full swing (which is fantastic, we've needed this for a long time. I just don't much fit this mold.)
And if by some miracle an agent does pick me up, this would be my first ever publishing contract, which would be...not so favorable for me. I'm an unknown. A gamble. And publishing is a business whether I like it or not.
Yet even though I don't really expect to succeed in finding a literary agent to represent me, I'm still going to try. There's no point in giving up after I've come all this way. If I don't get any bites by November of 2023 then I'll go the self-publishing route. But the point I'm ultimately trying to make is this: while I don't begrudge Chelsea Banning's lucky break, nor the hefty amount of work she undoubtedly put into her own story, I would like to take this moment to iterate how I would kill to get to the book-signing stage. That in itself is a massive milestone, and one that seems out of my reach at this time.
In closing, I'm struck by how much of this stuff runs on luck; the right action at the right place and time. Its a little frustrating, but I endeavor to hold no grudges nor harbor any feelings of bitterness as nothing good ever comes from either. I write for the joy of it, and I intend to keep it that way. The rest will come, or it won't. Either way I shall be happy.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbIuSniKzx
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Good luck in your writing, reader. And to any literary agents reading this, Ph’nglui mglw’nafh cthulhu r’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVZ6DJBujH
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Sincerely,348Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoXt9KpYBKb
Chris
