Britta sent my work to twenty-three publishers during what she called “The First Round” of submissions. One statistic kept running through my head: one out of every three agented manuscripts never gets picked up by a publisher. These are the kind of numbers that stick in my brain, and it seems I’m always hearing things [...]
Monthly Archives: May 2006
sob story, part three
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Having an agent is like being in a relationship, or being in a relationship when you’re 19 and hanging on every moment, crushed by anything negative, elated by anything resembling forward progress. I thought I was done with this foolishness, of driving to Theresa’s house at 3AM, because that was the time she would’ve gotten [...]
my perpetual sob story, part two
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
It’s not necessarily that Barbara didn’t work out, but she came on a bit strong, especially since the end result was that I needed a novel, that the collection could be part of a package deal, but that the novel was the thing. Everybody wants a novel. No one goes to the bookstore to buy [...]
my perpetual sob story, part one
Saturday, May 6, 2006
Starting this project, something I’m doing to get my writing back on track, with my publishing sob story seems only appropriate. I’ve been sandbagging anyone within earshot with this story for what, two three four years now?
I completed an MFA in Writing at Vermont College, and looking back on it now, I’m convinced the whole [...]