To your left is an actual picture of the pile of proposals, sitting on my office floor, from early January 2010 (click the picture to see it full size). It represents about 30 days’ worth of incoming proposals during a slow time of the year. The stack of books next to the pile includes books sent for review (consideration) and recent publications that I want to look at.
Today, that has been replaced by email submissions, many of which ignore the request “Please do not copy and paste your entire manuscript into your email.” As of this writing, there are over 300 proposals awaiting my personal attention, all received in the last six weeks. The danger for authors is that the inbox for incoming proposals is “out of sight, out of mind” and lacks the visual impact of a literal pile.
Imagine how easy it will be to write “No thank you” to the poor soul who failed to proofread their email before sending this sentence, “I would like to send you my quarry letter ….”
Or the psychic who has an “amazing” personal story to tell … and by the way, also has two novels done and five children’s books ready and waiting.
I once received a call that went something like this:
Agency: This is the Steve Laube Agency.
Caller: What kind of agency are you?
Agency: We are a literary agency.
Caller: What does that mean?
Agency: It means we represent books to publishers on behalf of our clients and manage our client’s careers.
Caller: Oh, good. I do comic strips … and they are really unique … [caller’s voice gets faster and louder as they talk]
Agency: Well, we don’t represent artists or comic-strip artists.
Caller: But I’m a philosopher too! [further explanation followed]
Agency: Well, we [caller interrupts]
Caller: And I’m also a musician with over 500 songs to my credit.
Agency: Unfortunately, we do not represent musicians at this time.
Caller: But I was named rock musician of the year.
Agency: We’re sorry, but it does not appear that our agency would be a good fit for you.
Caller: You want to listen to my stuff for free on the Internet?
Agency: I don’t see how that would be a good use of our time.
Caller: Someday, someone will discover it and make millions.
Agency: We wish you the best in all your endeavors.
I know it is hard to wait. I get it. I don’t like it either. However, the work of a literary agent is only partially that of reviewing unsolicited proposals.
Each of us regularly deals with:
— reviewing cover designs and marketing plans for forthcoming titles
— wrangling with our client’s editors over any number of issues (everything from copyedit/grammar questions to someone at their publisher not returning a phone call)
— fussing with a publisher’s finance department over a missing payment to a client
— fussing with a publisher’s legal counsel over contractual language that had changed from the last contract we did with them
— general fussiness (I will often come home from work and tell my wife, “Today was an itchy scratchy day.”)
— reviewing new book ideas pitched to us by existing clients
— preparing client proposals for sending to publishers
— reviewing new contracts (an average of one new book contract every two business days throughout the year)
— Etcetera
Please don’t misunderstand. This isn’t complaining or saying we’re busier than you (which is unlikely). In fact, it is an enormous privilege to work in this industry and work with enormously gifted writers and brilliant publishers. But this post is for those writers who wonder why agents take so long to review proposals and then send seemingly dismissive rejections. I’ve written about rejection before, and no agent takes the process lightly. But a little understanding and self-education would make every writer’s experience while approaching an agent a little more tolerable.
I fully expect that at least 90% of the 300 proposals in the inbox are not ready yet. It doesn’t mean what was sent isn’t good. Only that it isn’t ready. The competition is fierce, and writers need to make a little extra effort to learn the industry, learn the craft by going to a good writers conference this year, and realize this is a marathon, not a sprint.
I didn’t understand the journey,
didn’t get the craft-growth need
and all impatience earned me
was lost potential through my greed.
I thought I really did know better,
that I had the magic touch.
Thought I was born a man of letters,
but in the end, assumed too much,
and the chances now are gone
for I self-published, didn’t sell.
There’s no point in going on
except that maybe I should tell
you that you need humility
if you don’t want to fail like me.
No, Andrew, you did not fail. Your words have been read by and have inspired many others. By the enormous grace of God, I gained representation by this (awesome) agency and have published three books. I wish more people read them, (as does every author) but I like to measure success in another way. A letter from a reader thanking me for helping her with her faith journey is enough for me to claim success. I suggest you count the replies over the years to your posts here (including this one) as such letters. By that measure, you cannot come close to admitting failure.
Sy, I’m humbled and honoured.
You brought light and hope to a hard day, and I thank you.
What Sy said!!
I mean, if you want to count it in quantity, I’ve probably read more poems by you than any living poet save Sarah Emtage, who is a personal friend. If you count dead poets, you’re in good company with Shakespeare, Seuss, Silverstein, and Tolkien as one of my most-read poets. How many people can say as much?
Okay, that ending made it sound like being read be me personally was a great achievement. What I meant was that you’ve found our tribe and the authors and aspiring authors here may be reading your work quite as often, or more often, than other well-known poets.
Thank you, Steve, for your tenacity and your heart. The ripples effects are incalculable.
I am thankful for writers’ conferences because I’ve learned how the industry works. Just last summer I pitched a chapter book to a children’s editor. She loved the idea but the publishing house had 5 chapter books in the pipeline, so she was sorry she couldn’t ask for it.
I said, I know how it works. No worries on my part!
But I betcha there are loads of authors who attend conferences and still don’t handle rejection well.
This is immensely helpful. I published my first short story in the late 1990s and my first YA novel in 2001. So much has changed in this industry! The anthrax scare after 9-11 drove many people to email because of the risk of opening an envelope. AI is now a big concern and I am part of a lawsuit that I never wanted to be part of (against AI). Thank you, Mr. Laube and your agency for all you do. Please keep up the good work. We need it!
Steve,
Thanks for the perspective from your side and encouragement to be patient with the process.
Christian publishing is all in God’s hands.
I strive to live by a saying that I ran across recently:
Trusting God’s provision means believing that God is good.
Accepting His will means believing God is wise.
I add to the 2nd one, accepting without resignation, that He might say ‘no’ at the moment.
Conferences are great. I’ve learned so much from BRMCWC Conference classes and ACFW Conference as well as the generous people who have made it to published. I am disappointed I will not be part of the Laube Lobby this year. It’s always a highlight as well as your classes. Thanks for all you and your agents do to encourage writers!