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29 ways not to submit to an agent

Got a question/comment about the business of writing or about the publishing industry? Here's your place to post it!
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EC2
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Joined: August 2008
Location: Nottingham UK
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29 ways not to submit to an agent

Post by EC2 » Tue March 5th, 2013, 11:54 am

My agent Carole Blake shares some advice and experiences from her side of the desk and includes a scary response to a reject letter!http://www.bang2write.com/2013/03/29-wa ... blake.html
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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Lisa
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Posts: 1153
Joined: August 2012
Favourite HF book: Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
Preferred HF: Any time period/location. Timeslip, usually prefer female POV. Also love Gothic melodrama.
Location: Northeast Scotland

Post by Lisa » Tue March 5th, 2013, 12:39 pm

My goodness some of these people are really aggressive! :eek:

I've heard of these types of tricks working for getting job interviews in an aggressive business environment, but surely when the whole point is the quality of writing, that's all you need to represent yourself. Wow.

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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Tue March 5th, 2013, 12:54 pm

The one with the manuscript shoved under the loo door is priceless! That letter at the end is rather frightening. What sort of people are out there?
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

DanielAWillis
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Posts: 114
Joined: March 2012
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Whew!

Post by DanielAWillis » Tue March 5th, 2013, 4:13 pm

Having read through the list, I feel much better. I have not attempted any of the 29. :cool:
Daniel A. Willis
Author: Chronicle of the Mages series
www.DanielAWillis.com

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Margaret
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Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Wed March 6th, 2013, 9:23 pm

I am not an agent, but my experience with my website means I can really, really relate to some of these tips.

#4 - "Don't trash other authors." I got an email recently from a self-pubber trashing a novel that was on my "Best of" list and going on about the excellence of his own novel set in the same general time and place. Why on earth would he think it would make his novel sound more appealing if he absolutely hates a favorite of mine?

#15 - "Don't write to me abusively..." This happened so frequently with self-pubbers who objected to my "brief critques" of their work (I bent over backwards to be fair and offer some honest praise along with the criticism) that I no longer do these critiques.

#25 - "read the submission guidelines" I so hate having to do extra work I don't have time for because people don't follow the instructions prominently posted on my website for getting their novels listed. I can only imagine how annoying this sort of thing must be for agents, who have even less free time than I do!
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

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Justin Swanton
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Post by Justin Swanton » Thu March 7th, 2013, 7:38 am

All classic lulus. I made one mistake when submitting my novel, and that was to ignore the standard submission limitation of 3 chapters. The publisher I approached specialised in exactly the kind of fiction I was writing so I threw caution to the winds and sent him the entire MS. He published it.

I wonder though whether the supply of faultlessly presented, well-written submissions doesn't far outstrip the demand, bringing it in the end down to luck. But we've already discussed this elsewhere.
Nunquam minus solus quam cum solus.

Author of Centurion's Daughter

Come visit my blog

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parthianbow
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Post by parthianbow » Mon October 7th, 2013, 1:40 pm

So funny! Thanks for posting, ECW!
Ben Kane
Bestselling author of Roman military fiction.
Spartacus - UK release 19 Jan. 2012. US release June 2012.

http://www.benkane.net
Twitter: @benkaneauthor

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Nefret
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Favourite HF book: Welsh Princes trilogy
Preferred HF: The Middle Ages (England), New Kingdom Egypt, Medieval France
Location: Temple of Isis

Post by Nefret » Mon October 7th, 2013, 2:08 pm

I'm not really awake yet. In that letter... did somebody really spell famous with an 'e'?
Into battle we ride with Gods by our side
We are strong and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill and our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
WE´LL FIGHT TILL THE END! And send our enemies straight to Hell!
- "Into Battle"
{Ensiferum}

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