Hi Aruna,

I'm sorry to hear that you endured such an awful experience. Personally, I can't imagine anything worse, professionally speaking - having come so far to stumble at the first hurdle. But you've picked yourself up again, and that, above anything, deserves the greatest respect and admiration.

As I venture further into my understanding of the industry (there is absolutely tons to learn), I have come to see the same thing that you have - that to get where you want to go, you simply have to play the game.
Three agents have been very positive about my Antichrist novel, and also the trilogy outline - but all three told me in no uncertain terms that comedy and dark fantasy do not mix, and even when they do, it will certainly not sell. With two of the agents, that was it. No comeback from rejection, even when I offered one of them a re-edit, he told me that it was impolite to even ask, and 'no means no'. Fortunately, the agent who liked the novel most is willing to give me that chance, so I'm forging ahead into a humourless redux.

It feels weird, because in many ways, I'm compromising my original vision, along with my inner voice. I struggled with that for weeks, trying to convince the agent in question he was wrong, I wanted to prove everyone wrong, until I began to see how right agent #3 actually was.
The straight-laced version reads so much better, and is that much more cohesive as a genre novel. I don't mind doing it, because I know that at this point, TA is my best shot of getting where I want to be. I have learnt that however avante garde our real aspirations, publishing remains a commercial business, and some of us must kowtow a little to the wishes of the industry if we are to make it anywhere. I don't love the idea, but I'll accept it if it means I get a toe in the door.

JB

I wish you heaps of luck, JB. I've had to eat great chunks of humble pie these last two years, but I think in the end it made of me a better writer. The industry is as it is. At times I was pretty bitter but in the end I saw it's up to me - nobody else cares!

Thank you Sharon, and the same for you.

JB

I got 11 manuscript requests,

That's just stunning. You must have really hit the target with this one.

but every time she doesn't mail me for two days I feel sure she's changed her mind and wants to drop me! Total paranoia

yup - I get that

Great news though - best of luck with it.

Aruna, that's quite a saga, and I'm not surprised you found it so devastating. It does sound as if you're well on the way again now, and very best wishes for it.

I do think it's interesting, though, that you've obviously come out of the depths with a really strong book, and that you, JB, also feel that yours 'reads better', and that is some ways Agent 3 was right. An original vision isn't compromised if it morphs into something equally strong and equally much your vision, but different. I think real writers can do that: it's not-good writers who can't see the potential in a new set of ideas and aren't flexible enough to go with it and see where it leads.

I did a lot to TMOL under various people's say so, and some of the changes I was dragging my feet every step of the way, swearing at my editor the while. Then I looked at what I had now the changes were in there, realised how it should work , and set to to make it work like that. And you know what? It's the better for it. Took me months in some cases to admit it, but it's true.

Emma

I think it's good to show you have an open and flexible approach to your work in any industry, especially when dealing with an agent and an editor. It can also be the hardest thing to adopt, and distance yourself from the 'it's my baby' mentality. I read once that nobody writes a book alone, and I think that while that may not be entirely true, nobody actually produces a book alone.

JB

Goodness, what a tale, Aruna! Glad your luck is changing though - and good for you.

Yes, obviously we have to put ourselves 200% into improving our writing and getting it to be the best it can be - but we all still need that pinch of stardust magic (shades of Peter Pan indeed!) to get us into the great publishing world. In the meantime, I'll trog on attempting my darndest to produce something of quality and using the small guys (& myself!) to get it out there. So far I've had few complaints - so am happy to keep on recommending the non-obvious publishing world as an option to those who haven't yet found that stardust!

A

I'm sorry to hear that you endured such an awful experience. Personally, I can't imagine anything worse, professionally speaking - having come so far to stumble at the first hurdle.

Well, I hope I didn't come across as whining! personally, I feel that it did me good in the end to go through it - assuming that the really bad bit is coming to an end. It does feel that landing an agent again is a great step forward after being stuck in the swamp for so long (Gosh, talk about mixing metaphors!!!!) There was a period when i could not enter a bookshop without feeling I was about to cry. I thought I'd never again be published.
ANyway, I just got a mail from her that she is preparing her notes and I'll probably get them tomorrow.... Ta-dah!

No, you're certainly not whining. We're all here to lend support, and every professional amongst us must shudder at the thought of what happened to you. You're back in the race, enjoy every moment, and best of luck with it.

Remember that a bird in the hand saves nine.

JB (sitting back by the drawing board)

Good grief, Sharon, your experience sounds horrendous – and reinforces what some of us have been banging on about for a while now, that there is no safe ground in the mainstream publishing business.

The more I learn about it, the more I feel I don’t have the mental wherewithal to kowtow to their whims. I'm much more interested in going with smaller, more adventurous, independents who don’t just see their authors as commodities on a balance sheet.

Best of luck, Sharon, and keep talking to us if you need support.

Dee

Yes, I second Dee's & JB's comments (can you second two people??) - hope it all goes well for you from now on, but yell if you need us - or just need to ... um ... yell!

A
xxx

Aruna,

I join the others and hope that your latest news will lead to continued success in the publishing field.

Your experience shows just how fickle the publishing business can be and is something that we should all take on board.

One young friend I have is a successful author, a success in the field of stand-up comics, a writer of well-received TV plays, he has had published a number of books on writing comedy and also teaches others in comedy writing. In my opinion he is a success in the creative Arts.

At the moment he is facing divorce, has been kicked out of house and home, most of his money has gone and he is not a very happy bunny.

All because his wife found out about his having an affair with his agent!

Although, in my opinion, it serves him right, the irony is that it was the agent who sent emails to everyone in his family about the affair and it subsequently emerges that the agent has a past record of restraining orders (from her previous family), has had quite a few affairs and has lied about her age to the tune of being 12 years younger, it emerged that she has also received intensive psychiatric treatments.

This just goes to show what can happen, not when an Agent dumps the Client but when the Client tries to dump the Agent!

Life ain't fair sometimes.

Len

Hi Sharon, good to see you back on writewords! I'm so pleased to hear your news - the good part of it that is. It's a testament to your perseverance, determination and talent. Exciting times for you.

Len

That sounds like a scene straight out of Fatal Attraction, only the literary version. People make mistakes, and there isn't really any excuse for cheating, but wow man, that agent sounds like a right nutter!!! Scary to think who we're sending all our personal details to isn't it?

JB

JB,

You are right, JB. It just goes to prove that fact can be stranger than fiction and also that there are some 'funny' agents out there.

Len