Thursday, August 03, 2006

No Mas, Gracias

Granted, the NYC literary agents are said to be out for the month of August, but Elaine English is in Washington DC and surely she's still at work? With that logic in mind, I sent her another query for the current manuscript being shopped.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to consider your project, but I think I'm going to pass. My decision is based largely upon my current work load and the fact that I handle only a limited range of commercial fiction, rather than the merits of your project.

Jaysus, it's the form rejection again. The last time she sent this one to me, I was querying for a bit of literary excellence, but it's all commercial to her when it comes to fiction.

Face the facts. Fiction is a hard sell these days. The publishers can't seem to push it, and heaven forbid that they blame the poor sales on the pulp they're producing. Literary agents are programmed to send more of the same, but that's not selling, so don't send more. In the meantime, there's scores of readers craving some good escape from the world's worries, longing for a nice bit of entertaining fiction that just is not coming.

There's always the occasional miracle, isn't there? Some acquisitions editor just might ring up an agent, looking for something different that could be the next big thing. Start the novenas, and maybe by the middle of September, the Lord above will answer your prayers. My beads are rattling even now.

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