Explaining The Lack Of Agent Interest

Good writing, said the agent who rejected my full manuscript.

Nothing wrong there. Grand to be reassured when a writer's riddled with self-doubt.

Rejection just the same, however. The story isn't a blockbuster type, the sort of thing that major publishing houses are after.

It's the economy, they say. Big, splashy hits like Dan Brown has produced, or Jodi Picoult or Steven King, that's what is selling.

So it's a rejection. I've been advised to go direct to the small publishers, to find a niche that fits my story, and do it that way. Small houses pay little to no advance, and a literary agent won't waste his or her time pursuing an editor if there's no money to be made. They're in business, after all, not operating a charity for needy authors.

I've nothing to lose in finding some little companies that might be interested in a novel that covers a rather obscure area of Irish history. Instead of sending off packets to agents, I'll be sending off packets to publishers who crank out ten or twelve books per year, and hope that I land in their niche.

While I wait to hear back, I'll work on something else, dust off an old manuscript and re-work it into something that might appeal to a larger audience.