Below is a list of the titles he reviews. Here is the link:
2004 Writer's Market by Kathryn S. Brogan
June 29, 2004
2005 Writer's Market by Kathryn S. Brogan
October 2, 2004
Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents 2004: Who They Are! What They Want! and How to Win Them Over! by Jeff Herman
November 21, 2004
2005 Guide to Literary Agents by Kathryn S. Brogan
February 8, 2005
Literary Agents: What They Do, How They Do It, and How to Find and Work with the Right One for You by Michael Larsen
February 17, 2005
Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft by David Morrell
August 12, 2005
[This message has been edited by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (edited October 09, 2005).]
[This message has been edited by Paul-girtbooks (edited October 10, 2005).]
I have no misconceptions about my skills as a writer: I suck. I work hard to improve, but I may never get anything published. And even if my work has little chance of selling, I will still stick to the rules because there is always Hope -- plus I've always been a little bit anal about rules.
But I will write. Even if it's just for me.
[This message has been edited by Warbric (edited October 09, 2005).]
Go read Miss Snark, people. She'll tell you how it really is.
http://misssnark.blogspot.com/
- what I found most sobering is that, even if you are good, the chances of actually catching an agent's interest are infintesimal!
At the back of these 'Guide to Literary Agents' books they list the agents in terms of which ones are or are not open to new clients. And yet, even when you look up said agents entry in the guide they tell you that they mostly take on new clients through referral.
Tell me, how many of you guys out there are actually buddies with a regular book-publishing author? A Few? None, I bet. So it beggars the question how on earth are you suppose to get an 'in' with these agents?!
It's the old Catch-22: can't get a publisher because you haven't got an agent, and can't get an agent because you've never had a book published.
A lot of writers at conventions will jokingly tell you that it takes luck. They ain't joking. "Watership Down" was rejected over and over and over again before finally getting published. In the 30 years since it's been published it's never been out of print. Ditto Stephen Donaldson and J.K. Rowling. Why did all the other agents/publishers knock them back? Because they probably never bothered to read the manuscript/sample/query in the first place, for no other reason than that they didn't have the time.
Perseverance. It takes a lot of perseverance. Just don't give up your day jobs, guys.
PS thanks for the link Buffy!
[This message has been edited by Paul-girtbooks (edited October 09, 2005).]
I think this reviewer has probably been rejected a number of times---possibly for not sending queries and adhering to the submission guidelines---and is trying to burn bridges as best as he can. Obviously agents do read submissions they feel are good. There are so many new books out every year; not all of those authors are personally 'connected'.
If I want to find an agent, I think I'll look on a web site.
From http://www.tor.com/torfaq.html#writing
[q] The question that puzzles us the most is, "What are the odds of getting published by Tor?" That is, what is our ratio of acceptance to rejection for manuscripts in our slush pile?
Answer: for very good books, the odds are excellent. For books we don't like, the odds are abysmal. No other measurement is meaningful. [/q]
Paul, can you please edit the post to provide links to the reviews, so people who want to read what is being discussed here can go to the Amazon site and read the reviews there?
Kathleen, a link has been inserted into the original post.
[This message has been edited by Paul-girtbooks (edited October 10, 2005).]
quote:
As far as I'm aware if an ordinary member of the public posts a review on Amazon.com it is neither copyrighted by Amazon itself or the reviewer.
Then you may not be aware that any original creative work is automatically copyrighted as soon as it's written down. People have a false notion that you have to "do" something more in order to obtain copyright.
It is perfectly legal, however, to quote someone's writing for purposes of review as long as you do not copy it in its entirety, and as long as you cite the source.
It's hard to believe he's had his manuscripts rejected, isn't it?
I also liked the way he tore apart the back cover copy of Jonathan Carroll's "Outside The Dog Museum" (not Carroll's best work, but still worth reading; but "Land Of Laughs" and "Bones Of The Moon" are utterly brilliant, while "Child Across The Sky" is deeply scary, if marginally incomprehensible...). if the back cover copy was so appalling... why did he read the book?
I'm returning to Ignorance-ville now... much more blissful.
Ronnie