What If the Agent says No Unsolicited Material?

My mother was keen that I was well brought up, and therefore the idea of sending out my work to someone who said No Unsolicited Material was completely unthinkable. I took it at face value. However, then I went to a talk given by an agent who worked for an agency that said they didn't look at unsolicited material. Someone in the audience stuck their hand up and asked about it.

'Oh, that,' the agent said blithely. 'We put that on to deter the no-hopers. We reckon anyone with the nerve to send out despite the notice is probably more determined than other writers, and we want to work with very determined writers.'

Now, personally I'd have thought it would mean that either people were determined or it was proof they didn't do their homework, but I'm not an agent. I've heard it since reiterated by other agents and editors. They may say they won't look at unsolicited material but they can't resist looking at it if it comes in - the biggest fear in publishing is that you'll be for ever remembered as the person who turned down the next JK Rowling/John Grisham/Stephen King...

So if you're certain that an agent is who you'd like to represent you, I'd disregard any comments in the Writers and Artists' Yearbook/The Writer's Handbook that they don't look at unsolicited material. Write to them, making it clear why you've chosen that particular agent. And if it gets returned by the next mail, obviously unlooked at? What have you lost apart from some postage?

Safety in Numbers

Quite a few people I know are dealing with rejection at the moment. Some are unpublished, others have been published. It's tough out there, and I don't think any currently published writer feels safe. But that's not good to hear when you're still trying to get published and it seems like it will never happen for you.

Which is why I think that more than ever the right approach is the more the merrier. If you hang your hopes on one or two submissions, then the rejection is more painful. Each time it becomes harder to send out, knowing what may be in store. And then there's the time factor. A year can easily go by without success. It's dispiriting.

Contrast that with starting with an attitude that you're going to send out 50 times before you get an acceptance. That means you've got to get through 49 no's before you get the longed for yes. Then, each no you receive brings you closer to the desired yes. This may sound a bit too Positive Thinking for some people, but see it as an incentive to get the submissions sent out.

The more you have out at any one time, the less each rejection will hurt because you can still be hopeful about the ones that are still out there. I always had six submissions out there and although the rejections still hurt when they came, I think suffered less than those people who sent out their submissions in ones and twos.

I'm not looking for a new agent or publisher right now, but still I'm planning new projects - a non-fiction book, some picture book texts, and I've an idea for a detective series. If what I'm writing now doesn't work out for me, at least there's something else in the pipeline to look forward to. I think sending out lots of submissions isn't just practical, it's good for your mental health.

Come to the launch party for Kissing Mr Wrong, 6.30pm on 20th May at Waterstones, Milsom Street, Bath. All welcome, but please ring 01225 448515 to let them have an idea of numbers.

Take Six Agents

When I'd nearly finished re-writing my manuscript I sent out the usual package - first three chapters, synopsis and covering letter - to six agents one Monday afternoon. I had a connection with all of them: three I had met at a Romantic Novelists Association party the previous week (which is why I sent out before having fully completed the ms), one had been there but I hadn't met them, the other two I knew were attending the Winchester Writers Conference. This is what happened...

Agent No 1 rang me on Wednesday morning and asked to see the rest. Yippee!

Agent No 2 sent a letter on Thursday saying the novel wasn't for her, but added that she thought someone would take it on.

Agent No 3 sent a letter on Friday asking to see the rest.

Agent No 4 also sent a letter on Friday saying no one would want to read such depressing material, I was wasting my time and I'd just wasted hers. Yes, really.

Agent No 5 sent a letter on Monday saying she'd got two clients who were writing similar work to mine and she was having difficulty placing them, so she couldn't take me on.

Agent No 6 - well, I'm still waiting to hear from Agent No 6, but it's too late as I went with the fabulous Agent No 1.

It's one person's opinion after all, but if I'd only had Agent No 4's letter I might never have sent out again. It was bad enough reading it after I'd had a phone call from an agent saying they wanted to read the rest, I dread to think how I would have felt if it had been the only response. So, that's why I believe in multiple submissions.

PS I have since met Agent No 4 at a party. I didn't spit in her drink, kick her shins or say 'Yah boo sucks! That book you said was a waste of time sold to ten countries, you know nothing.' I just smiled sweetly and moved on. Which shows I'm either a nice person full of forgiveness or a coward.

Should I send my novel out now?

I was asked this question recently by someone who was 40,000 words into their novel and itching to send it out. I asked my agent what she thought, and her response was along the following lines...

You receive through the post some great opening chapters. There's a space on your list, and this author might be the one to fill it! With the thrill of potentially having discovered a wonderful new author running through your veins, you call up and ask if they could send the rest. No, they answer. It's not written yet. Oh. Disappointment starts to set in. When will it be ready? In a few months. Oh. Then, a few months later, you receive the rest of the manuscript. You vaguely recognise the name, remember there was something disappointing about them and, with a grudging feeling of anticlimax, start to read. Worse, you then realise it's in a similar style/genre to the author you took on two months ago, and you don't have room for two novelists of that type. You put the manuscript aside.

If that isn't enough to put you off sending your novel out too soon, then I'd suggest a couple of other ideas that might, coming from a writing viewpoint. You've written 40,000 words. A novel is usually 80,000 - 100,000 words. Is it not possible by the time you come to The End you may:

a) have improved your writing style with regular practice so the beginning is now not as good as the ending.

b) have changed your original ideas, so the beginning you started with is no longer appropriate.

c) having written the whole thing, you've now got a much better idea of where you need to start.

I'd also add that I think it's much easier to write a synopsis and covering letter when you've written the whole novel and know exactly what it is you're trying to sell. In other words, the answer to the question is no!