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Dec. 23rd, 2010 10:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lenora_roseOne of the things abut posting more sporadically is that it tends to leave out the strangest tings happening in one’s life.
Frex. I finished my query package for The Serpent Prince, and it’s been sent out, so far, to four agents (and I’m compiling a list, slowly, of fresh information on other good agents/agencies).
One already requested a partial, or, for those not in the business, the first 50 manuscript pages, off the summary and first 5 pages. (Squeeee – in case the analysis below leaves any doubt.)
This doesn’t put me as far ahead of the game as it sounds, since one agency asks people to send a partial right off the hop, as the query. SO she's not seeing a lot others wouldn't also see. Yet.
But. The agent in question puts her statistics up for all to see. She requests manuscripts or partials a bit less than once a week (exactly 8 in the 12 week span I checked, or 2/3). She gets an average of 167 queries a week. That is to say, 0.4% of the time, she asks for more. The odds at that point are STILL cruddy (I don’t recall how many new clients she picks up in a year, but I’d be surprised if the number was significantly higher than 1, and not surprised if it was lower than 0.5) but – they’re higher than 0.4% .
There are other ways this is a good sign, though, less obvious. If you’re good enough to get the attention of one agent, you’re good enough to get attention from more. It isn’t a random distribution; once you can write a coherent story and follow submission guidelines, you’re competing with at most the top 5%, and more likely with the top 2% or less. After that, it’s mostly a combination of personal taste, commercial viability, and timing. (I’ve heard even more grim statistics about the awfulness of the slush pile.) So it’s already an affirmation that I’m good enough for someone, even if the someone ends up being not-her.
I should know better than to get too hopeful. matociquala was just the other day talking about how poisonous is magical thinking. But there's a difference between thinking that wishing will make it so and trust that my abilities are really there.
(I also sent a short story to Tor.com. Because while I'm being optimistic and tryign to do something about this writing gig, why not?)
Frex. I finished my query package for The Serpent Prince, and it’s been sent out, so far, to four agents (and I’m compiling a list, slowly, of fresh information on other good agents/agencies).
One already requested a partial, or, for those not in the business, the first 50 manuscript pages, off the summary and first 5 pages. (Squeeee – in case the analysis below leaves any doubt.)
This doesn’t put me as far ahead of the game as it sounds, since one agency asks people to send a partial right off the hop, as the query. SO she's not seeing a lot others wouldn't also see. Yet.
But. The agent in question puts her statistics up for all to see. She requests manuscripts or partials a bit less than once a week (exactly 8 in the 12 week span I checked, or 2/3). She gets an average of 167 queries a week. That is to say, 0.4% of the time, she asks for more. The odds at that point are STILL cruddy (I don’t recall how many new clients she picks up in a year, but I’d be surprised if the number was significantly higher than 1, and not surprised if it was lower than 0.5) but – they’re higher than 0.4% .
There are other ways this is a good sign, though, less obvious. If you’re good enough to get the attention of one agent, you’re good enough to get attention from more. It isn’t a random distribution; once you can write a coherent story and follow submission guidelines, you’re competing with at most the top 5%, and more likely with the top 2% or less. After that, it’s mostly a combination of personal taste, commercial viability, and timing. (I’ve heard even more grim statistics about the awfulness of the slush pile.) So it’s already an affirmation that I’m good enough for someone, even if the someone ends up being not-her.
I should know better than to get too hopeful. matociquala was just the other day talking about how poisonous is magical thinking. But there's a difference between thinking that wishing will make it so and trust that my abilities are really there.
(I also sent a short story to Tor.com. Because while I'm being optimistic and tryign to do something about this writing gig, why not?)
