I came across this article that really hit home.
Why statistics discourage prospective writers
We all hear the statistics. 1 in 500… 1 in 5000… 100,000 novels are being queried right now. They are all scary. Many people are daunted by this.
This article points out something that I hadn’t thought of. Think it over. All of us have at least one friend who is querying thinking there novel is great, and they are getting rejected. I talked to someone the other day doing this and the only other person whose read her novel is HER HUSBAND. Really? What are you thinking?
Now, if all of you count up their one or two friends who refuse to get beta readers, and are SURE they are geniuses without getting a lick of feedback… are you counting them up? Are you getting a mental picture? Get my meaning?
This is what I am getting at. So what if you and 499 other people query at the same time. If 300 of these are sub-standard, your chances just increased, didn’t they?
If 50 of the remaining 100 had bad queries, or boring plots, your chances just increased, didn’t they?
What you have to ask is this… Are you destined for the slush pile, or are you one of then ten that the agent or publisher is actually going to read?
Make your choice now, and work hard to get yourself out of the slush pile, and onto that agent’s desk.
Related articles
- “A Right Fit”: Navigating the World of Literary Agents (themillions.com)
- Navigating the World of Literary Agents (kathytemean.wordpress.com)
- Agent Reads The Slush Pile Tomorrow – Wednesday, July 25 (pubrants.blogspot.com)
- How to Beat the Slush Pile (quillfyre.wordpress.com)
- Where do I go from Here (michelleziegler.wordpress.com)
- The Writer’s Diet (descentintoslushland.wordpress.com)
- Persistence – Be A Cog in the Wheel (thewritersadvice.com)
- Let It Shine (descentintoslushland.wordpress.com)
- In Praise of Slush Readers (rckjones.wordpress.com)
- What do agents want you to submit? (joeowensblog.wordpress.com)