The idea was terrific. Firebrand Agent Nadia Cornier decided to play a game on her blog called 'You be the agent', and posted query letters she invented/cobbled together, and invited everyone to 'be the agent'. We had to
A. Reject
B. Request Partial
C. Reject with a request to see future projects
Well, I played along quite happily. Nadia posted three queries, and I made two requests for partials and one rejection.
After reading Nadia's last entry I noticed I rejected the agent's own work, lol. She dug out a story she'd written a while back and made a query to go with it.
I did request an existing YA book, so I was happy about that. I also requested a book from a query letter full of typos and mistakes - but that's because I was caught up in the idea of the book, lol. Nadia says she'd have requested partials from all three queries and then goes on to explain why - which is terrific for us writers agonizing over query letters.
Here's the blog:
Agent Obscura
:-)
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10 comments:
interesting read :o)
Oh how funny, Sam! I’d never seen the Agent Obscura blog before. It looks very interesting and I definitely plan to spend some time looking through it when I get back from our vacation.
That's really interesting! I wonder how often agents regret rejecting a story that later went on to be a best seller...ie, Dan Brown's or JK Rowling's work?
I believe what makes a good agent is one who will take you on because they love your voice, because that means they'll work harder to sell you because they believe in you.
It's an interesting exercise because it shows how subjective the whole process is -
Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
What a fantastic idea. I'm going to go check it out. (really did that idea..) I've always wanted to know weather I would be able to tell good work from not so good word. I complain enough about the books I buy. LOL.
I've run across Nadia's agency in jeff Herman's book, as well as GUIDE TO LIT AGENTS.
Oh, hi. I'm jurassicpork (see hyperlink) and I followed the trail of breadcrumbs all the way over here since you were kind enough to leave a good punchline on my blog).
Nice to run across someone else who was also a writer before they became a blogger. I'm a novelist, too (and a published poet).
You raise a good point: Why can't heros/heroines be out of shape? It's appealing to a demograhpic if they're toned and gorgeous but they're ignoring an even larger demographic: Those of us who are out of shape.
Hi Virenda and Jurassic - thanks for stopping by!
Hmm, yeah, I was having fun playing that game too-and actually thought about popping into your lj to say hi when I recognized you there-until I got the public smackdown from her for daring to say that I found one of those subs offensive, because of my daughter.
Yeah. I thought this was a subjective business, and I had a right to my opinion? Guess not.
I'm not playing anymore, needless to say.
You're kidding!
I'll have to go back and see what you mean. Which sub did you find offensive? The ugly insane one?
I had to sit down and think about that one. Kids are so sensitive about looks - I can remember my sister not going to school because she felt she didn't look right that day.
Not cool of Nadia
Yes, my lj name is "sidgirl" and my daughter has developmental delays, and at one point they thought she was autistic. Trust me, after being told your child will never live a normal life, how she looks is completely irreleveant, and I'm sorry, but any parent who spends their time worrying about how their daughter isn't beautiful any more when they actually have a child who can speak to them again, has some serious problems.
(My dd is actually doing great now, and is in a regular class at school, you can hardly tell she once had issues/still has some minor issues. And my daughter is beautiful. But I would trade her looks in a second for having her think and talk and act just like the other kids, and not have to work so hard to fit in, and not understanding what she says or does that's wrong...oh I could go on but you get the point.)
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