Writers and agents are at war. There’s a battle in a fairly well-known agent’s blog. Agent Chip MacGregor published a guest post about agents refusing to read slush pile stuff. A writer took exception and commented that she consigned Mr. MacGregor’s blog to her slush pile and 86ed it.
Attitude is everything. Mr. MacGregor retorted the writer’s comment was “stupid. For me, dissension never warrants bandying about the word “stupid.” It’s an offensive word, especially when translated – “How dare you call me out? You’re stupid.”
Why neither writer nor agent is stupid
Writer – agent is a business arrangement. No one owes anyone anything unless and until a contract is negotiated. Writers may submit whatever they want to whomever will allow it over the transom. Agents are free to read or not to read. I’m puzzled by apparent animosity between the two groups. Writers and agents, most especially writers never before published. Is it a battle? Is there need for a battle?
If an agent decides not to read anything coming across her desk this week, and sets fire to all, cool. Do it. How does that indicate lack of prowess in writers?
If a writer chooses to submit dreck and embarrass herself, not attending to mechanics of producing publishable writing, does that indict other writers, all writers heretofore unpublished?
How agents and writers can stop the battle
I shake my head when this perpetual argument, good agents vs. bad writers, sparks. It’s like silly arguments about should bad writers go ahead and write for content mills. There is no right answer. Both are just arguments. They make great article and blog fodder for articles and blog posts.
Some “professional agents” have a chip on their shoulders as big as a Sequoia. Their halos blind their own vision. they get puffed up with a sense of bloated importance. Read some tweets at Twitter, or blogs in the blogosphere, or columns in publishing industry periodicals. some agents are rational and compassionate, remembering how all written work begins – with an idea, often a great idea.
Having been a publisher and editor, I empathize. Some awful stuff is submitted by writers who don’t have a clue and don’t want a clue. Burn them!
Controversy draws readers. Is that what perpetuates the battle? If junk lands on an editor/agent/publisher’s desk – it should be junked. Why bother to chastise the sender, indict writers, yammer at anyone who has ever or ever will make a submission? And is there any purpose for less than conscientious writers to whine about rejection?
How agents and writers, authors, can use their time
Now, both agents and writers could resign themselves to the state of the publishing nation and realize it’s all in flux anyway. Five years from now neither writing nor agenting will resemble the current paradigm. Agents may not even exist. Sad, but true. Chill the battle.
Agents, you might simply vow to never read anything that doesn’t come in from, say, a subagent who screens the stuff before they bother you with it. spend more time, then, shopping the bright, shiny stuff that sets your soul afire. You know, deep in your heart, there is no King, Steele, or Updike in that pile.
Writers, stop whining when work is rejected. Don’t write slanderous challenges to the editor or agent who says you need to clean up your work. Authors and writers can use the extra time to learn self-editing. Read books. Take classes — a grammar brush-up? Learn how verbs and nouns must agree. Understand that not every line of dialog can begin with the name of the person being addressed. Learn the difference between “effect” and “affect.” Learn that punctuation rules are seldom optional, and a comma is not something sprinkled liberally about a page for embellishment. Commas have functions. Hire a ghost or an editor to help you succeed.
At the end, isn’t it stupid to be intolerant or set oneself up on a pedestal, whether writer or agent? Am I right, people?
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Very cogent analysis. I suppose there has always been some friction between writers and agents, but I think the ease with which writing can be posted to the web has encouraged a lot of unconsidered junk to be published on both sides.
Thanks for the call for reason to prevail.
EKR via email