Sunday, June 22, 2008

"Undefinable X Factor"


Hunkish blogging agent (Blagent) Nathan Bransford attempts to explain why you aren't getting published here.  It's anybody's guess what the hell he's talking about.  Here's a highlight:

"A week and a half ago I posted the query points system, in which one needs to score 10 points out of a 30 points system (Professionalism/Book Idea/Credentials) in order to get a manuscript requested. But what Conduit pointed out in the comments section is that the whole "resonance with agent" factor is extremely important and that there's an undefinable X Factor at play in queries."

Huh?  Sometimes, the more they help, the more they don't.

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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 22, 2008 at 11:29 AM

    Seems straightforward enough to me. Why do you constantly seem to be baffled by the fairly elementary concept of things either clicking or not clicking in a way that isn't entirely rational or definable? It's actually quite common to love or hate things, people, movies, books, etc, based just on gut instinct. Seems to me all Bransford is saying is that there's that unpredictable need to connect to a piece. I've read plenty of books that I could academically identify as well written, but which I didn't at all connect with, and believe me, you wouldn't want me trying to sell that book, because it's hard to conjure up enthusiasm in others if you don't have it yourself.

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  2. AnonymousJune 22, 2008 at 11:38 AM

    I for one am baffled by someone referring to writing a book as writing a lottery ticket. I'm baffled by the need to write a long post explaining the obvious.

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  3. AnonymousJune 22, 2008 at 11:39 AM

    I'm baffled by his hair.

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  4. Writer, RejectedJune 22, 2008 at 11:50 AM

    It seems to me he is saying that there is no accounting for taste (it's just "love" or not in the literary world), and yet somehow he has devised a 30 point system to account for taste. Just a little baffling from my p.o.v.

    But maybe it is as you suggest, first anony. Maybe I am a simp.

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  5. AnonymousJune 22, 2008 at 2:04 PM

    I'm baffled by blogging agents. Period. Aren't they usually trying to hide from us?

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  6. AnonymousJune 22, 2008 at 5:54 PM

    The X factor is the school you attended, the people you both know, etc. Very important, and not just in the literary world. In the political and corporate worlds too.

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  7. rmellisJune 22, 2008 at 10:40 PM

    Actually, I think if he considered it carefully enough, he'd be able to explain his "X factor." It ain't magic. It's something on the page.

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