#Literary #Agent Takes on The #Rejection Letter

I came across this in my reading and thought you'd like to have a look. It's a prominent literary agent's take on having to deliver the bad, bad news to you. Here's how he sums up the relationship we at LROD bitch and moan about non-stop:

It always bears repeating: agents work for writers, not the other way around. I make my living as a percentage of an author’s living. Essentially I’m looking for a cool boss who is an extraordinary writer. So feel free to send me your manuscript. I’ll try to get to it quickly. Maybe it will be a runaway bestseller. Maybe I’ll subject you to my brutal candor, or maybe I’ll ghost you. And if it doesn’t work out, please know that I wish you the best of luck connecting with a good agent who isn’t such an asshole.

Refreshing, right? Honest too. He's no asshole, BTW; dude is my agent.

A "Must Read #Fiction Listing" from Mass Book Awards

Remember me? Yeah, yeah....I know. Long time. Two things, though: some good book new and some rejection book news. My book of short stories, which was roundly rejected by all in the early years of this blog, was just named a Fiction Must Read for the Massachusetts Book Award hosted by the Massachusetts Center for the Book! Here's the full list. Congratulations to the winners. If you haven't read Pretend I'm Your Friend: Stories yet, check it out here.  

     As for the bad news, you all will recall that I was writing a non-fiction book about disinheritance in a memoir kind of style. My agent loved it, sent it out to the big houses, but, guess what, no one bought it.  The common theme seemed to be that the editors did not find resonance with the voice of the book, or had published something similar (?! not), or simply didn't respond (ghosted the agent: have you heard of this?).  I decided to let the book sit. Who knows? Maybe I dodged a bullet (literal family bullet by gun-carrying relatives who did not want me to publish that book no-way, no-how). I will eventually publish the rejections here, of course, so you may have a look-see and do what you will with them.  

     In the meantime, happy summer 2018. Keep writing. Don't believe what the fuck-wads say about you when they are rejecting your book. 

    Also, try not to worry so much about the state the country and the world. Just write about it. That's why you were put on this green earth.