Sunday, May 25, 2008

Buying an editor or agent

I was perusing this auction put on by Brenda Novak which benefits research for Diabetes. It's the fourth annual, and they have some interesting items being offered for sale. Of course, my first stop was in the "For Writers" section.

As I scanned the listings I couldn't help but smile. Check out the editor section here. Folks are paying big bucks for these things, and I think I can see why! Editors are offering to look at proposals and even complete manuscripts and get back within 24 hours in some cases. What do you think? Is that worth a couple hundred bucks? How much would you pay to have an editor or agent guarantee they'd respond to you within a week?

Sometimes editors and agents get a bad rap. We don't realize just how busy and under appreciated their jobs are. Check out this photo of agent Rachelle Gardner's mail:




















How would you like to go through all that and know that almost every one was expecting you to get back to them the second you received their submission? Puts things in perspective, huh? :)

1 comment:

Peg Brantley said...

C.J., I begin to break out in hives just thinking about that much mail to mine. You know they're looking for that fabulous little nugget that's hidden under an avalanche of decent stuff, just not BIG enough or GREAT enough.

Agents must be among the most optimistic people on earth, don't you think?

And bless those who are willing to put everything on hold (and know the pile will only grow) to help raise money for charity. Tres kwel.