Stories
Follow on to "musings from an author"!
I mentioned in ‘musings’ that I had decided to have another crack at
seeing if I could find an Agent or Publisher for my second novel!
To date I have received three ‘rejection slips’ and as it is still early
days I am continuing the battle to find the one Agent or Publisher with
good commonsense to grab my second story - "A. very private Heaven and
Hell".
The slips as per usual, were all very polite, but still said a
resounding NO!
To put this whole saga into context, I thought it would be a good idea
to tell you just what kind of competition is out there.
Every week, year in and year out the Agents and Publishers receive on
average five thousand five hundred (5,500) manuscripts and this figure
does not include Technical works, Biographies or Poetry!
This means that the main line Agents and Publishers in the Artists and
Writers Yearbook, numbering in the region of two hundred or so, receive
two hundred and seventy five (275) manuscripts each. This, of course,
does not work out that way, as the main Agents and Publishers receive
more than their fair share, meaning that the lesser Publishers and
Agents receive less and as some Agents are just one person, even 10%
would swamp them and the point I am making here is that the Synopsis has
to be firstly, eye catching, secondly very concise and thirdly has to
encapsulate the story completely.
Any Agent or Publisher receiving even thirty (30) manuscripts a week, of
say 200 pages is not going to even try reading the first one, two or
three chapters sent in, unless the Synopsis catches their attention
utterly.
So I have re-thought my Synopsis and have re-written it, in the hope
that it will be eye and thought provoking enough to ensure that one of
the next three Agents I have written to, read the three chapters sent to
them, as after they have read them they will be hooked and will insist
on reading the remaining eleven chapters and if they do that, I will
have found an Agent and a Publisher!
I will keep you advised as to my success and if the next missive you
receive comes from Antigua, you will know I have found an Agent and a
Publisher!
by Mike Morgan.