Earlier this week, Jessica Faust, who is a popular literary agent, had this to say:
She got a lot of pushback on Twitter for her aggressive tone, particularly the line that says, “What we’re dancing around is the fact that your book isn’t interesting enough to us.”
What do you think? Did she go too far? I know a lot of you are going through or have gone through the querying process (pitching to find an agent). What has your experience been? Does this turn you off even more from pushing for traditional publishing?
No she didnt go to far - why do u think there are thousands of books out there? she absolutely isn’t putting the author down she is simply saying it isn’t the right book for her to promote
Agreed. I think the tone is what people are reacting to, but the point of what she said is actually spot on. Could she have been more kind? Probably. But I also think that it's OK to be a bit harsh sometimes.
My definition of a taboo is something everyone knows but no one will say, and in this case she definitely broke the taboo! I don't think it's that the sentiment itself is so terrible -- no reasonable person can expect every single reader to fall in love with every single book -- it's that the querying process itself is a mess, and people's emotions are tied up in it in a way they aren't for something like job interviews.
And I think that gives a good idea of how frustrating querying is. The agency got 13,932 queries; 111 of those authors got offers of representation from NLA or from the other agencies they queried. Assuming every single author in that second group wound up with an agent (which I'm sure some fell through), that's less than a 1% chance of getting an agent through cold querying. (And then of course the book has to get sold to a publisher!) That doesn't mean the other 99% of books were worthless, but if you're on the receiving end of rejection, it probably feels like it -- especially if someone seems to confirm that 'it wasn't a good fit for me' or 'it isn't what the market is looking for' is really code for 'it bored me to tears.'
Anyway, I try to arrange my online life to limit my exposure to Twitter writer controversies 🙃
You're spot on, Liana. There is no way that 99% of book aren't "good enough." It's a matter of fit and a matter of numbers, meaning it's just not possible for everyone to get through. The less than one percent stat is something that should be posted on all agent's pages to immediately set the expectations of authors. Querying is hard. Getting published is hard. There's no way to dance around that.
Yes, exactly, and I think one of the biggest traps for writers is the cultural idea that a real writer has a nice hardcover book on the shelf of Barnes and Noble, and until that happens you're not really a writer. That's like saying 'a real athlete has competed in the Olympics.' The whole system is screwy, with the huge mismatch between the idea that if you write a good book, you should be able to find a publisher for it if you just put in your time querying, and the reality of the publishing industry which is looking for very specific, marketable books. So yes, I can see why a comment like this one blew up in the agent's face!
No she didnt go to far - why do u think there are thousands of books out there? she absolutely isn’t putting the author down she is simply saying it isn’t the right book for her to promote
Agreed. I think the tone is what people are reacting to, but the point of what she said is actually spot on. Could she have been more kind? Probably. But I also think that it's OK to be a bit harsh sometimes.
My definition of a taboo is something everyone knows but no one will say, and in this case she definitely broke the taboo! I don't think it's that the sentiment itself is so terrible -- no reasonable person can expect every single reader to fall in love with every single book -- it's that the querying process itself is a mess, and people's emotions are tied up in it in a way they aren't for something like job interviews.
I always like seeing the Nelson Literary Agency's end of the year stats, here's 2021: https://nelsonagency.com/2022/01/2021-nla-end-of-year-stats/
And I think that gives a good idea of how frustrating querying is. The agency got 13,932 queries; 111 of those authors got offers of representation from NLA or from the other agencies they queried. Assuming every single author in that second group wound up with an agent (which I'm sure some fell through), that's less than a 1% chance of getting an agent through cold querying. (And then of course the book has to get sold to a publisher!) That doesn't mean the other 99% of books were worthless, but if you're on the receiving end of rejection, it probably feels like it -- especially if someone seems to confirm that 'it wasn't a good fit for me' or 'it isn't what the market is looking for' is really code for 'it bored me to tears.'
Anyway, I try to arrange my online life to limit my exposure to Twitter writer controversies 🙃
You're spot on, Liana. There is no way that 99% of book aren't "good enough." It's a matter of fit and a matter of numbers, meaning it's just not possible for everyone to get through. The less than one percent stat is something that should be posted on all agent's pages to immediately set the expectations of authors. Querying is hard. Getting published is hard. There's no way to dance around that.
Yes, exactly, and I think one of the biggest traps for writers is the cultural idea that a real writer has a nice hardcover book on the shelf of Barnes and Noble, and until that happens you're not really a writer. That's like saying 'a real athlete has competed in the Olympics.' The whole system is screwy, with the huge mismatch between the idea that if you write a good book, you should be able to find a publisher for it if you just put in your time querying, and the reality of the publishing industry which is looking for very specific, marketable books. So yes, I can see why a comment like this one blew up in the agent's face!