Do you have any suggestions for finding a literary agent in the U.S.?

Your post was a wonderful, condensed version of important things writers must know. It’s nice to see them written so succinctly and in an easy to understand way.

Too often we don’t understand what writing entails and give up long before we are truly ready to succeed.

Thanks for sharing.

I’m forwarding this post to other aspiring writers

What we writers need to do is not get upset at all the rubbish, but work even harder at our own writing. Be motivated by it, not frustrated. It’s tough, but definitely the only way to go.

Hm, good question. Obviously quality is a relative concept – for example, I do not enjoy reading science fiction or religious romance and thus rejected any of it that crossed my desk when I worked at the agency (which is why doing research on what people like is a good idea). So there will always be books published that seem to be a bit crap to you or anyone else – because they filled a particular gap in the market, because they appealed to an editor in the way that they did not appeal to you, whatever. But the odds of getting published that way – of slipping through the cracks, as you put it – are certainly far less good than if you succeed to write something extraordinary.

Think of it like a race with competitors who you’ve never run against before: you could win if you didn’t run your fastest, if they all turn out to be slow, or they slip, but it’s unlikely, so you might as well give it 100%.

Best,
Jean

Such cool stuff! You are indeed a treasure.

I do have a question: I know that I have to write something extraordinary to get noticed. I can deal with that. However, I work in a Library and I tend to read a lot. I have come across so many books that were poorly edited, or had flat characters, or outrageously poor story lines. How do these slip through the cracks? It seems the climate is so tight, these never should have seen the light of day. How does that happen?

Thanks again!

Cheers

George