Thursday, July 8, 2010

gosh

Honest, I will finish filling in the previous post with all kindsa fun detail about the week with chickens and odd names of children and silly things visitors say. Really I will. Before leaving for the Stranded Mermaid Tourney tomorrow morning.

However, tonight I wish to share my, um, gobsmackedness. I haz been mansplained. Yes I haz. A male poet and author has explained to my poor slow female brain how:
a) the publishing business is broken, because it is driven by publishers, not by authors.
b) it is impossible to get an agent.
c) good writing is languishing unpublished because publishers don't recognise quality
d) it is impossible to get an agent.
e) you have to submit to all agents and publishers, regardless of their interests or specialties.
f) it is impossible to get an agent.

Even after the others in the writing group had asked me about my revisions* and I had in a non-info-dumpy way noted that I had an agent, Poet-guy repeated that it was impossible to get an agent. Even after I had mentioned that I expected a lot of revision because she started as an editor.
He didn't ask how I got an agent, or how long it took, or how many rejections I got, or about my query letter. He just refused to integrate it into his view of the world.
I almost want to admire his impermeability.
Of course, he writes poetry and nonfiction (a book on meditation) published by an actual publisher in both Canada and the States, so why should he take into consideration the experience of a genre writer? And a gurl at that.


*ask me about my revisions! They are done! I dance the happy dance!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

BMLG, it's their Y-chromosome. There just isn't a docking port for alt-info. sorry! (NB: female groks sympathy; male interprets guilt/apology for inadequacy of world vs wishes)

X the unknown lynn

btw, am now shopping for replacement for your bed. have read the book & naturalicht! loved it, never even put it facedown/open as I so often & crudely do.

avo said...

And suddenly Batgirl vanishes in a puff of logic!

batgirl said...

I suppose he couldn't have a docking port, because those would be female, wouldn't they?
Ooh, thank you! I'm still trying to restore the preview function on my Lulu page. I don't know where it went. ARgh.

batgirl said...

Who is this God person anyway? and why is it no one ever vanishes in a puff of illogic?

Terri-Lynne said...

Denial is strong in this one. Egads! How did you hold your tongue!

Yay for finished revisions!

batgirl said...

Ha, my word ver is AVERT. He averted his eyes from my challenge to his worldview.
The funniest part is that he admitted his meditation book was published because it showed up on the publisher's desk just when they were looking for a meditation title. So the system isn't broken when it works for him, but it's all messed up when it doesn't, huh?

Terri-Lynne said...

Hey, did you see our boy John Chu got mentioned as one to watch on George Martin's LJ blog?? http://grrm.livejournal.com/160892.html