Saturday, September 15, 2012

How NOT to handle rejection

Another this week -- so the project for today is query-rama. An awesome new friend has rightly encouraged me to "carpet bomb that shit." No more of this one-letter-a-week silliness. Everything I read tells me I should be encouraged that I'm getting personalized, detailed feedback from literary agents, and I believe that more now after learning how often agents get hate mail, some of it threatening. Shouldn't surprise me, but it does mostly because it's so incredibly stupid. You've just shown that you're not someone anyone would want to work with, for one thing, and for another, agents know each other and talk to each other, so the next one you query will already have a bead on your insanity. Plus you've just made it harder for the rest of us who actually have a chance. Dipshits.

Sadly sometimes the threats are real. On Thursday night California literary agent Pam van Hylckama (@BookaliciousPam) was allegedly attacked by a disgruntled writer. Luckily her dog bit him and the guy ran off. She's rethinking the whole foursquare thing now. We're in this always-connected-always-sharing world and though it brings us together it also allows the crazies to have more access. (Though possibly easier to apprehend... he left his address on the query...)

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