There's an agent-author conversation which crops up in a variety of ways all around the web and it goes a bit like this:Hotshot literary agent: "If you don't get my name right, make spelling mistakes and fail to follow the submission guidelines on my website, I won't look at your work. I'm not interested. You're wasting my time."
Brilliant new writer: "Agents are totally stuck-up. They're fixated on rules and don't know what they're talking about. When they don't bother to look at [my] work, they're missing out on an undiscovered work of genius."
The thing is, it's a competitive business and so you rarely see literary agents who cut authors some slack, who just kick back and say, you know what, I'm not that bothered if you make a mistake. That's why a recent post from Jessica, a literary agent at Bookends LLC, seems so amazing. It's exactly what you DON'T expect to see from someone in the publishing industry and actually it rather lifted my day.
Says Jessica: "It doesn't really bother me when people say 'fiction novel' in queries. Sure, I know it’s wrong, but I think it’s because I see it so often that, frankly, it really just doesn’t bother me that much."
It might be that everyone makes mistakes and some of them are not deal-breakers. Some things just don't matter that much. I'm not especially fussed when people get my name wrong. Clare/Claire – it's not going to ruin my day.
Anyway, it got me thinking - everyone must have things they know they get wrong, but just can't seem to help.
And are there certain things which you think should bother you, but you just can't seem to get worked up about?
Best wishes,
Claire
(Publisher)
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Xean Puccio on June 30, 2010
Thank you Claire and Jessica. Your comments inject a badly needed dose of positive reality in a seemingly negative profession. I've always thought that no agent in their right mind would rigidly value rules at the expense of good literary work. The queerest is that name rule. Any agent who gets upset that their name is slightly off is either worried that the manuscript might end up on the desk of another person in the building with a similar name or has one tall ego complex. Regardless of superficial errors, I believe if it were a true agent, they would review the manuscript before passing judgment. It’s just common sense. But I would still double check name and contact information before submitting and make sure it’s correct, just to be on the safe side. When in doubt, I’d use the name of the company or organization. Other useful submission tips can be found in Cressida’s post Top Five Tips For Submitting Your Manuscript.
Xean
4/6/30/2010
Cressida Downing on June 30, 2010
I agree with Jessica, some mistakes really don't bother me. However, I think I get aggravated by mistakes that are easily checked or corrected; they can give me a sense of someone who isn't bothering too much, and that doesn't bode well for their work.
Having said that, people get my name wrong a lot, and I really can't worry too much about it!
Cressida