From Anne R. Allen’s Blog… with Ruth Harris:
Here’s some advice for those who feel they are missing out on one of the basic building blocks of a successful author’s career: Rejection.
For those who feel they are not paying their dues.
For every writer who is not receiving an adequate, soul-satisfying number of rejections, try these pro tips to help you pump up your pathetic, wimpy R-score.
1) Embrace the Jackalope.
From the gory, surgical details of a tummy tuck to the onslaught of grammar Nazis and an attack by vicious sabertoothed cave rats, you must heed the advice of everyone in your crit group.
By all means pay attention to advice from “experts” who know almost nada about your book or your genre.
For example — the James Bond fan who wants “more action” in your sweet, sensitive romance about disabled teenagers looking for love.
Or the James Patterson reader who wants shorter chapters in your elegant, carefully-considered literary deconstruction of Finnegan’s Wake.
Be sure to give in to the devastating ego destroyers whose nasty tone and censorious delivery cause you to go to bed for a week and even contemplate suicide. They must know what they’re talking about, don’t they, these hit-and-run drive-by “authorities” who aim right for your confidence?
Heed the amateur shrinks who want to know “motivation” of every character including the guy behind the counter at Dunkin Donut who serves a Double Chocolate Donut instead of the Boston Kreme Donut your adorable but scared alien from another planet ordered.
The counter guy must be suffering trauma cuz he screwed up the order. Or is he enduring an unhealed childhood wound? Or did he just get fired from the rotten job at DD he needs to pay the rent?
And what about the adorable but scared alien? Where is his family? His parents or grandparents? Does he have siblings? If so, where are they? What happened to them? If not, why not?
To guarantee producing an unreadable mess, and sure fire instant rejection, be certain to pay attention to every comment and your dreams of infinite rejection will come true.
. . . .
2) Write the Best Horror-Thriller-Mystery Ever Created — and Send it to the Wrong Agent.
Your villain makes Hannibal Lecter look like a pussycat.
Your victims are so vulnerable, defenseless and forlorn they will make a stone weep.
The prose sparkles.
Your grammar is of such flawless perfection a revision of Strunk & White is being published at this moment to acknowledge your excellence.
The whole manuscript has been edited so scrupulously it contains not one single typo.
Your use of the Oxford comma and the activating hyphen are impeccable.
You’ve worked for years, neglected your spouse and children, let your dog go hungry and unwalked.
You’re survived without food and sleep.
The time has come at last for submission. Which lucky agent will get first look at the best horror/thriller/mystery ever composed in Word/Pages/Scrivener?
Still determined to bulk up your wimpy stack of rejection slips? The answer is obvious. What you want is an agent who specializes in — Ta Da! — Romance.
However:
If you might just conceivably be interested in getting the best horror/thriller/mystery ever written actually published, why not do some research first?
Find out which agent(s) specializes in your genre. That agent will be up on all the latest developments in the market you’re trying to break into and will have close contacts with the editors who are looking for exactly what you write.
Link to the rest at Anne R. Allen’s Blog… with Ruth Harris