agent – Clara Hsu

Writers, Not Beggars

creacion-de-las-aves-remedios-varo-1957 — Creacion de las Aves by Remedios Varo

Publishing is a big business. Writers know that. Agents know that. In this age of Internet most submission is going electronic, and with it comes an attitude—the demand for pristine manuscripts with specified margins, spacing and formats. With it comes threatening remarks of deleting queries that are formatted incorrectly, and a writer’s chance of being snickered at if the agents deem you incompetence in following their simple instructions.

I’m sure agents are swamped with queries to the boiling point. Otherwise they must not forget that writers are artists and their work is a creation of art. To discriminate and incriminate based on their own guidelines is to exclude the possibility of discovering some true talents who are not wired to follow instructions or go online. Some writers are too poor to spend $600+ to go to a writers conference. Others work in obscurity and don’t have time for a “platform”.

You may say too bad for these writers. They’ll never see the light of day. But I say the publishing industry is the loser. Long ago it was the emperor who set out into the mountains to seek the advise of a hermit. Writers are not smoochers, least of all beggars.

Someone Who Doesn’t Want My Money

My stepmother was very generous in her old age, giving money to charities that came in the mail. After she passed away, I was given the task to terminate all her contributions. Those who received my calls expressed regret, but also appreciation for all that she had given.

I give sparingly, and definitely not to charities. I have a different view about organizations. My money is spent on knowledge. I pay dearly, with my savings, to Alan Rinzler, who edited The Painted Skin. From his editing I learn how to bring a theme forward and keep it focused. Unlike poetry, which is concise, a book-length work is far more intricate and demanding in form.

Alan Kaufman, my teacher in prose writing, said every writer should have a book-length work. A book of something is easier to sell than poetry. He may be right, but I’m still looking for that illusive agent, someone who doesn’t want my money.

Waiting

It’s like throwing a bottle with a message into the ocean. In this case, a query letter dropped into the sea of literary agents. The initial excitement cooled down as time passed and when I received the very nice form letter in the mail after six weeks of idling I had no drama left but a sigh of relief. Thank you. I may go on with my life. Submission has to become mechanical without emotion like brushing teeth, cleaning the toilet or putting on my shoes; stoic as someone who leans on the pier fishing . The bait is out there, as long as the line is connected.