There I was, splashing about in the eX-Twitterstream, when a comment floated by from a writer who opined the current querying system was backwards. Wouldn't it just be a whole lot better if there was a forum where writers could simply post their work for agents to see, then come pitching woo and bearing gifts.
Of course I sprang into action! I donned my SuperHelpfulSharkolistic cape, and reached out with two screen shots showing that such a
public showcase does exist, and has for about 15 years. It's part of Publisher's Marketplace.
Here are the screen shots.
Since every agent I know has a subscription to Publishers Marketplace this seemed to be exactly what they thought was a great idea. I was so darn pleased with myself, I planned to use it as my Good Deed of the Day.
But no.
"Oh that doesn't work," they replied.
"Doesn't work? Why not?" asked Idiotic I, still hoping for a good fixin' to get the day off to a good start.
"No one replied."
 |
| Oh so pleased with myself.... |
12 comments:
This is the first time I have heard of this thing. Maybe that is why it doesn't work? Do agents actually look at this? Still, I think it is pretty cool feature to be able to pitch your work on this kind of forum.
Now, can you tell us what is going on with Goodreads and authors having their profiles hijacked by random authors on Amazon? That looks fishy and something a shark could sort.I almost never use Goodreads as a reader. It was too much to keep up with and not very effective. Do we need it as an author?
So, in your Sharkly Opinion, reading those works currently on that list, is there even one of them you would reply to? Is it that the pitches are wrong? Or that no agents/editors read the list?
Pondering...
Also curious about this. Never knew it was a thing, but it's got my (our?) attention. Do agents actually look at it regularly? Are there many success stories from it vs the normal slush pile? Would you encourage chum to use it?
I've wondered about this, too. Has it ever worked for anyone? Is the success rate about the same as querying?
I never heard of this before!
If this is something that does work, then perhaps this author should find happiness with Dunning-Kruger Publishing
I think it's great that you located this. And I think it's rude for someone not to thank you for doing so or explain what they mean by "Oh this doesn't work".
But, I think I can guess why it doesn't work. When agents' inboxes are constantly flooded with queries, why would they even go to this particular part of Publisher's Marketplace? Surely if a writer has done their homework, they will know to query an agent directly. And again, if they've done their homework, they will have queried all agents they believe might be a good fit for them who represent their genre.
This earlier mentioned system would only work if all agents simultaneously decided not to receive queries anymore and instead "shop for clients" on a dedicated website. Can't see that happening...just saying...
Interesting. I don't remember ever hearing about this (though my memory is often suspect.)
I assume we'd need a PM subscription?
SDK hit the nail on the head.
I may have been too subtle in the post.
Ah. I had interpreted the "no one replied" to mean "OP's stuff wasn't good enough to earn a reply, but they were too arrogant to get that message".
Thank you for the update. I was a tad confused.
That sign Wile E Coyote is holding is doing double work!
Ditto.
Steve Forti, yes I thought that too. And I found it quite funny (am I evil?) that someone would think the only reason a system doesn't work is because it didn't produce their desired outcome. But, when someone (blog hoster) goes out of their way to help, an answer like that without further explanation or even a "thank you" thrown in, is just plain rude in my opinion. I'm guessing this person was looking for an alternative to querying because, in their mind, if they aren't getting bites...the existing system of querying is clearly broken:)
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