Conventional
wisdom, CW for short, is that there are the right times and the wrong times to
query agents and editors. The month of December, especially the week between
Christmas and New Year’s, is the very wrong time.
I
got the attention of my second agent, a consummate experienced professional, during
that very “wrong” time. Before being agented, I got a request for the full
manuscript of my eventually acquired and published novel during that (very)
wrong time, also.
I
wasn’t breaking the rules, I just didn’t know them.
I
also got the best job I ever had back in my pre-motherhood life by breaking a
few rules because I didn’t know them. Not going into details here, but trust me.
I learned later that, innocently, I stepped over a few faux-pax.
I
write this as a reminder to self and also a public service to share, so that
fear of standing out mustn’t paralyze, and could also be recognized as a
possible advantage.
The
same goes for writing and constructing stories. Distinctiveness for its own
sake is a vice when it’s a pathology. But innocence of conventions is not, and
it’s more than all right.
I have had similar experiences, but not about the right time. I simply went ahead and contacted editors without an agent for nonfiction books. Yes, there may be “rules” that one “should” follow, but breaking them might turn out to be in your favor. It doesn’t hurt to try.
ReplyDeleteGood advice and a good reminder.
ReplyDeleteOne size doesn't fit all. So it is with conventional wisdom. I've queried with multiple articles in the same issue of a magazine and all were accepted. CW would say not to do that because you'd be competing against yourself. Gotta go with the gut! I've done this my whole life and it's always worked out.
ReplyDeleteSo true. I think we writers can be paralyzed by following the rules. But that can lead to just blending in.
ReplyDelete