November 19th, 2009 / 4:39 pm
Behind the Scenes
Roxane Gay
Behind the Scenes
New Feature: Q & A
Writers (both novice and experienced) often have questions about writing, publishing, etiquette and more. We’d like to try and help. If you have questions, leave a comment with your question(s) in this post or send me an e-mail. Anonymous questions are fine. Over time, we’ll post answers to your queries with insight from some of the HTML Giant contributors and hopefully offer a small bit of sanity to the craziness that is publishing.
Ask away!
This is a good idea. You should charge for it.
This is a good idea. You should charge for it.
I interned for a literary agency for a while. Do you think that agents are necessary for all kinds of writing, or that in some cases you can go straight to the publisher? (With fiction, I think it’s pretty well established that you need an agent no matter what.)
I interned for a literary agency for a while. Do you think that agents are necessary for all kinds of writing, or that in some cases you can go straight to the publisher? (With fiction, I think it’s pretty well established that you need an agent no matter what.)
Do poets ever have agents?
I’ve always wondered what the accepted etiquette is regarding sending more work to a magazine you’ve been published in.
Some mags put this kind of information somewhere on their website. And some editors will say “please send us more work in the future.” Or whatever.
I never really know with magazines that don’t do either of these two things. Does a general etiquette for this even exist.
I must know.
Do poets ever have agents?
I’ve always wondered what the accepted etiquette is regarding sending more work to a magazine you’ve been published in.
Some mags put this kind of information somewhere on their website. And some editors will say “please send us more work in the future.” Or whatever.
I never really know with magazines that don’t do either of these two things. Does a general etiquette for this even exist.
I must know.
guys, there is an email address
guys, there is an email address
We said people can ask their questions here! It’s totally cool. And great questions so far. We’ll get cracking!
We said people can ask their questions here! It’s totally cool. And great questions so far. We’ll get cracking!
we’re charging hugs, payable at awp.
we’re charging hugs, payable at awp.
i 2nd this question.
i 2nd this question.
oh, well in that case i’m going to ask this one again here!
sometimes i think something is done… i’ll even give it a couple of days to breathe and i’ll be like, yeah, this is really weird but it’s done (especially true of spontaneous pieces that involve very little thought given to meaning, etc) and so i’ll send it out to a bunch of people. then a week later i read it again and think i was out of my fucking mind.
so my question is, should i give it longer before submitting? or am i just second-guessing myself?
i suppose this is a personal question but it’s something i think about a lot and i’d like know what the experts think.
oh, well in that case i’m going to ask this one again here!
sometimes i think something is done… i’ll even give it a couple of days to breathe and i’ll be like, yeah, this is really weird but it’s done (especially true of spontaneous pieces that involve very little thought given to meaning, etc) and so i’ll send it out to a bunch of people. then a week later i read it again and think i was out of my fucking mind.
so my question is, should i give it longer before submitting? or am i just second-guessing myself?
i suppose this is a personal question but it’s something i think about a lot and i’d like know what the experts think.
sometimes
sometimes
Give it a bit longer if you can. But… fuck it. If it really, really connected with you at one point, it has a shot of doing the same with someone else.
(I’m answering this more from my own experience as a writer than as an editor. Been way too many times that I’ve looked at a piece I sent out soon after writing that I thought, “Damn. What the hell was I thinking?!”)
Give it a bit longer if you can. But… fuck it. If it really, really connected with you at one point, it has a shot of doing the same with someone else.
(I’m answering this more from my own experience as a writer than as an editor. Been way too many times that I’ve looked at a piece I sent out soon after writing that I thought, “Damn. What the hell was I thinking?!”)
Depends what your goals are. If you want to publish with an indie, you don’t need one. Hell, some indies would probably laugh at you if your stuff came in through an agent.
Depends what your goals are. If you want to publish with an indie, you don’t need one. Hell, some indies would probably laugh at you if your stuff came in through an agent.
At Dzanc, you’re not laughed at if you have an agent, but it’s certainly not necessary. I think we’re running at about a 30% have agents vs. 70% do not ratio. And unsolicited agent submissions are not read any quicker than unsolicited non-agented submissions.
At Dzanc, you’re not laughed at if you have an agent, but it’s certainly not necessary. I think we’re running at about a 30% have agents vs. 70% do not ratio. And unsolicited agent submissions are not read any quicker than unsolicited non-agented submissions.
Love the idea, and look forward to great answers & discussion. I’m a ways away from publishing, but will certainly benefit from learning as much as I can before I get to that point.
Thanks for doing this!
Love the idea, and look forward to great answers & discussion. I’m a ways away from publishing, but will certainly benefit from learning as much as I can before I get to that point.
Thanks for doing this!
very glad that you are doing this, excellent idea
very glad that you are doing this, excellent idea
I think I asked all my questions the other day, but I’m sure I’ll have more and that a million other folks have questions, too–so thank you! Great idea.
I think I asked all my questions the other day, but I’m sure I’ll have more and that a million other folks have questions, too–so thank you! Great idea.
Is Harold Bloom for real?
Is Harold Bloom for real?
I think we’ve all had that feeling at one point and I think it’s a good thing. It forces you to think about your work more critically. If you have that feeling walking out of the post office, it probably means that the work isn’t ready or shouldn’t have been submitted in the first place.
BTW, I think writers should get a discount at the post office. We’re single-handedly keeping them in business. What does everyone else think?
I think we’ve all had that feeling at one point and I think it’s a good thing. It forces you to think about your work more critically. If you have that feeling walking out of the post office, it probably means that the work isn’t ready or shouldn’t have been submitted in the first place.
BTW, I think writers should get a discount at the post office. We’re single-handedly keeping them in business. What does everyone else think?
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