The Zoo*: Week Three
Today is the third in a series of posts by San-Diego-based writer named Thomas Shess who has decided to keep a journal on his journey to find a publisher for his novel.WEEK THREE
Early Returns. Because my computer refused to allow me on the Internet for a couple of days, I received several responses to last week’s debut of The Zoo* before reading what my Editor Claire had kindly posted. The first day, I received four responses. One was a freelance writer/buddy from South Florida, who swore Media Bistro was the source of many new assignments.
Speaking of freelancers: There are three freelance writers, whom as an editor, I truly admire for being total pros: Nanette Wiser is on my list along with Chris Barnett in San Francisco and Richard J. Pietschmann in LA. I heard from Nan. Also responding was a gentleman who has a literary agent search website. I will check it out and report back next week.
A publisher of E-books contacted me as did a literary agent in New York.
The agent e-mailed asking to “take a look at the first 20 pages” of my novel I almost cried.
But there is no crying in publishing, except when I realized I couldn’t e-mail anyone anything because I kept getting AOL’s Failure to Connect reasons 63-AYCX or 73-CHOM.
So, you’d think it would be easy to find another computer to send the 20 pages. Of course not. All three computers in the house failed to connect me to the Internet.
Plan B-Do not scream! While, my in-house computer ace (youngest son, Mike) worked to repair my connection, I snail mailed the 20 pages to the agent. I figured the postman wouldn’t infect the agent’s computer with a virus.
Of course, as soon as I mailed off the pages, Ace rolled his eyes and informed me I had installed the software to my new wireless router incorrectly. I have no virus! He fixed it in ten minutes. Had I not panicked, I could have waited and sent the pages via e-mail as the agent kindly requested. Now, I run the risk of being a total “over” thinker and not able to follow the simplest instructions. But at least, I didn’t send an infected file.
With fingers crossed, let’s move on.
FAQ: What’s my novel about? It’s a mystery. Double entendre intended. It’s a political thriller set in San Francisco. It’s also a love triangle between a cop, newspaper reporter and a deputy DA. One of the main characters is gay as is the villain. The ensemble cast is an ethnic salad. I don’t have a title for the novel because I’m torn between ten titles. (Remember, this column is being written by a novice to publishing-need I write more?).
Lights, Camera, Lunch. The third week of my search for a publisher or a literary agent for my novel found me having lunch with San Diego Film Commissioner Cathy Anderson [www.sdfilm.com]. She is one of the leading film commissioners in the country as the San Diego bureau is one of the oldest and most respected in the U.S. for innovation and creativity. She is in charge of cheese that she places on the mousetrap to attract film, commercial and print producers to roll cameras in San Diego. It’s amazing what she’s accomplished in an era of shrinking budgets, but her bureau is currently enjoying its most fiscally rewarding year in its 30 year history. She knows her stuff and I was delighted she agreed to meet with me.
This was not a cold call on my part. I’ve known Cathy for a while as I’ve written about the film bureau in Variety, Hollywood Reporter and San Diego Magazine. I e-mailed her asking if she had any literary agent contacts. She replied that she wished she had a gold key that could open up doors for my novel but she didn’t have a huge background in publishing or literary agents.
But as I quickly observed she has a firm grasp on common sense. She did point out that no matter how hard it might be to find representation for my work she felt literary agents are absolutely vital to the success of a fiction or non-fiction effort. She based that opinion on a conversation she once had with Stephen J. Cannell, an icon TV series producer (Rockford Files, et al). Cannell told her that the search is often lengthy and frustrating for new writers but, the connection has to be made.
Our conversation confirmed that getting a novel published is similar to the film industry in that it is a relationship business where networking is vital.
She suggested I attend any seminars, classes or writer’s conferences where agents will be present. There are no short cuts. She pointed out Media Bistro, for example, has a long list of suggested classes. She also said to look into writer conferences and college extension courses that have published authors or agents teaching the course. And, if the courses are taught in another city-sobeit–life is not easy.
She did caution me to research courses taught by agents/authors to see if their professional interest is within the genre that my novel is.
Before our meeting, I snail mailed her a synopsis and two chapters of my novel. That way I wouldn’t have to spend time explaining my novel.
When we discussed my novel she volunteered that my writing style reminded her of the tone coming from the pens of writer/producers like Cannell and Steven Bochco (NYPD Blue). And, of course the proof would be in the total story. I came away from lunch with five books she carried with her and loaned me. I’ll spend this week reading them and will report next week why she brought them.
And, I felt encouraged that one professional that has a working knowledge of story lines had actually read my first chapters.
Early Rejections. To date, I’ve sent out five e-mail queries to agents in the first two weeks of my search. To my surprise, response was guillotine quick. All were rejected with form messages, except one. Brooklyn literary agent Larry Weissman took the time to email me a courteous note saying my query sounded entertaining, but it didn’t fit what he was looking for as a fiction project.
Fair enough.
* …because it’s a jungle out there.
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