The Pandemic Brought More Than A Virus

That pesky little virus that caused such a mess in the world did a lot more than simply show up and create medical problems (and yes long-term death and sickness) to a lot of people. And no, I am not talking about the jobs that were lost and businesses that closed. It turned all of those people who suddenly became a recluse into writers. Along with baking massive amounts of sourdough bread, much of which probably was not good, they sat there in those kitchens, watching the bread rise, writing the next "Great American Novel." 

Unfortunately, like so many of those failed loaves of sourdough bread, they also produced some of the worst pieces of writing known to man. OK, maybe that is a bit of a hyperbole, but I am not that far off. We had a lot of people, with absolutely no training, sitting down and writing that novel they knew they had inside of them all along. Hey, they have heard people all over the world say there is a novel (or a screenplay, thank you Quentin Tarantino) tell them this. 

So, as they pulled those loaves of bread out of the oven, they started firing off those manuscripts to every editor or agent out there with an email. Did they ever learn to write a quality story? Did they even know the submission guidelines? The answer would probably be no. They did probably take the time to find out how to write a query letter and a summary but that would be about it. 

Now, you might be asking, why I am telling you all of this? The answer is simple. They have flooded the market. Editors and agents have so many manuscripts right now they can't get to the stories fast enough. There are so many of these stories that are truly pathetic, that, in many cases, they have resorted to simply answering only those that might be good. The rest have moved to the "if you don't have an answer, it means no pile." Even agents are finding that editors are not always responding in a timely manner. 

Even worse, many editors and agents are now sticking with our known authors and those that have a proven track record in publishing. I know that for those of you who are new to this business, this is not what you want to hear, but it is true. 

Prior to 2008, many editors and agents were willing to consider authors that were "so-so" but they would take the time to work with those authors and build them up. Publishers had three layers of authors: The newer group, the mid-listers, and the "big guns." But then the publishing world tanked and those lower classes left and the mid-listers had to be even better. That has not changed. But now, looking at those newer authors becomes even more of an up-hill battle. 

The deal is this and I am not going to mince words on this one:

• Your story has to have a phenomenal concept behind it.
• The writing has to be incredible.
• The plot cannot be like anything else out there.
• The story has to be truly marketable
• And you, as an author, have to be amazingly knowledgeable about the business of publishing and how to write.

Welcome to the current world of publishing!!!!!