Query letters versus resumes

Here's a copy of an email message I received from an aspiring best-selling author, a man who has written his first novel.

Tell me why applying for representation from an agent is any different from applying for a job. For a job you send out 20 or 30 resumes, and with one or more replies you complete the applications and go for the interviews. Whoever picks you first, well, usually you take the first job that comes along.
 
Tell me why a literary agent is any different; you send out 20 or 30 query letters and whoever comes along first you jump on it.
I know I'm naive, but what else is new.

Can anyone tell me how to answer that?

Also, I know the stock answer; but in this day and age, when snagging an agent, yet alone a publisher, is getting harder and harder, should we play by their rules?

Bloggers - Clean up your act, please

Image via WikipediaI have a very selective list of blogs I follow. I keep them listed here for quick access and check them out each time I post. When I visit one of these interesting sites, I check the links to sites these folks read. Intermittently, depending where I am on any task, I'll click on one, two, three, more sometimes.

I know that blogging is mostly about content itself but I have to wonder if the people who list their favorite blogs actually read anything from their lists. At least once a click, I come to a blog that hasn't seen a post in months or, worse yet, no longer exists.

I make it a habit to clean up my blog list immediately when I notice something's awry. In fact, I just deleted a listing that posted a notice about a major upgrade -- months ago!

While I'm griping, I might as well take a shot at the Zemanta list I use to find related posts that readers might want to see because obviously they're kind of guilty of the same cyber sin. I clicked on one of Zemanta's suggestions to see if it fit here -- and guess what.

Page not Found

Okay, that's all the time I have to whine. It's back to send copy to my editor for proofing and then back to the next manuscript.

Why I'm not blogging every day

I took the advice and now I'm not so sure I should have.

I read the books and articles about blogging and learned that everyone placed as one of the top ten "must-do" rules for bloggers is writing every day. Some gurus say it in bold face, upper case, extra-large type with one or more exclamation points.

BLOG EVERY DAY!!!

Maybe that works for people who are using their blogs as a source of revenue, or groups that are writing about current events; or folks who are using their blog as a journal; it doesn't necessarily work for the rest of us.

I don't run out of topics for this blog; I don't run out of time to write.

I just think that unless a blogger has a very large number of followers that read posts daily, the better approach is to write good, solid, focused content that's available for more than a day.

Good, solid, focused content can get buried quickly. I just think it's a better idea to let a good post attract attention before speeding off to something new.

I know. I'm flying in the face of the blogger's box but I'm going to take a stand by choosing to wait a day or two or three between postings. Meanwhile, I'll be reading other blogs, working on my next novel, writing my regular poker column, checking in with my facebook friends, visiting friends and relatives, reading email, and enjoying the summer.

When do you write?

Remember the song, I Wear My Sunglasses at Night?

When people ask me when I write, I play around with that title a bit and answer, "I wear my laptop at night."

While that's not the complete response (I write whenever the muse hits me, which is often.), I tend to find creativity more apparent after midnight.

When do you write?

So you want to be a writer

People always ask me what I do, I know they aren’t interested in my laundry (I don’t like to but I “do” laundry.) or what I love to do. They want to know what I do for work, for money. Officially, I’m retired but what I do – both for work and for love, what earns me money for things like a washing machine, is write.

That answer usually gets interesting responses but the one that comes bouncing back like an incessant echo is, “Oh, I’d love to be a writer.” Often, that’s accompanied by, “I have a great idea for a book.”

I’ve finally come up with a comeback.

Anybody can write.

Now, before you throw up your hands in disgust over that statement, let me qualify it.

I don’t say anybody can write well, pen a bestseller, come up with a blockbuster that gets optioned for movie rights or anything close.

You can write a memoir, a family history, keep diary or a journal. You can write little stories for your children or grandchildren. You can come up with a set of directions about how to do something. You can review a book you read. You can write letters to the editor of your newspaper. You could even write a blog!

In my youth, among a favorite uncle told me it was acceptable to enjoy rock and roll but he taught me to appreciate classical music. He was one of the first adults to talk to me like an adult. When he was hospitalized years later, I wrote him a letter thanking him for being such a positive influence on me. He died a short time later, and when I spoke to his wife, she told me that when he read that letter, he cried, and that he told her how wonderful it was to know he’d made a lasting impression.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only person he impacted and that’s not the point.

Anybody can write.

You don’t have to write for fame and fortune but you can write for your own satisfaction, for friends or family.

So do it.