Querying Thoughts

In wandering through Agentquery, I found an agent that specifies: "Only interested in potential blockbusters".

Not that any agency cares about my opinion, but that is a little off-putting. It's like saying only the pretty girls need apply.

Personal aside, though, isn't it an accepted truth in the publishing industry that no one knows what the next blockbuster is even going to be? I mean, what if I was a single mum querying my offbeat story of a boy going to wizard school? And saying it was going to be a series? Man, those guys would be kicking themselves.

(As an aside, I don't know what writers did before the existence of JK Rowlings. What did we talk about, and who did we measure by? We're at a loss without her.)

I guess my point is that I'd like an agent that's open-minded. One that doesn't think the next book has to look exactly like all the others already out there. If I had an agent, that is.

Oh, and am I the only one petrified of querying Sterling Lord Literistic? That is the scariest name ever. Oh, and Jack Kerouac was their freaking client. "Dear Jack Kerouac's agent, please look at my romance novel." Maybe it's just me.

The agent search is hard - don't let anyone tell you it isn't. You're supposed to know all the inside track on who might be "right" for you by a two-line listing that agents admit they rarely update and sometimes don't even know exists. You're also supposed to go by their websites, except that "some great agencies don't have websites". I put that in quotes, because I've heard it but I don't know if it's true or not. The reason I don't know is that I'm not an agent and I can't get my answer on the web.

Agents don't have some sort of obligation to writers. If they don't want a website, that's their business. But it seems a little unfair to flog writers for not knowing what they're doing when you give out either no info, or wrong info. We're just people - introverted, socially-challenged people who can't master the SASE, but people nonetheless.

Later,
Abby