Words Unlimited

Simultaneous Submissions to Agents

These days, when silence seems to be the new 'no', first time authors, understandably, get impatient. It must be tempting to send your manuscript to every agent in town in one go. But beware. I've just picked up this on Twitter from Curtis Brown agent, Karolina Sutton:

It's fine to submit material to a few agents simultaneously. It's not fine to submit to more than one agent at the same agency.

Did that just apply to Curtis Brown or was it universal, I wondered, and Tweeted her back. Her answer was swift: Universal

The Editor

Another great live webchat on Guardian Books online. Editor Francis Bickmore of Canongate. So now you have it, wonky plot can be fixed but forget it if you haven't got the voice, that particular presence-on-the-page.

I'm really looking for voice and personality. There needs to be a story of course, but if the voice doesn't sizzle it's not going to work for me. Certainly there will be books with a great voice that lack plot, and that can sometimes be remedied with a good edit. But you can't really edit in more charisma.

The Agent

A great new series from Guardian Books online - five live webchats with book industry insiders.

The first happened last Friday as Karolina Sutton, an agent at Curtis Brown, braved the live session. Questions came from hopeful first-timers and from one literary star - tweny years ago much published and famous - who could no longer get the attention of the industry.  Plus all shades of writer in between.

It's worth trawling through the whole thread. Fascinating! Yes, we know this already but reading it confirms:

a. how very subjective it all is

b. there is a huge amount of luck involved

c. being able to write well is no guarantee of publication

As Karolina says, "Rejection is not a condemnation but an opinion ... I wouldn’t want to represent every book that has a potential to be published. A single agent can only take on a limited number of clients."

As long as it is such a lottery, isn't it worth buying a ticket?

Next in the series is Canongate Editor, Francis Bickmore.