World record rejection time for a novel

I located the name of an agent in a national newsletter interview. She seemed like a good fit, so I tracked down the agency details on the internet and found that she accepts email queries. Early in the day, I converted my query letter to an email format and off it went.

About two hours later the agent replied to my email query and requested 20 pages of the novel manuscript. An hour later I winged the excerpt through the ether to her marveling at the rapid response.

Several hours later, I had another reply from this agent. Rather than the usual: doesn’t fit my criteria or my plate’s too full at present — she added positive critique comments. It was a turn-down to be sure, but I truly appreciated the fact that she took the time to pass along meaningful remarks I can incorporate into my writing.

World Record? Maybe, maybe not, but the entire exchange took a few minutes under twelve hours. I’ve waited six months and not received an answer from harried and less courteous agents, so I’ll accept the positive aspects. The rejection was swift, but the results were positive. I don’t have to sit around waiting and I have valuable input to utilize.

Thanks to this considerate agent and I’ll wish for the next block-buster novel to come her way.

Bee Jay Sez

Um’s and Er’s

While listening to NPR (National Public Radio) I was overwhelmed with the words of the person being interviewed as he defended the current trend in speaking which includes all manner of “place holders.” I’ve long stressed to writers: if you want to be a writer, you also need to become a speaker — because speaking is part of the marketing process. At the same time, you don’t want to sound like an illiterate.

This NPR guru has a theory that all the “er’s,” “um’s” and “ya know’s” belong in our speech patterns to allow the listener to recognize that “more is coming.” Yeah, right! If the listener cannot figure out there is more coming on their own, I hold that the speaker doesn’t have much worth listening to.

Example: Another NPR — and I really do like NPR — interviewee held sway. He is a movie actor and a stand-up comedian, but he left those fields far behind. I was appalled with the number of “ya know’s” he tossed out. When I quit listening to whatever it was he was trying to say, he was clipping along at 10 YPM (“Ya know’s” Per Minute) — that’s one every six seconds folks. If the speaker is tossing in one of these place-holders that often, he’s going to lose me … and he did.

Positive example: this NPR interviewee is an Emmy winner, an Oscar winner and has a Nobel Peace Prize. I listened to former Vice President Al Gore for twenty minutes or more without a single “ya know” and I got his full message.

Back to our first individual — the intellectual minimalist, the legend in his own mind — I don’t believe a word he says. He seems to be excusing others of his ilk who are unable to carry on an intelligent conversation without inane fillers.

Bee Jay Sez