Lashing Out

Recently I heard about someone who'd received a rejection from a literary agent. The agent had given the author advice on how to get her work up to scratch. This advice--I don't know whether it was warranted or not--didn't go down well. In fact, the author sent a blistering, bridge-burning reply.

Uh-oh.

Some rejections kill. The good R's are those that tell you where you've gone wrong. You're a professional. Don't reach for the poison pen (or keyboard) to tell the agent or editor they're in the wrong business if they can't see how fabulous your book is. You just might give yourself another handicap in getting out of the slush pile. It's a tough biz. Kvetch to your friends in private. Fantasize all you want about "getting back" at The Agent Who Hurt Your Feelings, but don't act on it. If you must correspond with the agent at all after a rejection, a simple thank you will do. Then move on.

People in publishing talk. You don't want to be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Argue a point after a rejection and chances are your next query to that agent or agency will be trashed. Is getting the final word really worth the trouble?

To prove there are hundreds of other agents to query, check out this terrific new resource called Lit Match. It's a huge database of US, UK, Canadian and Australian agents and you can also register to keep track of your submissions.

Just the Facts, Ma'am

In my day job, fact-checking is paramount. You've gotta be a nit-picker if you want to make it there. So it makes me itchy when I find errors in published material, like a magazine.

If one particular mag's astrologer wasn't so spookily accurate, I'd stop buying it every week. More and more howlers are slipping through. Last issue, there was the headline "Unchartered waters" instead of "uncharted" and they'd spelled The Who's Pete Townshend's name without an "H". They're using hyphens where they shouldn't ("high-school student") and solidifying compounds where a hyphen is vital for clarity ("topranking"). I know - it's a travesty.

In his blog, Style & Substance, the Wall Street Journal's Paul Martin challenges readers to spot the paper's daily flubs. I could spend hours of my two-week holiday here, but I really should get a life.

Email Scream-mail

It's official - I should be banned from using email. Or at the very least give every email I compose a quadruple check before hitting that benign yet evil 'send' button.

I used to laugh at the PC platform and its "Are you sure you want to--?" alert messages. Not anymore. If it's going to stop me from sending personal emails meant for my sister to other people (ie. an agent I once queried), then maybe I should have some kind of warning installed on Yahoo mail. Like, "Are you sure you want to send that snarky email?" or "You know, you come across like a real loser in that message. Are you sure you want to send it?"

Please humor me and tell me I'm not the only one who stuffs up royally in cyberspace.