(This post was not inspired by anything that happened to me. But that doesn’t mean I don’t see it and it doesn’t bother me)
This is something that’s been sitting in the back of my head for a long time. Something that nags me if I think about it too long, so usually I try not to. I don’t like the squishy feeling it leaves in my gut, and it’s one of those instances where it’s not like *I* can stop it.
And most of us don’t even think it’s a big deal. Unless it goes sour…and impacts us directly.
So what is this vague ‘it’ I’m talking about? Twitter. Or more specifically, commenting about our emails on Twitter.
If you’re a writer, or know a writer (which I will assume is true for a lot of you since I’m a writer and you’re here 😉 you’re probably familiar with things like #TenQueries. The concept is straightforward and fantastic. Literary agents sift through their slush pile, and in very generic terms say why they do or don’t request a manuscript. Very generic as in, when it’s done right, you see “YA Sci-fi, world-building is weak.” And honestly, it probably applies to *at least* 10% of that agent’s inbox.
So even if they’re talking about you, it’s not obvious, it’s not a call out. But if you do know they’re talking about you, even in the very generic sense, it’s still a bit of a soul crusher. It’s public rejection, whether or not you’re the only person who knows it, and you have to deal with that.
About six months ago, it was me. I know, because my high-concept pitch was actually quoted in the tweet and not lot of people describe their books as “Neil Gaiman’s American Gods meets Chuck Palahniuk’s Diary.” Fortunately for me, it made me giddy because it was followed by the words “full request.”
But what about those people whose queries, or even business emails sent in good faith to things like bloggers, make it into that public forum and aren’t being praised or masked to the point where the letter could have been from anyone?
And I’m not talking about a site like Query Shark. I love that site because you opt-in. This isn’t an agent plucking queries from her slush-pile for random fun and games. You say “I want the Query Shark’s help” and intentionally set out to get it.
But say maybe an intern, or agent, or editor, or contest organizer, or book blogger (I’ve seen them all do it) sends up a tweet that says “Just got this email. Book about trolls rampaging the universe in broccoli-shaped ships is so stupid I want to puke.” (And if this is your book, I don’t think it’s stupid, I love the idea since I just made it up, and I would totally read it, so email me :-).
And almost everyone who reads the message goes “Heh, that does sound kind of lame, what a noob.” Except the people who go “I’d read it.” And the people who go “What if they were talking about me? I’d be positively ill, I’m never interacting with that person online.”
And the people who go “I’ve read that. It’s mine/my cp’s/pretty freaking amazing.” Because they’re following that agent/editor/intern/contest organizer/book blogger on Twitter because…they just sent them an email and they wanted to make sure beforehand that this was the kind of person they wanted to do business with.
We’re all people. Really. I’m making a sweeping over-generalization of an assumption by saying not a single one of us is a robot. Or a puppy. And even if you are (email me ;-), you still have feelings, right?
My point is, if you’re in that situation. If you happen to be in possession of that email from that person who may not be as experienced as you in their writing journey, or even who just doesn’t view their writing journey in the same light, regardless of their path or choices, think before you publicly call them out – even if you’re being generic, but especially if you’re not.
And it’s a simple thought. All you have to do is ask yourself “how would I feel if I saw this message, and I knew it was about me?”
Because you’re not robots, and 99.999% of the writers I’ve met in this community only have the best and kindest intentions, so I trust us all to answer the question honestly.
What do you think?
The Person on the Other Side (of the internet)
by Allyson Lindt | Mar 6, 2013 | Uncategorized | 5 comments
I agree! The agents I’ve seen do this type of slush pile call out keep it very very generic. YA Paranormal–weak heroine and no concrete motiviation. That could be so many things. Still, I would imagine many of the writers who query that agent might be on twitter, and who are also following those tweets, and it certainly sparks paranoia.
I’ve been on the receiving end of some twitter hate, but it came from someone not professional in the industry, but a random just-generated twitter account that slammed a bunch of queries and pitches from a blog contest. This tweeter was called out by several writers, and the person was even identified as someone from a writing forum who consistently nitpicked at people and made rude personal remarks. That’s sort of thing can happen whether your writing is posted to a blog, or if it’s in print. Part of dealing with it is knowing that not everyone will like your writing, and some might not even respect you. When that type of attitude comes from a pro in the industry, they should be aware of biting the hand that feeds; twitter might turn right back on them. I’ve seen agents called out for things before too.
Great thoughts on this, thanks for sharing.
I think Twitter is worse than even other networking sites, because it completely lacks nuance. And I think it needs to be made very general to be even a bit okay.
In other words, I’m with you–I don’t like calling people out publicly, when they haven’t made the choice to be public. (That’s the difference between mocking someone who wants to be in a business relationship with you, say, and mocking a political candidate–the candidate chose to be mockable, the business contact didn’t.)
Great post. It never occurred to me that things like might be posted in a less generic way. If I recognized my query, I’d probably throw up.
I’ve never heard of this kind of thing. I think it’s terrible. What’s the point? Does it help the writer who sent the query? Agents won’t give feedback directly to the person querying but will call out the problems to the world at large, just generally? Maybe I’m not getting the spirit of it, but I think that’s pretty weird.
Spot on. I see a lot of agents do this, and they do it with tact (though I’ve never seen one quoting a pitch word-for-word, like yours, and awesome that it was followed by a full request!)
But I’ve seen some interns jump into this game and get rather…specific. QueryShark is awesome in so many ways, one of many being, as you point out, it’s opt-in.
Publishing interns (and I was one in October, so I know a bit about wanting to proclaim to the world you’re a publishing intern while you can 😉 need to calm down a bit and not use other peoples’ serious attempts to find representation as a way to increase their Twitter following…