Oh, I got a taste of what editors and agents must suffer every day.
Without divulging too many details of the actual event: here’s the scene. I contacted a publisher to see if I could book the publisher’s authors and/or illustrators at a well-known, respected venue. While we rarely pay for speakers, we do market the event and promote book sales. Past publishers have been pleased and wanted to send more of their authors to this venue.
So, the publisher sent my info to a children’s book author. He contacted me via e-mail: I was not sure, based on the message, if he was an author or one of the publisher’s staff members. It was very generic, such as “Hi! I’d love to be at this venue. Call me.”
Hmm. Well, OK.
I called and discovered that he’s an author. I asked him about his work and typical performance. I was not too intrigued, but decided that I’d yet to see his work, so I should investigate further.
“Do you have website? Brochure? Sample book?”
No website. No info. But I was welcome to contact the publisher for his marketing information.
Wow. I just offered this obscure writer a gig and he expects me to do all the work. In my mind, he is now branded with the scarlet letter A for amatuer.
My other thought, in hanging up, was how much writers and illustrators innocently waste the time of editors, agents, and publishers. We don’t mean to be clumsy, but we so often query the wrong house, in the wrong way, with the wrong piece, that I understand why editors and agents would find budding authors to be a bit trying. It’s useful to be on the other side of the desk once in awhile, and I am more aware than ever that, as an aspiring artist, I need to have my business organized and ready if I am ever published.
That, and don’t expect others to carry the ball into the end zone for you. It will never get there.
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