we deserve each other, you and I...
Nov. 24th, 2009 07:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lagilmanFor my sins (and because I really do buy into the "pay forward" theory) I've volunteered* to work with the incoming non-member queries about how to [fill in the blank] with regard to publishing/writing.
Many of the queries run along the lines of "how do I become a successful writer?" Verbatim.
*is flummoxed*
ETA: oh, I know what to tell them. I just don't understand how anyone can come in cold, asking for An Answer presumably waiting to be handed over, and if it's arrogance ("it can't be THAT hard") or stupidity ("it can't be that hard?").
I can tell someone where to go for information on agents, and manuscript formatting, and how to tell a scam from a real deal, and what questions they should ask when offered representation/a contract. I know how to, delicately, tell someone that no, we aren't a publisher and can't help them spread the word about their 2000 page epic boy-and-squirrel romantic fantasy. I'm even -- because I was an Evil Editor and have no soul to speak of -- able to dash their hopes about joining SFWA before they've made their required professional sales, no matter how bestselling their book will be some day.
But the total hopeful haplessness of some of the questions....
Do other "arts" professions get this sort of thing? Do people walk up to actors and say "how do I get a movie deal?" Do they ask painter "How do I sell my painting for a million dollars?"
* in SFWA, "volunteered" means Mary Robinette Kowal says "will you...?" in a voice that means "you WILL."
Many of the queries run along the lines of "how do I become a successful writer?" Verbatim.
*is flummoxed*
ETA: oh, I know what to tell them. I just don't understand how anyone can come in cold, asking for An Answer presumably waiting to be handed over, and if it's arrogance ("it can't be THAT hard") or stupidity ("it can't be that hard?").
I can tell someone where to go for information on agents, and manuscript formatting, and how to tell a scam from a real deal, and what questions they should ask when offered representation/a contract. I know how to, delicately, tell someone that no, we aren't a publisher and can't help them spread the word about their 2000 page epic boy-and-squirrel romantic fantasy. I'm even -- because I was an Evil Editor and have no soul to speak of -- able to dash their hopes about joining SFWA before they've made their required professional sales, no matter how bestselling their book will be some day.
But the total hopeful haplessness of some of the questions....
Do other "arts" professions get this sort of thing? Do people walk up to actors and say "how do I get a movie deal?" Do they ask painter "How do I sell my painting for a million dollars?"
* in SFWA, "volunteered" means Mary Robinette Kowal says "will you...?" in a voice that means "you WILL."
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no subject
Date: 2009-11-24 01:38 pm (UTC)