I have two completed novels that I am trying to get an agent for to represent me. It is a frustrating process as many authors are aware of. Even great works have been rejected many times. For authors that are trying to break into the business it is an almost impossible task.
At the present time my first novel has been rejected by 43 agents and my second novel has been rejected by 6 agents. Many people would give up at this point and throw in the towel. However, I am not one of those people that gets discouraged easily.
I send out many query letters to different agents and I was thrilled this weekend when I sent a query letter and the first chapter of my last novel to an agent. This agent was listed on the Internet. I received a reply back in a matter of minutes saying that she wanted to read my full manuscript. At that point I was on cloud nine. My dream was becoming a reality. I sent an email back asking if she wanted the novel single spaced or double spaced. She immediately replied back and said it didn't matter, just send it any way that I wanted.
Writers who contact agents know they are very particular and want everything just a certain way. This threw up a red flag to me that something didn't seem right. I did some research on the Internet and found out that this agent was in Boston, moved to Florida, and now is in New Jersey. I got in contact with a woman that researched this agent extensively. She said this agent goes by two different names and she couldn't find out where the agent had made any sales. The agent also wanted my manuscript exclusively and didn't want me to give it to anyone else until she had read it.
Going from a high point to a low point happened in a matter of minutes. Naturally I did not send my full manuscript to this agent. It just didn't seem right and appeared to be a scam. I am frustrated that this deal didn't work out for me, but I am very relieved that I didn't make the mistake of sending my manuscript to an agent that goes by an alias and apparently is unqualified to represent someone.
Now I am back to sending out more query letters to agents that I know are much more qualified. Anyone seeking an agent beware of the unqualified and the ones out to scam someone.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Sunday, July 6, 2014
SICKNESS IN AMERICA
In America we have a disease that is spreading like wildfire. It is sucking the very life out of the nation that we love. It is not a disease that puts us in bed or the hospital. It is a disease of millionaires and the billionaires of this great nation. It is their sickness, but it is affecting the middle class and the poor like it has never done before.
What is this disease you ask? It is GREED!! The millionaires and the billionaires of this country want to make money hand over fist, but they don't want to share it with the people that are making it for them. One of the worst sayings I have ever heard is when I hear that someone is a self made millionaire or billionaire. That is a false statement and it is not a fact. Someone gets to be a millionaire or billionaire because of the hard working employees that they have.
These millionaires and billionaires don't want to share any of that wealth with their employees. Many CEOs and top executives are taking home millions of dollars a year while their employees are struggling. It is a disease that in their minds that they are more valuable then those employees making the money for them. Millionaires and billionaires would rather hide their money in Swiss bank accounts than to share it with employees.
No one needs as much money and needs to live the life style that they are obsessed with. Who needs five or six homes, many expensive cars, the ability to travel the world any time they want. No one does! It is a shame that we have so much homeless in America and one in five children don't know where their next meal is coming from. Massive wealth is a sickness, that I never want to get.
Greed is a terrible thing. If a fraction of this wealth was shared with hard working Americans, they would be able to spend more, increase the economy, drop unemployment, and end hunger. I hate what the super rich is doing to a great nation. When a CEO makes five or six hundred times what the average worker makes, it is a disease that will make a nation fail. America deserves better, much better.
Raise the minimum wage, stop the corporate lobbying in Washington, close the loopholes for the wealthy, vote for people who care for everyone, not just the super rich. Get the corporate money out of politics. VOTE FOR PEOPLE WHO CARE FOR ALL OF AMERICA, NOT THE ONES WHO ONLY SUPPORT CORPORATE AMERICA.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
What is this disease you ask? It is GREED!! The millionaires and the billionaires of this country want to make money hand over fist, but they don't want to share it with the people that are making it for them. One of the worst sayings I have ever heard is when I hear that someone is a self made millionaire or billionaire. That is a false statement and it is not a fact. Someone gets to be a millionaire or billionaire because of the hard working employees that they have.
These millionaires and billionaires don't want to share any of that wealth with their employees. Many CEOs and top executives are taking home millions of dollars a year while their employees are struggling. It is a disease that in their minds that they are more valuable then those employees making the money for them. Millionaires and billionaires would rather hide their money in Swiss bank accounts than to share it with employees.
No one needs as much money and needs to live the life style that they are obsessed with. Who needs five or six homes, many expensive cars, the ability to travel the world any time they want. No one does! It is a shame that we have so much homeless in America and one in five children don't know where their next meal is coming from. Massive wealth is a sickness, that I never want to get.
Greed is a terrible thing. If a fraction of this wealth was shared with hard working Americans, they would be able to spend more, increase the economy, drop unemployment, and end hunger. I hate what the super rich is doing to a great nation. When a CEO makes five or six hundred times what the average worker makes, it is a disease that will make a nation fail. America deserves better, much better.
Raise the minimum wage, stop the corporate lobbying in Washington, close the loopholes for the wealthy, vote for people who care for everyone, not just the super rich. Get the corporate money out of politics. VOTE FOR PEOPLE WHO CARE FOR ALL OF AMERICA, NOT THE ONES WHO ONLY SUPPORT CORPORATE AMERICA.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
Friday, July 4, 2014
TWO AND A HALF YEARS
What does a retired man do for the last two and a half years? Many play golf, take long vacations, or do nothing at all. However, that isn't the way I think. Just because I am retired, I think life is far from over. I want to do something that people will remember me for.
Yesterday I completed the final changes on a novel. The second one I have written in the last two and a half years. There have been countless hours of writing, thinking, writing some more, deleting whole chapters because I didn't like where my story was going, finally finishing and sending the story to be proofread. Then I got the novels back from the proofreader and made hundreds of minor changes to make the story better.
Now there are two novels that I am trying to get published. My first novel is the story of a man that is in deep depression after his wife is killed in a car accident. God visits the man and sends him on a walking journey halfway across America. He had no idea where he was going or what he would find. He meets a woman that God also visited and was sent on the same type of walking journey. They meet on a park bench in Change, Kansas and an incredible love story develops between them. She dies years later of brain cancer but the man continues to think of her as the love of his life. The story continues through his third marriage and ends on his death at an old age.
So far I have received 42 rejections from agents in trying to get one to represent me on this novel. You would think after 42 rejections I would be depressed, but I am not. I look at as their mistake that they are passing up on a good story. I may finally end up self-publishing this story, but will continue to try to get an
agent first.
The second novel, that I just finished yesterday is the story of a man that went to war and was the only one to survive a battle in which eight of his fellow comrades were killed. The experience in the war affected him so badly that he walks away from his parents, society, and walks deep into the wilderness of Minnesota where he lives for years without contact with anyone. Finally two men on horseback see his cabin and become best friends with the man. They talk him into building another cabin and have people fly into the lake to fish. On one of those trips a young city woman spends two weeks in the wilderness with her parents. The man is a wilderness man and she is a city woman. An incredible romance blooms and they reach a compromise and get married. They have two great children through the years and eventually move near their son to enjoy their golden years.
Two entirely different love stories, but ones that I think my readers will enjoy. All I have to do is to get them in print. Why did I spend so much time on these two stories? Because I love to write and to tell stories. The first story is 60,194 words. The second story is 60,296 words. Two and a half years of writing have given me 120,490 words written from the heart.
Someday my friends, I hope you get to read these stories. What will I do in the meantime before they are published? I have another story that is playing in my brain right now. I imagine I will be putting that story into words very soon.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
Yesterday I completed the final changes on a novel. The second one I have written in the last two and a half years. There have been countless hours of writing, thinking, writing some more, deleting whole chapters because I didn't like where my story was going, finally finishing and sending the story to be proofread. Then I got the novels back from the proofreader and made hundreds of minor changes to make the story better.
Now there are two novels that I am trying to get published. My first novel is the story of a man that is in deep depression after his wife is killed in a car accident. God visits the man and sends him on a walking journey halfway across America. He had no idea where he was going or what he would find. He meets a woman that God also visited and was sent on the same type of walking journey. They meet on a park bench in Change, Kansas and an incredible love story develops between them. She dies years later of brain cancer but the man continues to think of her as the love of his life. The story continues through his third marriage and ends on his death at an old age.
So far I have received 42 rejections from agents in trying to get one to represent me on this novel. You would think after 42 rejections I would be depressed, but I am not. I look at as their mistake that they are passing up on a good story. I may finally end up self-publishing this story, but will continue to try to get an
agent first.
The second novel, that I just finished yesterday is the story of a man that went to war and was the only one to survive a battle in which eight of his fellow comrades were killed. The experience in the war affected him so badly that he walks away from his parents, society, and walks deep into the wilderness of Minnesota where he lives for years without contact with anyone. Finally two men on horseback see his cabin and become best friends with the man. They talk him into building another cabin and have people fly into the lake to fish. On one of those trips a young city woman spends two weeks in the wilderness with her parents. The man is a wilderness man and she is a city woman. An incredible romance blooms and they reach a compromise and get married. They have two great children through the years and eventually move near their son to enjoy their golden years.
Two entirely different love stories, but ones that I think my readers will enjoy. All I have to do is to get them in print. Why did I spend so much time on these two stories? Because I love to write and to tell stories. The first story is 60,194 words. The second story is 60,296 words. Two and a half years of writing have given me 120,490 words written from the heart.
Someday my friends, I hope you get to read these stories. What will I do in the meantime before they are published? I have another story that is playing in my brain right now. I imagine I will be putting that story into words very soon.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2014
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