Makes You Wonder

Dear Dan,

Thank you for allowing us to read your work and your interest in Folio.  We are always
eager to hear from writers who are serious about the business of writing;
unfortunately I do not feel that I'm the right representative for your work.

I have to be very selective of what I choose to represent and all of my
decisions are based on a frank assessment of the current needs of the
literary markets.  The fact that this work doesn't fit my narrow criteria
for representation does not mean it couldn't find a home elsewhere.  I urge
you to submit your work to other agencies or management companies that may
be more suited to this type of material.  If you have other work you wish to
submit, please feel free to query again.

Respectfully, 

Scott Hoffman and

Cicily Janus, Intern for Scott Hoffman

On Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 9:08 PM, Dan McNay <mcnay@mosis.com> wrote:

Dear Cicily,

Here are the items you asked for. I hope you find them entertaining.

Dan McNay

 

They had asked to see more of the book and so I sent them more with an outline.  I wonder what the narrow criteria is. He doesn't take it if the word veranda appears in the text? He's not interested if it isn't a tell all book about oh-hum spoiled rich kids? If its not a book about a middle aged woman who's finding herself or sleeping with a younger man? I discarded this as the usual rejection, and it is actually professionally done. But now I want more. I want to see his selective list.

Is it something like:

 

1. No five syllable words.

2. Bodice ripping necessary if petticoats are included.

3. No obscure historical figures like Robert Louis Stevenson.

4. All characters must have 2010 haircuts no matter the time period (Like the old made for TV movies where the women in the revolutionary war all looked like Charlie's Angels) .

5. Must have recipes in plot.

6. Must demonstrate ability to write quickly and badly (so one can write many books)

7. Must be a pot-boiler

 

I haunt Thrift Stores and Bargain places to find cheap books and music. Do these people realize that there are thousands and thousands of used books that will never ever be read again because they fit the narrow criteria necessary to the marketplace. 

 

Remember Rex Stout? Georgette Heyer? Herman Wouk? Irving Wallace? Did anyone ever actually read all those books of Updike or Mailer?