Going strictly by the numbers, you'd think that thousands of gorgeous page-turners were being thrown at literary agents every day. As an unpublished writer, it certainly seems that way, when I read how many queries these guys get. Hundreds a day. They request pages from just a few of these hopefuls. They take on even fewer as clients.
Truly, the odds seem impossible.
What is my manuscript? Just another bug spattered on the screen of a weary agent's computer? Just another form rejection? Maybe. But I don't write because being a novelist is such an easy thing to be. If I were looking to work in an in-demand, open field, I'd have gone and been a pharmacist. But I've always had hope that somewhere out there, is a literary agent who likes my story and believes they can sell it (yes, I'm well aware that a book has to be sell-able, in order for it to be sold).
You're wondering why am I saying all this. I found this post on novelist Maggie Stiefvater's blog about the real odds of getting published, and it's something that every unpublished writer should read. It's inspiration and a kick in the bottom.
Smile: Death by Ham: Playing the Odds of Getting Published
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