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slowing down and
writing from a critical perspective usually creates complete crap.
The statement shows no understanding at all of how art is created
by great writers.
    And, of course, it shows no understanding at
all of you as a person. Or even your writing methods. You are
unique and maybe the best advice to you would be speeding up, or
cutting down on rewriting, or doing some rewriting. The agent
doesn’t know. They just spout a myth at you like it’s good career
advice, even though every writer is completely different.
    To an agent’s business model of only needing
one or so books a year from an author, it makes complete sense to
say such stupidity.
    But to a writer’s business model, where more
product means more money, more chance of hitting it big, more
chance of creating art, unnaturally slowing down is just stupid
business advice.
    Some projects write fast, some write slow,
some art has been created quickly, some art took longer. Study the
history of writers and how long it actually took artists in the
past to write something to completely understand this.
    But the key is, you are unique, write at your
own speed what you want to write.
    PUTTING A BOOK AWAY CAREER ADVICE.
    This is yet again the stupidest career advice
ever given to a writer. Some agent will say, “Why don’t you put
that book away and work on the next one?”
    My response is “While I’m working on the next
one, why don’t you quit looking for excuses to not work and mail
the book to five more editors?”
    But, of course, you would never say that
because they would mail it dead, meaning they would kill it in
their cover letters to editors just to prove themselves right. But
what you do is fire them, take the book back, and mail it yourself
while you work on the next book. Duh.
    Never let anyone tell you to shelve a book
for any reason. ANY REASON. And reasons agents give that seem
logical to young professionals are things like:
    —“ Your career isn’t ready
for this book.” Huh?
    —“ This book clearly isn’t
strong enough for you to break in with.” Says who?
    —“ We got five rejections and
it’s not working. Write the next book and we’ll see what we can
do.” Lazy SOB.
    Let me say this again. NEVER let anyone tell
you to NOT market a book. Not your spouse, not your workshop, and
certainly not some stranger who has a business card that says agent
on it. Put your work in front of people who can buy it and keep it
there. That’s good business. Nothing short of that is.
    Again, back to a point I have made over and
over in the other agent chapters in this book. Agents are not
trained in any fashion. They have no schooling for agents, no
organization that polices them. They have not gone to any
publishing business school. They have nothing but a business card
and an opinion.
    So it’s bad enough that we writers trust them
with our money, with picking editors to mail something to, with
trying to get our books into Hollywood or overseas.
    But it gets worse when we let an agent step
into our writing offices in any fashion and give career advice.
They are not writers, so they wouldn’t know good career advice if
it hit them. They are not interested in writers’ careers, only
their own anyway. So any advice would just be focused on what was
best for them, not for you.
    And they don’t know you as a person.
    In summary:
    — Write what you love, what
you are passionate about, what scares you, what you
want.
    — Never, ever write to
market. Just go into your writing space or office and be an
artist.
    — Then, when the project is
finished, worry about how to sell it.
    — Never, ever let anyone tell
you what to write. It will kill your writing and your career faster
than anything ever will.
    Trust your own skills, your own voice, keep
learning, and enjoy the writing.

    Dean Wesley
Smith—http://www.deanwesleysmith.com
    ###

    BUSINESS

    23. PITCHING YOUR BOOK
    By Douglas Clegg
    http://www.douglasclegg.com

    If you're an aspiring