My
road to publication was a long one, but it provides a case study
of sorts about the true nature of the business. Having completed
the manuscript for Broken Machines, I first wasted about
six months attempting to make contacts with publishers myself. Trying
to extract gold from seaweed would have been a better use of my
time. You need an agent to sell a book.
Next, I was fortunate to meet and become friends with
the former President of a major publishing house. He read my book,
liked it, and offered to help me find an agent. Over the course
of several lunches in wonderful midtown Manhattan restaurants, we
discussed strategy. In the end, I had a letter of introduction to
a list of important agents. Unfortunately for me, this just created
a new set of problems, which translated into several years of delay.
As far as I can tell, big shot agents don't have
time for unproven authors (unless their last name is Jones or Lewinsky).
Agents want to make money and first time authors rarely generate
it. I was also disappointed to learn that almost no one in the business
cares a wit about developing talent. Here I was walking around with
images of Charles Schribner nurturing James Joyce in my head and
it was just a fantasy. Anyway, since someone important had spoken
up for me, each of the agents on my list agreed to consider the
manuscript. And, each kept it on a shelf for two or three months
before returning it with a polite rejection and kind words for my
future success. Because I waited for a rejection before moving on
to the next name on the list, time passed. Seasons changed, my son
grew taller and my hair turned grayer.
Then I gave up. I continued to write, but I stopped
actively trying to sell Broken Machines. I was busy at work;
we were having another baby, buying a house. In short, my life continued
to unfold, even without an agent. Then one day, while working on
a collaborative research proposal with someone from another institution,
I casually mentioned that I'd written some books. My friend got
excited and told me about a friend who was trying to become an agent.
This was a new twist --- someone looking for writers. To make a
longer story shorter, I was lucky enough to find someone who liked
my writing and needed me as much as I needed him. Not long after
we shook hands, my new agent made a connection with an established
agency and within three months my book was sold. It took eight years!
