So, if all goes well, sometime in the next few weeks, my thesis novel will be approved by my thesis advisor and second reader.  When that time comes, I will have a manuscript that is about as finished as it will get at this stage.  That gives me a choice of next steps: find an agent, or submit my manuscript directly to editors.

If you look at the publisher websites, it will look as though there is no choice in the matter.  Most say clearly that they do not accept unsolicited (in some cases unagented) manuscripts.  This sentiment is echoed on editor blogs such as Editorial Anonymous and Editorial Ass.

On the other hand, Dean Wesley Smith says that this is a myth, that agents do not sell manuscripts, and that a writer is much better off submitting directly to publishers anyway. (Note: I have read others say that DWS is anti-agent.  From what I read on his blog, this is not true.  He posits that writers should sell their own manuscripts, then hire an agent or literary attorney to negotiate terms.)

It could be that there is a middle road between the two, in which a writer submits a query and sample to a publisher, but does not send the full manuscript unless it is requested, and thus, solicited.  This is dancing on the line of the letter of the phrasing.  Of course, we’re all writers here, so it seems to me that this may be the intention – you must be at least this literate to submit to us.  Okay, I’m joking there, but there may be a kernel of truth in it.

So what’s a fledgling writer to do?  What does any writer do when stuck?  Research!

It seems to me, from everything I’ve read online, that a good agent is well worth the time and price, but a bad agent is far worse than not having one.  What’s more, a mediocre agent . . . isn’t much better than a bad one.  In other words, aim high.

So, for my part, this means I am researching agents and agencies (thank you, sites like Preditors and Editors).  I intend to narrow the field to four or five, then submit a query and sample to them and see how it goes.  I may have a second tier, just in case.  But I’m not going much further afield.  If I have trouble finding one of my top choices, I’ll try sending queries to the publishers.

Too many contingencies to plan for right now.  At the moment, I have to focus on getting the thesis novel approved, and putting together my package for my top four or five.  That’s enough to work on for the time being.

NOTE: I will try to post once more before my next residency begins on January 6^th, but as I am moving to Portland in a few days, I’m kind of swamped.  Also, as usual, I will be running silent during my residency, from January 6^th-15^th.

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Submissions Update: Since I last posted, I have submitted pieces to the following: The Idaho Review, Tin House, The Coffin Factory, The Boston Review, The Antigonish Review, Flash Fiction Online, The Cincinnati Review, Bete Noire, and Black Static.

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