Let's Hop on a Call
But Why We Can't
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Hi Friends,
Wouldn’t it be great if you could, like, call me up and we could talk about your book and I could tell you what to change or where to research more about your topic or what agent, other than me, would be good for your work? Wouldn’t it so much easier to do that with our voices, rather than email or even these newsletters? I know! It would be easier.
But we can’t do that, if you’re not already by client. I’ve said before and will say again never call an agent, unless she is your agent. And I stand by that. We get plenty of cold calls—our poor assistant just repeats over and over yes, you can find that information on our website, no they’re not available at the moment. It’s ok. Some people don’t know that you shouldn’t call up an agent. It’s not like we look at the caller ID and add people to a blacklist. (We don’t, I promise.)
These calls, of course, only take a minute. Who doesn’t have a minute to talk to a prospective client? Me. I don’t. I don’t have a minute because it’s never a minute, it’s like 20 minutes, and I only have 24 sets of 20 minutes in a work day, not including lunch. And everything else takes way, way, way longer than 20 minutes.
But what if you’re a friend or a friend of a friend? Can I spare like, an hour to have a conversation? Sure, sometimes I can. I did that this week and it was lovely. But a meeting or a phone call is a bad way to talk about a book I haven’t read yet, tbh. You can tell me about it all you want. You can explain the plot and your inspiration and your editing and revision process and that’s great. But it’s not the same as me reading your work, which I do when I read query letters, and which is a MUCH better way for me to, uh, read your work. I will not read your work in front of you because it is awkward for both of us! Trust me! Evaluating a piece of writing and a prospective client takes time and can’t be done on the spot.
Maybe, though, I can just meet with writers and explain how publishing works? It’s so complicated! There’s no one definitive resource (AHEM YOU’RE READING IT DUH) and there’s no way to know what applies to a specific book! I know. I know. But also, I don’t get paid, over coffee or over the phone, to teach you about publishing. You know where I get paid to do that? This newsletter! And at conferences! And when I teach at universities! Those are the places where you can “pick my brain” about publishing and even ask questions about your specific book sometimes. Don’t forget, this is my job. I like to get paid for my job. If I’m not getting paid, then there has to be a VERY good reason to do it, to justify taking time away from my family and my own writing. I get about an hour or two to relax every day when I’m not working or parenting, and I have to be fiercely protective of that time, or I’ll burn out.
If you’ve asked me to meet up or have coffee or something recently, this newsletter is not about you! I actually had it drafted a few weeks ago and it just left like a good time to publish it, a little gussied up. I think the key to any collaborative work, anything where you need someone else’s feedback to move forward—a job application, an article pitch, a grant, a book, a fellowship—is to remember the person fielding those inquiries has, at a minimum, a week’s worth of work ahead of your question or email. At least. (In the case of my queries, months.) How old are the emails in your inbox? Remembering that will help you not freak out and read into why a reply is delayed, why you haven’t heard back. Even when the work is deeply personal, you’re still working in a professional setting, and you have to work to not take things personally. (Even this newsletter! It’s probably not about you!)
Gah, Kate much have had a bad week already, you maybe thinking. But I haven’t. It’s only Tuesday, so anything could happen. But *I* also feel guilty when I can’t answer every question, answer every query with a detailed explanation, answer queries ASAP, take every meeting. I have too much to do for my clients, and they’re the priority. (And me, I’m also the priority.)
Be nice to the professionals in your life. They’re working hard, I promise.
BUT! I have a surprise. I am totally ripping off my friend and colleague DongWon Song and his newsletter Publishing is Hard and offering an open thread to subscribers only on Thursday. This is exactly the place where you can pick my brain, and where your fellow awesome subscribers can offer their two cents, too. Let’s not pitch our books, but you can AMA. You’ll get an email like normal on Thursday, and I’ll kick off the discussion. Let’s see how this goes!
Want to subscribe and join in Thursday? Here’s the button:
XOXO,
Kate