13/11/2021
Not All Writers Are Bad Writers
November 11, 2021
Many writers never went beyond the drafts of their work because of so many frustrations they confront trying to realize their ambition to become published authors. There are many reasons responsible for the failure of many writers to attain their dream. One of such reasons is the absence of direct access to publishers by writers. Because of the trouble of shifting through mountains of manuscripts, publishers chose to retain the services of literary agents to help them discover the best writers. But like film agents who look for good actors for film producers, literary agents have turned themselves into some powerful beings with the power to make or mar the life of a writer. But before we look at how literary agents have become so powerful, we need to know what makes a good manuscript.
In today's world of book publishing, a good storyline is not enough to have a writer get published. Grammar, syntax, and the ability to draw imagery of words are expected by literary agents of every writer. As a result, a story teller today must be exceptionally good with the use of grammar and as well create great imageries. However, less than fifty years ago, the ability to produce a great storyline is what was needed to get published. That is why books such as The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola (1952), and many others of his work could ever be published. In terms of grammatical quality, none of Amos Tutuola's work would even be touched with a long pole today! But book gained international acclaim. In time, The Palm-Wine Drinkard was translated and published in several languages. Without saying that literary standards should be jettisoned, extraordinary emphasis should not be placed on grammar while appraising a manuscript (why are editors there without having to rewrite an entire book?!) except of course for academic works!
Apart from the previous reasons why many writers do not have any chance of being published is the almighty power of literary agents. All the have to do is look for an error in the summary or synopsis a writer submitted. I have heard literary agents brag that their job is like giving an interview to a jobseeker and any mistake on the part of the jobseeker could cost the individual the job. Again, you wonder if a typographical error in the summary of a book is enough excuse to throwaway the entire dream. Even those conducting job interviews know that a mistake to how a jobseeker responds to a question is not enough reason to disqualify a job applicant.
Without giving the reason why she was rejected several times before her bestselling volumes - Harry Potter - became what they are today, Ms. JK Rowling said book agents rejected her first Harry Potter seven times before the eighth agent accepted it. She might have become frustrated after the second or third rejection and the world would have been denied Harry Potter the book series as well as the films that came out of Ms. Rowling's imagination. There are a whole lot of famous writers that were initially rejected by literary agents and publishers before they became fortunate enough to find someone who gave them the first chance. A mere search of Google for "rejected famous writers" will show this assertion to be a fact.
ePublishing Tavern is created to give writers and aspiring writers the opportunity to be heard and read. ePublishing Tavern will not deal with literary agents to find potential great writers. Rather, we intend to deal with each writer directly. We also pledge to remove all the stumbling blocks often placed before writers by making sure that the first thing we look for in a writer is the ability to tell a good story. Our editors will work along with writers where necessary to polish the grammatical aspects of manuscripts.
The question now is "Are you confident of yourself and the work you have produced?" If you are, then send a summary or synopsis of your work to us. Who knows? You might be the next literary discovery!
