The "You Have to Know Someone" Myth

If you've been pursuing traditional publication for a while, you've probably heard it over and over again from well-meaning friends and family: you can't break into the publishing industry unless you're well connected, unless you "know someone."

While this may be true in other arenas (screenwriting, I'm looking at you), it's definitely not the case in publishing. I have many friends who have agents and book deals. About half of them got their agents by sending a query to an agent they'd never met, just like everyone else. A few more were signed through online contests—again, by agents they'd never met or interacted with.

The rest got their agents by attending conferences where they pitched something in person. While technically this means they knew their agent before signing, anyone can go to these conferences and pitch agents. There's no mystical connection, no mysterious foot in the door.

(For a more extensive survey, check out this great post from To the Shelves.)

If you're having trouble getting an agent or publisher interested in your fiction, I can say with 100% certainty that it isn't because of your lack of connections. It's far more likely that your writing or presentation aren't up to their standards, or the subject simply isn't one in which they have interest.

Debunking the myth that you have to be connected to get published is good news for aspiring authors. If you write a good book, craft a decent query letter, and do your research on agents who might be a good fit, you have just as much of a chance of getting published as everyone else.

Lessons From the Pitch Madness Slush

Last week, I had the privilege of assisting two hosts of Pitch Madness with their slush reading. (If you're not familiar with Pitch Madness, it's a blog-hosted contest where writers compete to get requests from agents to read their material. Find more information about this year's contest here.)

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you probably know I'm a big fan of online writing contests. In fact, that's how I got my agent! I've entered quite a few of them over the past few years, but this was the first time I got to see the process from the other side.

Holy crap is it different.

First, let me say that the writers who run these writing contests are saints. I had no idea how much time and energy went into making sure people followed the submission guidelines, following up on missing information, poring over agent wishlists, and reading hundreds of pitches. I was honestly shocked at how much work these hosts are doing, just out of the goodness of their hearts and desire to see other writers succeed.

Without further ado, here are the two main things I learned from reading through hundreds of entries.

1. Short pitches are really, really difficult.
The pitch required for this contest could only be 35 words, maximum. I saw so many entries that tried to cram too much information into this short format, only to end up with a confusing, convoluted pitch. There were more than a few entries that honestly made no sense at all.

Lesson to be learned here: if you're writing a short pitch, keep it as simple as possible. Don't try to mention subplots, minor characters, or overall themes. A tried-and-true approach is this general format: When INCITING INCIDENT happens to MAIN CHARACTER, he/she must OVERCOME CONFLICT by COMPLETING QUEST. (Paraphrased from former literary agent Nathan Bransford--check out his blog for tons of other great query/writing tips.)

2. The first line of your manuscript should be great. It should also set the tone for the rest of the book.
There were lots of pitches that sounded like one type of book (serious high fantasy, for example), but the first line would be something flippant that sounded like it belonged in a women's fiction book.

The first line of your manuscript should be worked over until it's perfect. I had heard that some agents quit reading if they didn't like the first sentence, and I found myself doing the same thing a few times. If that sentence has clunky writing, mechanics errors, or is confusing, you're running the risk that your reader will stop right there.

Conversely, there were some stellar first sentences that made me take a second look at entries where the pitch wasn't as good. My favorites were witty, or infused so much of the main character's voice into just one sentence that I was compelled to keep reading.


For a far more comprehensive wrap-up from another Pitch Madness slush reader, check out LL McKinney's post on the Cue My Muse blog. She delves into the most common errors she saw in both the pitches and the first 250 words and includes some excellent tips.