Will the publisher/agent tell me what to write?

The name of the pictureThe name of the pictureThe name of the pictureClash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP











up vote
1
down vote

favorite












I recently read this answer, which suggested that an author's first novel will be rejected, and the publisher will instead get the author to write the novel they want to publish, assuming they feel the author's writing has potential. This is bad news for me, as I have an entire universe mapped out with endless novel series, which I intend on publishing. If the publisher is just going to reject the first one and tell me to write something else, then how can I ever publish what I want to?



Is this true? Do publishers/agents frequently reject first-time novels, and instead get you to write the novel they want to publish? If this is the case, what can I do to get what I want to write published?



Note: I'm aware of self-publishing and how it works, so please don't make that the answer to the second part of the question if there's another option. If there's nothing I can do, and publishers will always force me to write what they want, then I'll look at self-publishing.










share|improve this question

























    up vote
    1
    down vote

    favorite












    I recently read this answer, which suggested that an author's first novel will be rejected, and the publisher will instead get the author to write the novel they want to publish, assuming they feel the author's writing has potential. This is bad news for me, as I have an entire universe mapped out with endless novel series, which I intend on publishing. If the publisher is just going to reject the first one and tell me to write something else, then how can I ever publish what I want to?



    Is this true? Do publishers/agents frequently reject first-time novels, and instead get you to write the novel they want to publish? If this is the case, what can I do to get what I want to write published?



    Note: I'm aware of self-publishing and how it works, so please don't make that the answer to the second part of the question if there's another option. If there's nothing I can do, and publishers will always force me to write what they want, then I'll look at self-publishing.










    share|improve this question























      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite









      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite











      I recently read this answer, which suggested that an author's first novel will be rejected, and the publisher will instead get the author to write the novel they want to publish, assuming they feel the author's writing has potential. This is bad news for me, as I have an entire universe mapped out with endless novel series, which I intend on publishing. If the publisher is just going to reject the first one and tell me to write something else, then how can I ever publish what I want to?



      Is this true? Do publishers/agents frequently reject first-time novels, and instead get you to write the novel they want to publish? If this is the case, what can I do to get what I want to write published?



      Note: I'm aware of self-publishing and how it works, so please don't make that the answer to the second part of the question if there's another option. If there's nothing I can do, and publishers will always force me to write what they want, then I'll look at self-publishing.










      share|improve this question













      I recently read this answer, which suggested that an author's first novel will be rejected, and the publisher will instead get the author to write the novel they want to publish, assuming they feel the author's writing has potential. This is bad news for me, as I have an entire universe mapped out with endless novel series, which I intend on publishing. If the publisher is just going to reject the first one and tell me to write something else, then how can I ever publish what I want to?



      Is this true? Do publishers/agents frequently reject first-time novels, and instead get you to write the novel they want to publish? If this is the case, what can I do to get what I want to write published?



      Note: I'm aware of self-publishing and how it works, so please don't make that the answer to the second part of the question if there's another option. If there's nothing I can do, and publishers will always force me to write what they want, then I'll look at self-publishing.







      creative-writing publisher first-time-author






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked 2 hours ago









      Thomas Myron

      8,62522982




      8,62522982




















          3 Answers
          3






          active

          oldest

          votes

















          up vote
          4
          down vote













          A



          This answer has been given multiple times before on this site, and it was consistently met with reservation and disbelief. Yet it is what I have learned from published authors:



          First novels are consistently rejected because they lack quality.



          Writing is something that you have to learn. And it is something that you learn through practice, that is, by writing. Therefore, in the course of learning to write, you write many texts that are not the works of a master (and publishable) but exercises (and not worthy of publication). That is why your first submissions will most likely be rejected, and it is also why those that don't give up after a few rejections but keep writing will most of them eventually get published (!).



          The downside is that many of your early ideas will be badly executed and either remain unpublished for ever or you will have to rewrite them once you have achieved (publishable) mastery.



          There are two common approaches to this:



          1. Write another book until one gets published. If you still feel for your first stories, rewrite them and publish them later.


          2. Keep rewriting your first novel until it gets published. (You may grow tired of your story while you do this.)



          A survey of 200 traditionally published authors found that on average they had written 3.24 books before they got published.



          While zero books before publication happens, and not infrequently, you shouldn't plan on being one of them. Mostly (I found) those are writers with long years of practice writing non-fiction (e.g. journalists) or other kinds of fiction (e.g. screenwriters, short-story writers, etc.).




          B



          I have never heard of a publisher rejecting a novel and telling the writer what to write. It may happen, but what usually happens is one of the following:




          • silent rejection (99.9%)



            The agent or publisher specifies in their submission guidelines that when they don't reply after a certain time it means that they were not interested. This is the common "reply" today.




          • signalling interest in further submissions



            Sometimes a publisher or agent will see so much potential in your work that they ask you to send in your next manuscript.







          share|improve this answer








          New contributor




          Terry Noodle is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
          Check out our Code of Conduct.

















          • I've been practicing my writing by writing fan fiction for eight years. Is that likely to count in my favor, or not be considered as 'official' practice?
            – Thomas Myron
            1 min ago

















          up vote
          1
          down vote













          If an agent/publisher is interested enough in the novel you submitted to get into business with you, why on earth would s/he not try to sell it? Conversely, if the novel (whether first, third, or 34th) is - according to their opinion - not marketable or whatever, they wouldn't even pay any attention to you.






          share|improve this answer



























            up vote
            1
            down vote













            Terry's answer aligns with my knowledge, but here's a little more I'd add that is relevant to your question.



            Writers I know who have been agented are asked to revise their manuscripts before the manuscript is sent to publishing houses. I believe it was GGX or Galastel that explained: At the query stage you are competing largely with un-agented writers. At the agented stage, you are competing with published authors.



            So, the agent may well request rewrites. But you still need a perfect novel going into your query stage.



            Some writers I know write the query letter first, as odd as that sounds, because the query letter is what draws eyes to the novel as often as not. Then, with a top notch query in hand (and no constraints because no book exists as yet, except perhaps as concept) the novel is written. It sounds odd, but I've seen it work.



            (I'm on my 26th re-write of my first novel. Early rewrites were learning the technical details. Later rewrites had to do with story structure. Later rewrites addressed beta comments. Later rewrites were simply for flow and eloquence or based off of 'craft books' (Manuscript Makeover is a good one.) Current rewrite is following a new craft book dealing with emotional subtext. The idea of emotional subtext was nowhere on my radar in draft 1, or 6, or 9. I have at least two more re-writes in my future: Another beta read, another edit for flow.)






            share|improve this answer




















            • Each to their own, but that "26th re-write" part there reminded me of Synecdoche New York, I must say. It also reminded me of Kenneth Branagh's comment on Shakespearean adaptations: "You don't finish them; you abandon them"
              – Digital Dracula
              34 mins ago










            • @DigitalDracula It cracks me up that I am on my 26th rewrite. :-) I can't wait to be on the 35th.
              – DPT
              24 mins ago











            • Must have been GGX. I've only managed to publish a couple of short stories in online anthologies so far.
              – Galastel
              4 mins ago










            Your Answer







            StackExchange.ready(function()
            var channelOptions =
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "166"
            ;
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
            createEditor();
            );

            else
            createEditor();

            );

            function createEditor()
            StackExchange.prepareEditor(
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            convertImagesToLinks: false,
            noModals: false,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: null,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            noCode: true, onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            );



            );













             

            draft saved


            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fwriting.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f38936%2fwill-the-publisher-agent-tell-me-what-to-write%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest






























            3 Answers
            3






            active

            oldest

            votes








            3 Answers
            3






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes








            up vote
            4
            down vote













            A



            This answer has been given multiple times before on this site, and it was consistently met with reservation and disbelief. Yet it is what I have learned from published authors:



            First novels are consistently rejected because they lack quality.



            Writing is something that you have to learn. And it is something that you learn through practice, that is, by writing. Therefore, in the course of learning to write, you write many texts that are not the works of a master (and publishable) but exercises (and not worthy of publication). That is why your first submissions will most likely be rejected, and it is also why those that don't give up after a few rejections but keep writing will most of them eventually get published (!).



            The downside is that many of your early ideas will be badly executed and either remain unpublished for ever or you will have to rewrite them once you have achieved (publishable) mastery.



            There are two common approaches to this:



            1. Write another book until one gets published. If you still feel for your first stories, rewrite them and publish them later.


            2. Keep rewriting your first novel until it gets published. (You may grow tired of your story while you do this.)



            A survey of 200 traditionally published authors found that on average they had written 3.24 books before they got published.



            While zero books before publication happens, and not infrequently, you shouldn't plan on being one of them. Mostly (I found) those are writers with long years of practice writing non-fiction (e.g. journalists) or other kinds of fiction (e.g. screenwriters, short-story writers, etc.).




            B



            I have never heard of a publisher rejecting a novel and telling the writer what to write. It may happen, but what usually happens is one of the following:




            • silent rejection (99.9%)



              The agent or publisher specifies in their submission guidelines that when they don't reply after a certain time it means that they were not interested. This is the common "reply" today.




            • signalling interest in further submissions



              Sometimes a publisher or agent will see so much potential in your work that they ask you to send in your next manuscript.







            share|improve this answer








            New contributor




            Terry Noodle is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.

















            • I've been practicing my writing by writing fan fiction for eight years. Is that likely to count in my favor, or not be considered as 'official' practice?
              – Thomas Myron
              1 min ago














            up vote
            4
            down vote













            A



            This answer has been given multiple times before on this site, and it was consistently met with reservation and disbelief. Yet it is what I have learned from published authors:



            First novels are consistently rejected because they lack quality.



            Writing is something that you have to learn. And it is something that you learn through practice, that is, by writing. Therefore, in the course of learning to write, you write many texts that are not the works of a master (and publishable) but exercises (and not worthy of publication). That is why your first submissions will most likely be rejected, and it is also why those that don't give up after a few rejections but keep writing will most of them eventually get published (!).



            The downside is that many of your early ideas will be badly executed and either remain unpublished for ever or you will have to rewrite them once you have achieved (publishable) mastery.



            There are two common approaches to this:



            1. Write another book until one gets published. If you still feel for your first stories, rewrite them and publish them later.


            2. Keep rewriting your first novel until it gets published. (You may grow tired of your story while you do this.)



            A survey of 200 traditionally published authors found that on average they had written 3.24 books before they got published.



            While zero books before publication happens, and not infrequently, you shouldn't plan on being one of them. Mostly (I found) those are writers with long years of practice writing non-fiction (e.g. journalists) or other kinds of fiction (e.g. screenwriters, short-story writers, etc.).




            B



            I have never heard of a publisher rejecting a novel and telling the writer what to write. It may happen, but what usually happens is one of the following:




            • silent rejection (99.9%)



              The agent or publisher specifies in their submission guidelines that when they don't reply after a certain time it means that they were not interested. This is the common "reply" today.




            • signalling interest in further submissions



              Sometimes a publisher or agent will see so much potential in your work that they ask you to send in your next manuscript.







            share|improve this answer








            New contributor




            Terry Noodle is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.

















            • I've been practicing my writing by writing fan fiction for eight years. Is that likely to count in my favor, or not be considered as 'official' practice?
              – Thomas Myron
              1 min ago












            up vote
            4
            down vote










            up vote
            4
            down vote









            A



            This answer has been given multiple times before on this site, and it was consistently met with reservation and disbelief. Yet it is what I have learned from published authors:



            First novels are consistently rejected because they lack quality.



            Writing is something that you have to learn. And it is something that you learn through practice, that is, by writing. Therefore, in the course of learning to write, you write many texts that are not the works of a master (and publishable) but exercises (and not worthy of publication). That is why your first submissions will most likely be rejected, and it is also why those that don't give up after a few rejections but keep writing will most of them eventually get published (!).



            The downside is that many of your early ideas will be badly executed and either remain unpublished for ever or you will have to rewrite them once you have achieved (publishable) mastery.



            There are two common approaches to this:



            1. Write another book until one gets published. If you still feel for your first stories, rewrite them and publish them later.


            2. Keep rewriting your first novel until it gets published. (You may grow tired of your story while you do this.)



            A survey of 200 traditionally published authors found that on average they had written 3.24 books before they got published.



            While zero books before publication happens, and not infrequently, you shouldn't plan on being one of them. Mostly (I found) those are writers with long years of practice writing non-fiction (e.g. journalists) or other kinds of fiction (e.g. screenwriters, short-story writers, etc.).




            B



            I have never heard of a publisher rejecting a novel and telling the writer what to write. It may happen, but what usually happens is one of the following:




            • silent rejection (99.9%)



              The agent or publisher specifies in their submission guidelines that when they don't reply after a certain time it means that they were not interested. This is the common "reply" today.




            • signalling interest in further submissions



              Sometimes a publisher or agent will see so much potential in your work that they ask you to send in your next manuscript.







            share|improve this answer








            New contributor




            Terry Noodle is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.









            A



            This answer has been given multiple times before on this site, and it was consistently met with reservation and disbelief. Yet it is what I have learned from published authors:



            First novels are consistently rejected because they lack quality.



            Writing is something that you have to learn. And it is something that you learn through practice, that is, by writing. Therefore, in the course of learning to write, you write many texts that are not the works of a master (and publishable) but exercises (and not worthy of publication). That is why your first submissions will most likely be rejected, and it is also why those that don't give up after a few rejections but keep writing will most of them eventually get published (!).



            The downside is that many of your early ideas will be badly executed and either remain unpublished for ever or you will have to rewrite them once you have achieved (publishable) mastery.



            There are two common approaches to this:



            1. Write another book until one gets published. If you still feel for your first stories, rewrite them and publish them later.


            2. Keep rewriting your first novel until it gets published. (You may grow tired of your story while you do this.)



            A survey of 200 traditionally published authors found that on average they had written 3.24 books before they got published.



            While zero books before publication happens, and not infrequently, you shouldn't plan on being one of them. Mostly (I found) those are writers with long years of practice writing non-fiction (e.g. journalists) or other kinds of fiction (e.g. screenwriters, short-story writers, etc.).




            B



            I have never heard of a publisher rejecting a novel and telling the writer what to write. It may happen, but what usually happens is one of the following:




            • silent rejection (99.9%)



              The agent or publisher specifies in their submission guidelines that when they don't reply after a certain time it means that they were not interested. This is the common "reply" today.




            • signalling interest in further submissions



              Sometimes a publisher or agent will see so much potential in your work that they ask you to send in your next manuscript.








            share|improve this answer








            New contributor




            Terry Noodle is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.









            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer






            New contributor




            Terry Noodle is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.









            answered 2 hours ago









            Terry Noodle

            411




            411




            New contributor




            Terry Noodle is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.





            New contributor





            Terry Noodle is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.






            Terry Noodle is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.











            • I've been practicing my writing by writing fan fiction for eight years. Is that likely to count in my favor, or not be considered as 'official' practice?
              – Thomas Myron
              1 min ago
















            • I've been practicing my writing by writing fan fiction for eight years. Is that likely to count in my favor, or not be considered as 'official' practice?
              – Thomas Myron
              1 min ago















            I've been practicing my writing by writing fan fiction for eight years. Is that likely to count in my favor, or not be considered as 'official' practice?
            – Thomas Myron
            1 min ago




            I've been practicing my writing by writing fan fiction for eight years. Is that likely to count in my favor, or not be considered as 'official' practice?
            – Thomas Myron
            1 min ago










            up vote
            1
            down vote













            If an agent/publisher is interested enough in the novel you submitted to get into business with you, why on earth would s/he not try to sell it? Conversely, if the novel (whether first, third, or 34th) is - according to their opinion - not marketable or whatever, they wouldn't even pay any attention to you.






            share|improve this answer
























              up vote
              1
              down vote













              If an agent/publisher is interested enough in the novel you submitted to get into business with you, why on earth would s/he not try to sell it? Conversely, if the novel (whether first, third, or 34th) is - according to their opinion - not marketable or whatever, they wouldn't even pay any attention to you.






              share|improve this answer






















                up vote
                1
                down vote










                up vote
                1
                down vote









                If an agent/publisher is interested enough in the novel you submitted to get into business with you, why on earth would s/he not try to sell it? Conversely, if the novel (whether first, third, or 34th) is - according to their opinion - not marketable or whatever, they wouldn't even pay any attention to you.






                share|improve this answer












                If an agent/publisher is interested enough in the novel you submitted to get into business with you, why on earth would s/he not try to sell it? Conversely, if the novel (whether first, third, or 34th) is - according to their opinion - not marketable or whatever, they wouldn't even pay any attention to you.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered 2 hours ago









                Digital Dracula

                1,243214




                1,243214




















                    up vote
                    1
                    down vote













                    Terry's answer aligns with my knowledge, but here's a little more I'd add that is relevant to your question.



                    Writers I know who have been agented are asked to revise their manuscripts before the manuscript is sent to publishing houses. I believe it was GGX or Galastel that explained: At the query stage you are competing largely with un-agented writers. At the agented stage, you are competing with published authors.



                    So, the agent may well request rewrites. But you still need a perfect novel going into your query stage.



                    Some writers I know write the query letter first, as odd as that sounds, because the query letter is what draws eyes to the novel as often as not. Then, with a top notch query in hand (and no constraints because no book exists as yet, except perhaps as concept) the novel is written. It sounds odd, but I've seen it work.



                    (I'm on my 26th re-write of my first novel. Early rewrites were learning the technical details. Later rewrites had to do with story structure. Later rewrites addressed beta comments. Later rewrites were simply for flow and eloquence or based off of 'craft books' (Manuscript Makeover is a good one.) Current rewrite is following a new craft book dealing with emotional subtext. The idea of emotional subtext was nowhere on my radar in draft 1, or 6, or 9. I have at least two more re-writes in my future: Another beta read, another edit for flow.)






                    share|improve this answer




















                    • Each to their own, but that "26th re-write" part there reminded me of Synecdoche New York, I must say. It also reminded me of Kenneth Branagh's comment on Shakespearean adaptations: "You don't finish them; you abandon them"
                      – Digital Dracula
                      34 mins ago










                    • @DigitalDracula It cracks me up that I am on my 26th rewrite. :-) I can't wait to be on the 35th.
                      – DPT
                      24 mins ago











                    • Must have been GGX. I've only managed to publish a couple of short stories in online anthologies so far.
                      – Galastel
                      4 mins ago














                    up vote
                    1
                    down vote













                    Terry's answer aligns with my knowledge, but here's a little more I'd add that is relevant to your question.



                    Writers I know who have been agented are asked to revise their manuscripts before the manuscript is sent to publishing houses. I believe it was GGX or Galastel that explained: At the query stage you are competing largely with un-agented writers. At the agented stage, you are competing with published authors.



                    So, the agent may well request rewrites. But you still need a perfect novel going into your query stage.



                    Some writers I know write the query letter first, as odd as that sounds, because the query letter is what draws eyes to the novel as often as not. Then, with a top notch query in hand (and no constraints because no book exists as yet, except perhaps as concept) the novel is written. It sounds odd, but I've seen it work.



                    (I'm on my 26th re-write of my first novel. Early rewrites were learning the technical details. Later rewrites had to do with story structure. Later rewrites addressed beta comments. Later rewrites were simply for flow and eloquence or based off of 'craft books' (Manuscript Makeover is a good one.) Current rewrite is following a new craft book dealing with emotional subtext. The idea of emotional subtext was nowhere on my radar in draft 1, or 6, or 9. I have at least two more re-writes in my future: Another beta read, another edit for flow.)






                    share|improve this answer




















                    • Each to their own, but that "26th re-write" part there reminded me of Synecdoche New York, I must say. It also reminded me of Kenneth Branagh's comment on Shakespearean adaptations: "You don't finish them; you abandon them"
                      – Digital Dracula
                      34 mins ago










                    • @DigitalDracula It cracks me up that I am on my 26th rewrite. :-) I can't wait to be on the 35th.
                      – DPT
                      24 mins ago











                    • Must have been GGX. I've only managed to publish a couple of short stories in online anthologies so far.
                      – Galastel
                      4 mins ago












                    up vote
                    1
                    down vote










                    up vote
                    1
                    down vote









                    Terry's answer aligns with my knowledge, but here's a little more I'd add that is relevant to your question.



                    Writers I know who have been agented are asked to revise their manuscripts before the manuscript is sent to publishing houses. I believe it was GGX or Galastel that explained: At the query stage you are competing largely with un-agented writers. At the agented stage, you are competing with published authors.



                    So, the agent may well request rewrites. But you still need a perfect novel going into your query stage.



                    Some writers I know write the query letter first, as odd as that sounds, because the query letter is what draws eyes to the novel as often as not. Then, with a top notch query in hand (and no constraints because no book exists as yet, except perhaps as concept) the novel is written. It sounds odd, but I've seen it work.



                    (I'm on my 26th re-write of my first novel. Early rewrites were learning the technical details. Later rewrites had to do with story structure. Later rewrites addressed beta comments. Later rewrites were simply for flow and eloquence or based off of 'craft books' (Manuscript Makeover is a good one.) Current rewrite is following a new craft book dealing with emotional subtext. The idea of emotional subtext was nowhere on my radar in draft 1, or 6, or 9. I have at least two more re-writes in my future: Another beta read, another edit for flow.)






                    share|improve this answer












                    Terry's answer aligns with my knowledge, but here's a little more I'd add that is relevant to your question.



                    Writers I know who have been agented are asked to revise their manuscripts before the manuscript is sent to publishing houses. I believe it was GGX or Galastel that explained: At the query stage you are competing largely with un-agented writers. At the agented stage, you are competing with published authors.



                    So, the agent may well request rewrites. But you still need a perfect novel going into your query stage.



                    Some writers I know write the query letter first, as odd as that sounds, because the query letter is what draws eyes to the novel as often as not. Then, with a top notch query in hand (and no constraints because no book exists as yet, except perhaps as concept) the novel is written. It sounds odd, but I've seen it work.



                    (I'm on my 26th re-write of my first novel. Early rewrites were learning the technical details. Later rewrites had to do with story structure. Later rewrites addressed beta comments. Later rewrites were simply for flow and eloquence or based off of 'craft books' (Manuscript Makeover is a good one.) Current rewrite is following a new craft book dealing with emotional subtext. The idea of emotional subtext was nowhere on my radar in draft 1, or 6, or 9. I have at least two more re-writes in my future: Another beta read, another edit for flow.)







                    share|improve this answer












                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer










                    answered 1 hour ago









                    DPT

                    10.9k22171




                    10.9k22171











                    • Each to their own, but that "26th re-write" part there reminded me of Synecdoche New York, I must say. It also reminded me of Kenneth Branagh's comment on Shakespearean adaptations: "You don't finish them; you abandon them"
                      – Digital Dracula
                      34 mins ago










                    • @DigitalDracula It cracks me up that I am on my 26th rewrite. :-) I can't wait to be on the 35th.
                      – DPT
                      24 mins ago











                    • Must have been GGX. I've only managed to publish a couple of short stories in online anthologies so far.
                      – Galastel
                      4 mins ago
















                    • Each to their own, but that "26th re-write" part there reminded me of Synecdoche New York, I must say. It also reminded me of Kenneth Branagh's comment on Shakespearean adaptations: "You don't finish them; you abandon them"
                      – Digital Dracula
                      34 mins ago










                    • @DigitalDracula It cracks me up that I am on my 26th rewrite. :-) I can't wait to be on the 35th.
                      – DPT
                      24 mins ago











                    • Must have been GGX. I've only managed to publish a couple of short stories in online anthologies so far.
                      – Galastel
                      4 mins ago















                    Each to their own, but that "26th re-write" part there reminded me of Synecdoche New York, I must say. It also reminded me of Kenneth Branagh's comment on Shakespearean adaptations: "You don't finish them; you abandon them"
                    – Digital Dracula
                    34 mins ago




                    Each to their own, but that "26th re-write" part there reminded me of Synecdoche New York, I must say. It also reminded me of Kenneth Branagh's comment on Shakespearean adaptations: "You don't finish them; you abandon them"
                    – Digital Dracula
                    34 mins ago












                    @DigitalDracula It cracks me up that I am on my 26th rewrite. :-) I can't wait to be on the 35th.
                    – DPT
                    24 mins ago





                    @DigitalDracula It cracks me up that I am on my 26th rewrite. :-) I can't wait to be on the 35th.
                    – DPT
                    24 mins ago













                    Must have been GGX. I've only managed to publish a couple of short stories in online anthologies so far.
                    – Galastel
                    4 mins ago




                    Must have been GGX. I've only managed to publish a couple of short stories in online anthologies so far.
                    – Galastel
                    4 mins ago

















                     

                    draft saved


                    draft discarded















































                     


                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function ()
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fwriting.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f38936%2fwill-the-publisher-agent-tell-me-what-to-write%23new-answer', 'question_page');

                    );

                    Post as a guest













































































                    Comments

                    Popular posts from this blog

                    Long meetings (6-7 hours a day): Being “babysat” by supervisor

                    Is the Concept of Multiple Fantasy Races Scientifically Flawed? [closed]

                    Confectionery