Introduction: Why I write this blog.

Chances are that if you are looking at this blog, you are a frustrated unpublished author like myself seeking, without success, a literary agent to guide you into the bizarre secretive world of publishing,

A world less understood and more rife with rumor and speculation than Yale's Skull and Bones Society.

Or you are in desperate need of a hobby.

Yes, that comment risks alienating any publishing/agent/editor types who might accidentally click this link, but let's face it, if I had the ear of any of those people, I would not be writing this blog, now would I?

Why am I writing this blog?

Well. I wrote a book. I test marketed it to a variety of people in various demographics and I received such enthusiastic response that I began to think I had a shot at publication.

Sound like anyone you know? I thought so.

Then I began the process of looking for a literary agent and the process has left me confused, uncertain and ultimately feeling incredibly ignorant.

An impasse has resulted. I know not what else to do.

So, to repeat, why am I writing this blog?

Extreme narcissism?
Extreme Frustration?
Extreme- oh forget that descriptor I am obviously over using it.

Need to reach out and find others sharing my frustration and narcissism, who maybe had a similar experience and can share their story?

Nail: meet Head. Hope you hit it off.

There is a copious amount of interwebs based advice for people like me who are unknown, unpublished authors trying to get their work published. You have agents like Nathan Bransford blogging almost daily to people like me. You have agent websites, you have conference websites, and you have people offering - for a price- to critique your work, your query letter, synopsis.

You could spend as much time tailoring your pitch, researching agents and writing letters as you spent writing your book, and many people suggest you actually do just that. Queryshark will evicerate your query letter tearing you down in the hopes of building you back upinto a form that agents will salivate over!

These folks are genuine and well meaning and earnest. Their insights and perspectives are often useful and assuring. To a certain extent.

What you never find in the cacophony of interweb agent/publishing advice is anyone actually detailing the pitfalls and struggles, sets out what they have done and shows you what really worked and what fell horribly flat.

Even the weekly feature on www.writers.net where a published author guest blogs about finding their agent turns out to elicit nothing to help those of us not so lucky. They never tell you who rejected them and why, or even give you examples of query letters, etc..

How many times can you read a different author write "I sent out hundreds of query letters before I found my agent, and now I have a book sitting on the paperback table at Borders, so don;t give up!" before you realize such a "Story" is useless to the unpublished?

So I write this Blog to document my experience looking for an agent, because the process is just so damn frustrating I have been reduced to doing the only thing that feels natural: telling my story.

I hope you enjoy, laugh cry, commiserate. I hope you find comfort or can add your own insight. This publishing aspect is a vicious blind that I truly don't get.

and I don't think I am alone.

If I am not, in fact, alone, then please read along and join in, tell us your stories and bring your questions to the table. I'd love to hear from you.