Psychologists, I’ve read, have come to doubt Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’s fives stages of death and dying. Writers, it seems to me, know quite a bit about these topics, and they hold true to my experience. I may not be typical in having so little time to write, but I do emote. So the latest literary agent has turned down my once accepted, and multiply-rejected Boeotian Rhapsody for publication. I can’t believe it (stage one) at first. The agent’s description seemed to match my genre so well. Sometimes just opening email is a shock. Why is this so damned hard? A number—very small, admittedly, but a number nevertheless—of short fiction publishers like my work. They don’t publish books, of course. Still, why can’t anybody give me a chance? I guess I’m at stage two. I consider writing back to the agent. Maybe making my case. This, however, is the kiss of death in publishing. Agents like quick, clean, and no com...
Blog of a struggling writer.