T.S. Ferguson, an editor at Little Brown Books for Young Readers, has a great post up on his blog about the correlation between finding an editor, and finding a boy/girlfriend. As an agent looking at a ton of queries (more on that soon — I’m trying to come up with some numbers for you!), there’s a lot I agree with. Like this:
Sometimes you need to work on things before you’re ready to establish a relationship. If the relationship is worth it and the work is reasonable, it’s often worth it to put the time in beforehand. It can lead to great things in the future.
I can’t think of a better way to explain the need to revise before submitting!
Check out T.S.’s whole list and let me know if you can think of any other similarities — or do you think the search for an agent or editor is NOTHING like finding a date? Sing out in the comments!
5 thoughts on “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Revise”
HAHA This is so true, even in your critique groups! I will look at my stuff and be like… wow I never should have sent them THAT… they deserve better than this crap, and I will be all apologetic… maybe next time I should send flowers?
I think it's pretty true – something I've thought about before!
I loved that post. Thanks for the link.
I thought #8 was interesting because that's really true for any relationship but I never thought of it for books. But it makes total sense.
I love the comparisons.
And as a single mom in her 40's, I'd say that with experience comes savvy and no tolerance for settling.
That's for dating and with my writing!
We posted about the similarities between dating and publishing on our blog a few months ago.
http://plotthis.blogspot.com/2008/07/dating-game….
Same kind of emotional roller coaster!
Sarah Frances