dr_pretentious | (no subject)

alg is making heroic efforts to demystify the publishing industry. If it holds mystery for you, and you're a writer, and you're not already reading her, you should go friend her right now. You should read back through her recent posts on how and when to withdraw a ms from consideration if things go awry, how publishers handle unsolicited mss, how they wish writers would handle unsolicited mss, and how to do well in a pitch session.

How to enjoy Anna's embrace of snark: remember that every time she says of some aspect of the process that is painful for the writer, "That sucks, but too bad," she does in fact think that it sucks. When she says that the first rule is Don't Be an Idiot, it's because she wants you to succeed and believes that you have it in you to avoid idiocy if you know what editors and agents think it looks like. Assume friendly intent behind the New York bluntness. Anna's fabulous.