But Agency Gatekeeper (self-nicknamed "GK") graciously gives the inside scoop about the publishing world and the life and work of an agent in colorful detail (often down to the homemade treats she plans to serve her book club). Wanna know about what happens at publishing parties? How close knit the publishing community is? How about learning all the various pitfalls not to fall into as a querying writer? GK to the rescue! (See the lovely Superheroine GK I created below, thanks to Marvel's website.) She provides proof that literary agents are thoughtful people who love books (and authors, provided they're not too crazy) and who really put a lot of heart into their work.
She recently posted about grammar mishaps in manuscripts, a la misused words or phrases, that us sticklers often find either loathsome or hilarious, or both (I tend toward humor or confusion myself). It took me back to my days of teaching at the university, spending a bit too much time explaining to Freshman Comp students that "try and..." (versus "try to...") and "would of" (versus "would've") that could better have been used in some rousing critical discussion and thinking (yes! freshman are capable of just that).
But my favorite grammatical mishaps came from the couple of years I taught Business Writing to upperclassmen preparing to graduate from the business college. In fact, I kept a catalogue for a while (long since lost) of the most amusing turns of phrase. The most popular was a spell check error that somehow turned all of my business majors into thespians and Halloween party purveyors servicing their "costumers." But I have to admit, my favorite was the former cop who wrote in an introductory letter to me that he had been a "piece officer." Before I could stop myself, I wrote in the margin, "Is that as in 'packing a piece'? I thought it was as in 'keeping the peace.'"
Ah, but enough about me. If the book I'm currently working on (whoops, me again!) makes it anywhere close to a publisher's desk, I will owe a great debt to The Fabulous Miss GK and her insider tips, not to mention her ego-boosting examples of ridiculous things the competition does to fumble their chances. Here's a link to a great GK post on something I'd never even imagined existed: author-agent speed dating.
Enjoy!
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| Want to know how not to alienate potential agents? GK to the rescue! |
