There’s been some discussion recently about whining in the blog-o-sphere microclimate of wannabe authors and the publishing professionals who blog for them.
1. An unpublished author and nénette Twitter writes a blog post about the literary agents who rejected her. She tweets this post to all and sundry.
2. Janet Reid, the big cat who stalks the grasses, is apparently of the opinion that unpublished authors would be wise to keep mum about rejections. She makes a rather ruthless post that does not name the author.
3. Blogger-agent Jessica Faust thanks Janet for her post. Much commenting.
4. Alice (who follows J&J — and their assistants — on Twitter) idly searches @Jessica tweets because, well, maybe something will show up, and Alice nosily wants to know what a no-name author could write that would upset Janet!!! Reid!!! so much she takes time to a) write a post and b) illustrate it with puppies.
5. What do you know — an apology tweet from a no-name unpublished writer @Jessica. Though, as the tweet declares, the post in question has been deleted.
6. Uhhh, Google has a cache? Alice reads and saves the post for future reference.
7. Alice stumbles across a dissenting opinion (and boy, is it dissenting) from a stand-up comic and literary agent rejectee Marjorie Palimpsests (?).
The purpose of this post is to defend Janet Reid’s ruthlessness from criticism she may not even know she faces.
Look. My blog is kind of informal, but I think about every single damned word. Ditto when writing a manuscript. It should be obvious that this is the case: I’m writing under a pseudonym — allowing me to restrict what I make public of my private life, I swear a bloody lot but I make it clear my fiction is for adults, I link to writerly things and blog about writerly things, and most importantly, I suck up to the hand that feeds me.
If I were unhappy with my lot, I’d talk about something else. But, because I fucking love my job, I make certain to let everyone know this, and often.
There are plenty of things I am unhappy about — so I suck it up and resist the temptation to blog or tweet about them. A good example: if I were to grumble and whinge on Twitter every time I get a headache or feel tired or PMS (as I do privately and to my long-suffering Skype friends), no-one would ever follow me.
But, as Marjorie rightly says, no-one can tell me to stop complaining. I have a right to complain. I think her “whistle-blower” analogy is kind of melodramatic, but sure, okay, let’s assume she’s right because I don’t want to get into my opinions about excessive feelings of entitlement (“screw you”, basically).
Janet makes another point that I think Marjorie, and a lot of other outraged authorial huffing and puffing misses: if you are as yet unpublished, it is very unwise to advertise your rejections.
This is really important: you do not want to advertise your rejections. Ignore for the moment that literary agents are people. Think of them as sharks, okay? (Sorry, Janet.)
Now, if you spend for-ev-er trying to marinade the perfect cut of beef in the perfect spices specifically to be shark-bait, and you throw it in a tank of sharks, and if it makes it to the bottom of the tank, do you ask the research department for funding based on your experiment?
Put it another way: you have a brand of hot dog you want to sell. Do you advertise it by saying, “Nine out of ten kids sniffed it and threw it in the trash,”?
If “yes”: are you nuts?!?!?
This isn’t about the right to complain, this is about not being dumb.
not very alice 
Marjorie
February 25, 2011
I am Marjorie (Levine), and thanks for the shout-out. “marjorie-palimpsests” is one of my many blogs. This comment will link to “marjorie-digest,” another of my blogs and my profile lists all of my blogs.
I was a teacher for 35 years and now I am retired. I am 64 years old and I have been doing stand-up for 20 years. I really think my opinion is generated from where I am in terms of my career. And, I think my age gives me the confidence to post my opinions without fear. If I were 25, while my opinion would be the same, I might not be so outspoken. I might be more careful because the road ahead would be longer. I would have more to protect in terms of myself.
From where I sit, I do not think it is “dumb” to be so brazen and advertise rejections. I think in my case, it is funny. It fits right into the whole shtik. I cartoon it. I joke about it. It fits my persona. It becomes part of my package deal.
Simply put, if a 25 year old advertises her rejections it may look like she is a poor writer. If a 64 year old advertises her many rejections, can’t you see how that can be funny?
All of my pieces are tongue-in-cheek because that is what I do, I always come from places of humor, and in the subtext is of course my true opinion. I make it work.
I think younger writers should be careful. But, they should always not be afraid to state their opinions without fear of repercussions.
Alice M.
February 25, 2011
I don’t care that you want to shoot yourself in the foot.
What annoyed me about your post is that it is couched in terms of righteous indignation — and could therefore be taken as advice.
If your language were to make it clear that you’re only speaking for yourself and no-one else, and there were none of the “should”s lying about, I wouldn’t have made this post. You’d be someone telling her anecdote without grabbing the guru title, and I would think, “huh” and move on.
As it is, you’re not only giving bad advice, but your post is also written in the language of upheaval and change. Viva La Revolución!
If you didn’t *intend* to lead the writers who read your blog against oppression, then I know exactly why you’ve been rejected: your prose does not say what you mean it to say, and is therefore badly written.
So, either you:
a) are lying in your comment and you intended to rile people up,
b) are a sloppy writer
or most likely
c) knew exactly what you were saying in your post, and meant what you said in your comment, but wrote your post just to get attention — because a call to arms gets more views and better comments.
And the writers who read it and think it’s good advice? Whatever. Who cares about *them*?
Marjorie
February 26, 2011
Guess what? I don’t care what annoyed you. I don’t write for the approbation of others, and I do not hide and write wearing a mask. I state my opinions, take it or leave it.
I give advice to nobody. I write my opinions and there is a huge difference. I don’t force anybody to drink my special blend of Kool-Aid and I am not a cult leader. What kind of weak minded person would take the advice of somebody on the internet that they never even met anyway? How could I speak for everybody else? It was an opinion piece. It was a piece filled with tongue-in-cheek humor.
I can totally own prose that does not mean what I say or mean what I said. With regard to the multiple choice question, I happily select all of the above. LMAO
How can I “rile people up?” I wouldn’t even begin to flatter myself in that way. I may be a sloppy writer, I can own that as well. There are donut crumbs all over the keyboard. And, I don’t need “attention.” I get that on the stage of The Comic Strip.
Lighten up. Do your own thing. But, judging from the other comments here, that thing might exist in the null set. Are we sharing a bingo moment yet? Are we on even 1/100000th of the same page? No? Okie dokie.
You go your way and I will go mine… but before I exit stage left, I want to know if you are “The Unknown Comic?” He wore a paper bag over his head to to mask his identity… so enquiring minds want to know. LMAO
Alice M.
February 26, 2011
“But, judging from the other comments here, that thing might exist in the null set.”
ZING!
“I want to know if you are “The Unknown Comic?” ”
No. I have a vagina.