tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post3952611488311255389..comments2023-07-03T07:26:04.780-04:00Comments on The Rejecter: Conservative Political Books and Their Non-ExistenceThe Rejecterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09087643296072075641noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-34392262539768667222015-10-30T08:46:58.446-04:002015-10-30T08:46:58.446-04:00I can say from long experience that I have had man...I can say from long experience that I have had many offers to publish my MS or to convert it to screen. In EVERY case the overriding intent was to excise the "troubling" parts of my work, i.e., aspects of a pro-American, Conservative and Christian world-view. So I am not presuming in noting such biases. Old corpsmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12922086581992633226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-85031000402843387192013-04-09T22:00:15.947-04:002013-04-09T22:00:15.947-04:00Sounds like a lot of butthurt, whining Liberals he...Sounds like a lot of butthurt, whining Liberals here. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-77551766631152405532009-07-21T04:43:24.597-04:002009-07-21T04:43:24.597-04:00The modern "angry conservative" movement...The modern "angry conservative" movement seems to always have a victim mentality. They feel like they are always being picked upon, and that all these fancy intellectuals and New York (insert industry here) people are against them, when, in fact, they are given a very wide audience through them. It's really absurd, and a little pathetic, when you think about it.watermark0nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09051863965084361037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-28559556036785577002009-07-20T23:40:56.382-04:002009-07-20T23:40:56.382-04:00"...if our movement is ever going to win back..."...if our movement is ever going to win back the GOP and the nation."<br /><br />James, I wouldn't sweat it. Obama's policies are taking care of the problem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-1658002731189400782009-07-20T17:30:18.039-04:002009-07-20T17:30:18.039-04:00The person who asked you the question is going to ...The person who asked you the question is going to go far: They already have that victim thing down pat, the single unvariable trope of all conservative writing.<br /><br />You're much nicer than I would ever be. "Liberal" world of publishing. Jesus.Marsupialusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-83465296919997373082009-07-20T14:28:15.995-04:002009-07-20T14:28:15.995-04:00Especially since it seems like most people identif...Especially since it seems like most people identify as moderates, regardless of what they believe. I think that that's true regardless of what I or the letter-writer thinks of the 'Average American's' or 'Average Small-Town American's' politics, or what those politics are -- most likely that 'average' person sees himself or herself as a perfectly reasonable middle-of-the-road POV, and anyone too far from him/her is part of the 'fringe' (or should be).~ Rebecca Harbisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05243000894514097913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-62876520386708562172009-07-20T13:42:05.707-04:002009-07-20T13:42:05.707-04:00" and hold your breath - there are more of us..." and hold your breath - there are more of us than you!"<br /><br />Yes, as Glenn Beck says 'We surround you!"<br /><br />Or maybe not.<br /><br />This e-mailer did sound at the end like he's trying to pick a fight.shellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-48229042487682795772009-07-20T12:07:36.143-04:002009-07-20T12:07:36.143-04:00There are plenty of liberals who don't live in...There are plenty of liberals who don't live in the "bubble of New York or a few other cities." We're everywhere, even in small towns across America. Thanks for stereotyping!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-66227170232288986832009-07-20T10:13:49.006-04:002009-07-20T10:13:49.006-04:00@Anonymous 12:05: I don't believe that it'...@Anonymous 12:05: I don't believe that it's at all unusual for you not to have received any sort of response after only a few dozen queries, and you may in fact be right about having gone about this in the incorrect order. I believe I've heard that it's not uncommon for non-fiction to be sold off a proposal rather than a completed book. I'm not sure though - I write fiction, where it's done the other way around.<br /><br />Also, I kept trying to remember this weekend where I had read about platform and remembered where it was. http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/03/non-fiction-platforms.htmlMeg Spencerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15709958839760304045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-76335905898991083392009-07-20T09:20:23.751-04:002009-07-20T09:20:23.751-04:00I recently read an post by Brenda Rickman Vantreas...I recently read an post by Brenda Rickman Vantrease. She received 136 rejections before her novel, The Illuminator, was finally published. <br /><br />Patience and perseverance is everything in this business.Debra L Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15825531924522383449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-22422788803719432002009-07-20T04:59:16.663-04:002009-07-20T04:59:16.663-04:00If by "weenie" you mean that I don't...If by "weenie" you mean that I don't write hostile and accusatory letters making wild-eyed assumptions and aggressive overtures against people <i>from whom I am requesting free advice</i>... then, yes, I am quite the weenie. And we're going to need a lot <i>more</i> weenies and a lot fewer... gentlemen like yourself... if our movement is ever going to win back the GOP and the nation.<br /><br />I haven't read your book, but I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that your political affiliation may have nothing whatever to do with your stack of rejection slips--you may just have written a boring, hostile, and/or poorly researched book, and no agent's going to want to touch that with an eleven-foot pole. Particularly if you're a no-name. <i>Particularly</i> particularly if dealing with you is obviously going to be an ongoing exercise in fending off hostility and outrage at the least imagined provocation.<br /><br />As for my own credentials, I have - unlike you - given my real name. I've written my share of letters to the editor, and I'm sure you can find them if you Google me hard enough. If you don't believe me, I don't especially care; I only commented (after many weeks of silently enjoying this excellent blog!) because I don't want people to think of letters like yours when they think of the word "conservative." And, having done all I can towards that end, I now return to a lurkful silence.James Heaneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-8418011365479165212009-07-20T01:32:12.615-04:002009-07-20T01:32:12.615-04:00Your frustration is due to your entitlement comple...Your frustration is due to your entitlement complex kicking up against reality. Getting dozens of form rejections is hardly unusual, newbie.jjdebenedictishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16950592240599703771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-86712936491457354132009-07-20T01:24:40.330-04:002009-07-20T01:24:40.330-04:00I don't think it is at all unsual to have doze...I don't think it is at all unsual to have dozens of query letters yield nothing but form letters- I suspect most new authors have exactly the same experience regardless of their political affiliations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-7297508323185525602009-07-20T00:05:31.613-04:002009-07-20T00:05:31.613-04:00To Meg - who left the only useful comment. The con...To Meg - who left the only useful comment. The contradiction is that publishers (liberal or conservative) enjoy making money and the public eats up a good conservative rant. The disconnect is the agent. My frustration is due to the fact that none of them have even asked for a sample chapter or two to evaluate. I do not have a national talk show or am I recognized as a think tank expert. But you'd think one of the dozens of query letters I sent would get something other than a form letter response. In reality I did this ass backwards. Silly me I wrote the book first and then sent out query letters. It hasn't been that long - but I do think that my book is time sensitive. Thanks for your useful feedback. As for Heaney - I doubt he's really a conservative - but if he is he's still a weenie!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-79984274774339779172009-07-19T18:40:33.805-04:002009-07-19T18:40:33.805-04:00Reading letters like that make me so terribly emba...Reading letters like that make me so terribly embarrassed to be a conservative.<br /><br />Groan.<br /><br />On the bright side, no one with an attitude like that toward publishing people will ever get published. Sigh of relief.James Heaneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-88822143485213804942009-07-19T18:29:06.250-04:002009-07-19T18:29:06.250-04:00How you remain sane is the formula we really need ...How you remain sane is the formula we really need to figure out. I always get a chuckle of a conservative who says "not Fair" followed by a thinly veiled "you idiot".Mamehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04853842158606222286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-73224874406732725012009-07-19T18:27:48.233-04:002009-07-19T18:27:48.233-04:00I'm sort of confused by this letter. All poli...I'm sort of confused by this letter. All politics aside (and ignoring that somewhat um... colorful parting shot at the end), this seems like a contradiction: "...tell me how the publishing world can ignore the fact that the mega hits of non fiction have come from conservatives - without a NY Times book review..."<br /><br />One would assume that someone is publishing those mega-hits, right? Presumably someone in the "publishing world"? I would guess (and of course, I could be wrong), that the writer has been having a hard time getting his/her book published and is looking for reasons why. I suppose politics is as good a reason as any, but it strikes me as probably not the issue.<br /><br />One thing I've seen mentioned a number of times regarding non-fiction is the importance of platform. It's not that one needs to have a TV show to get a book published (though that helps), but they do need to be recognized as an authority somehow. People will buy fiction from an author they don't know if the story looks interesting, but I think usually if we buy non-fiction, we want to know that the author actually knows what they're talking about, so credentials are important.<br /><br />I would wish the writer good luck, and also patience - it's a tough market for everyone, and as is mentioned here and elsewhere, the only thing for a writer to do is make sure that their book isn't just good, but is great.Meg Spencerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15709958839760304045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-50137595902647854242009-07-19T18:02:50.094-04:002009-07-19T18:02:50.094-04:00Here's a fact that the liberal publishing worl...<i>Here's a fact that the liberal publishing world cannot seem to deal with: Conservative books, like talk radio, resonate with the rest of America that doesn't live in the bubble of New York or a few other cities - and hold your breath - there are more of us than you!</i><br /><br />I'm half-afraid of finding out what the book's all about after seeing the way this writer ends his enquiry.Hayden Thornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12701080422670018121noreply@blogger.com