Starting Out

My first post. Alright! Now I have to think of a way to make this blog useful to anyone who might be reading it.

My name is Brandon Daubs. I am a fantasy writer with a B.A. in Creative Writing and a lot of hope for the future of my books. But right now I am faced with the most daunting stage (it seems to me) in a writer's career-- and that is getting my foot in the door. During my time at university I learned a lot about writing. In my free time, I produced about 4 novels. The first was terrible, the second was only bearable, and the third was more like a rambling mishmash of everything I wanted to write about-- but the fourth emerged from the ashes of the third like a pheonix, almost. Except it wasn't on fire.

Now that I have a book that I think might actually stand a chance in the markets, I need to find an agent to represent me in today's competetive market-- but I am faced with several immediate problems. Let me spell them out for you so that you, in case you have aspirations of becoming a novelist, can avoid my mistakes.

1) All that time I spent writing novels meant I didn't have a chance to write many short stories, much less get them published. So when I write my query letters to various agents I don't have a lot of other projects they can refer to. My qualifications paragraph is rather unimpressive-- it pretty much reads "B.A. in Creative Writing." I sure wish I had something else to put there, and if I could go back and do it again, I would be a little more prolific in my writing so I would have something to add.

2) My second major problem is rather similar to my first problem. When I was still at university, I made the mistake of spending too much time on my work-- and not enough face-time with the professors. All those opportunities to meet professors of creative writing with experience in the publishing world, who might have even known agents and editors and could have spread my name around when I was finished with my book, have passed me by. If I could go back and do it again I would make it a point to socialize (and there are a great many other reasons to do this, not the least of which is to secure letters of recommendation.)

3) Agents appreciate work experience in the field. If I had known this, I would have spent a lot more time searching for internships anywhere stuff was being printed. The local newspaper, even the school newspaper, could have given me the experience I needed to beef up that last paragraph, to put something next to "B.A. in English."

Don't make the same mistakes I did. Now, when I am searching for agents, the best I can do is explain why chose them, write a killer synopsis, and hope they overlook the final few lines where I mention my B.A. and my solemn vow that my writing is worth their time. It is, of course. But an agent is far more likely to believe that if I have had some work experience in the industry, a few recommendations from professors who have some clout in the publishing world, and already published projects to my name.

In spite of these obstacles, my hunt for representation continues. Leave some comments. Maybe you can learn something from my exploits...or maybe I can learn something from you.