/And then a rustle of gentle head-nodding and goodwill enveloped the comments board./

And yes, I was hesitant about the writer’s self-promotion at the end. But I do think the article raises interesting questions.

At the end of the day, my own attitude towards the publishing industry (both agents and editors) is to strive for a healthy balance. I think as writers we should appreciate and respect the contributions of professionals such as agents, editors, publicists, etc. But we should also recognize our own contributions to our career and be willing to shoulder that burden.

Too many aspiring authors veer wildly from extreme to extreme. Either they hate all agents or else they love a particular agent more than their firstborn child. They either thumb their nose completely at the industry or they sit back and expect to do nothing while the industry handles everything for them.

And that out-of-whack perspective is what I think you’re referring to, Marco. Too many aspiring authors approach agents with a self-defeatist, arrogant, and antagonistic attitude. I’ve seen query letters that drip with bitterness and begin with “I know you won’t read my submission because I don’t have a famous last name.” Then those people wonder why they get rejected.

And while articles like this one make for an interesting discussion, I think aspiring authors are best served by maintaining a good balance and proper perspective on the industry. I haven’t always done that myself. But the more and more I learn, the more I realize that levelheaded perspective is what’s needed.

Even if my novel has been turned down, at least I know its been turned down by the editorial heads of the biggest publishing houses who are on first name terms with my agent. I would never have been able to get it into their hands by myself. And my agent does all of this for free – not a penny up front. How many other businesspeople will pin their reputation to your work with no promise of any reward? It isn’t like hiring an accountant or a lawyer – an agent will be judged by your work just as you are. If it’s rejected, that hurts them too.
Perhaps my mistake was not to turn it into a play and to get the guardian to let me self-promote by hitching onto a current event into which I can offer little insight.

for what it’s worth, I haven’t been published but have been represented (unsuccessfully) by three highly-regarded London agents over the past 10 years – and I’ve received a lot of help and advice from each of them… even though, obviously, the first two weren’t able to sell the novels they were handling at the time, they each gave the relevant project their best shot… can’t complain.

I think a lot of writers have too little empathy for the agent’s role/life/perspective when they approach them and suffer as a result.