A month ago I was surprised to receive an email from a literary agent interested in my semi-fiction piece BET ON CRAZY. These vignettes cover my years as a diamond dealer on West 47th Street in New York. This interest was unsolicited, so I took special care to present my writing in the right light in hopes of getting published. Instead the agent rejected my offering.
Here’s her letter.
Hi Peter-
These stories are certainly interesting and I found your writing very engaging but I am afraid ultimately I didn’t see the book here. The publishing industry is having a difficult time right now and for me to take on a new client I need to be quite confident I can sell it well- I am afraid I didn’t have the necessary enthusiasm to take this on for representation.
No commerical value. No sell-out.
“Please let me sell-out.”
Please remember that publishing is a business of opinions and mine is just one. Thanks so much for thinking of me and I wish you the best of luck in placing it elsewhere.
Best,
Agent
I thanked her for the interest and went back to writing my novel about teenage devil worship in the 1960s, where a young boy sells his soul to the Devil in order to save his parents’ marriage.