Arsonist's Guide, Contd.

So, I'd say it is not the agents' fault despite my catchy title, a play on you know what, as the huge conglomerations that insist on treating literature as though it is a product, a commodity to be bought and traded as unto cattle...Last week I received a nibble from an agent and sent the stuff off. She had been interested before the query but after reading five chapters said that the events were predictable, and allowed that I could send in a rewrite...so I started rewriting the beginning--rechecking her website for what she deemed saleable. Well...come to find out her bookshelf is not what she has been selling but what she has been reading. She has only sold two things over seven years ago and one was a child's book. Doesn't Bookshelf imply what has been sold? Hmmmm....I checked with Predators and Editors who has nothing on her but has received many questions. I have pushed my HOW TO OUTWIT YOUR COLLEGE PROFESSOR on an another agent to read. I am going to hit agents who handle midlist, and then university presses, and then independent presses--independent presses who have kept their integrity and vision, now that I think about it--for LUCKY JOYCE. I have read lately that publishers are backed up two years...LSU Press has been taking novel submissions for a few years now. The imprint is Yellow Shoes. Donald Maas has a helpful workbook: HOW TO WRITE THE BREAKOUT NOVEL...