Jock Murphy Words and PicturesThe writing and photography of Jock Murphy

I just got an email. Nothing unusual about that, it happens throughout the day. It was a response to a query I had made to an agent. Rare (since most agents do not accept email queries, and I had exhausted the list that had), but not freakishly so. It was dated Aug 23rd, 2004. It took them nearly 10 months to get back to me. They may well have the record. I am never going to feel guilty about taking a day or two to get back to someone again.

It was nearly a year ago that started trying to get the book published. I know because I have the first email flagged. It was sent at 2:03PM July 27th, 2004. I'm not sure I got a reply from them either. This isn't uncommon. Of all of the queries I have sent out, somewhere between 15-25% have not responded back, yet. I say yet, because there appears to be nothing so glacial as the response time to unsoiled queries. Three weeks ago I got a rejection from the first batch of physical mail queries I sent out. I suppose that means that there is still hope that the remaining stragglers.

This has been an exercise in patience. Publishing is an industry that lives by it's own rules. Physical mail and physical copies are the preferred form. Whether it is right or wrong, it is common to cast a suspicious eye at the professionalism of someone who uses AOL for their business email. Get over that quickly if you want to get something published. A great many agents, and even a couple of small publishers, use that as their means of electronic contact.

Self publishing puts me in a world I am more familiar with. Files are sent electronically -- emails, blogs, forums, the web, and the rest of it form the foundation of this side of the industry. The pace is faster, and the world more familiar. It does mean I work in a vacuum. Too easily taking the wrong path. But either way is a risk. Hopefully the road less traveled by (for now) will pay off