FEEDBACK NOT FEELGOOD
From the OTHE SIDE OF THE DESK
Being on the receiving end of agent feedback can be traumatic, says Piers Blofeld
In space, we are told, no one can hear you scream. This I think is the experience many authors feel they have sending out their work to agents. The rejections are bad enough, but the thing that makes the process so utterly agonising is the silence. The lack of feedback.
But what no one ever tells you is that feedback itself can be incredibly hard to receive. We all long for people to love our work. The trouble is, it just isn’t that simple. That’s not an agent’s job.
To use a date metaphor, it’s one thing to be told that someone thinks you are gorgeous, it is quite another to be told they think you are gorgeous but you could do with losing a few pounds and that your haircut is doing you no favours. That’s liable not to be a very good date…