Morgoth321
Acrobat
There's a thread in the general forum about Hawkmoon 269 (the song), to which I provided this not-entirely-serious contribution:
"You know, I loved the mysterious possibilities of the song's title so much that I actually used it as the title of a thriller novel set in Dublin, that featured lots of references to U2 music and significant locations relating to the band. I thought it would be a good idea and one commercially attractive to literary agents and publishers (given the millions of U2 fans worldwide who might've been interested). However, the agents and publishers disagreed, as they clearly prefer to churn out celebrity memoirs, ghostwritten sex-and-shopping nonsense, and endless Twilight ripoffs about vampires and werewolves. Oh well, seemed like a good idea at the time...(Not that I'm bitter or anything! It's entirely possible that my writing isn't that good, but since I'm not a minor celebrity or controversial public figure, I've got additional hurdles to pass.)
Sorry, rant over. Anybody know any publishers or agents in the UK who'd like to read a U2-related thriller?!"
Now, having thought a bit more about this, I decided to start this thread in a more relevant forum, with particular reference to my concluding question. I know this is a bit of a long shot, but is there anyone out there connected to the publishing industry who'd be willing to help a fellow fan out? I'm only asking because it's so hard for an unpublished, unknown author to even get a fair hearing, since the industry seems to revolve around personal recommendations, blatant nepotism, and especially a dominating obsession with celebrity. (What's always galled me is that, in many cases, celebrity novels or memoirs are terrible and don't even sell that well, so why do they keep getting published?)
Truth is, I've had a few rejections, but I honestly don't know if it's because the subject matter doesn't interest agents, or just that I suck as a writer! If it's the latter, fair enough, but it would at least be nice to know if I'm wasting my time or not. The problem is that agents don't tell you anything other than 'No', if they even reply at all. I spent a lot of time writing and researching this book, including a total structural recasting that - I think - really improved it. I've even planned sequels but have refrained from starting any actual writing in case there's no point. On the assumption that my writing is of a publishable standard, all I'd need would be one person in the publishing industry (agent or publisher) who'd be interested enough to help get it into print. So, if any of this shameless begging sounds at all interesting or appealing, please feel free to get in touch!
(Mods: if any of this is inappropriate content, then I apologise and you should feel free to delete.)
"You know, I loved the mysterious possibilities of the song's title so much that I actually used it as the title of a thriller novel set in Dublin, that featured lots of references to U2 music and significant locations relating to the band. I thought it would be a good idea and one commercially attractive to literary agents and publishers (given the millions of U2 fans worldwide who might've been interested). However, the agents and publishers disagreed, as they clearly prefer to churn out celebrity memoirs, ghostwritten sex-and-shopping nonsense, and endless Twilight ripoffs about vampires and werewolves. Oh well, seemed like a good idea at the time...(Not that I'm bitter or anything! It's entirely possible that my writing isn't that good, but since I'm not a minor celebrity or controversial public figure, I've got additional hurdles to pass.)
Sorry, rant over. Anybody know any publishers or agents in the UK who'd like to read a U2-related thriller?!"
Now, having thought a bit more about this, I decided to start this thread in a more relevant forum, with particular reference to my concluding question. I know this is a bit of a long shot, but is there anyone out there connected to the publishing industry who'd be willing to help a fellow fan out? I'm only asking because it's so hard for an unpublished, unknown author to even get a fair hearing, since the industry seems to revolve around personal recommendations, blatant nepotism, and especially a dominating obsession with celebrity. (What's always galled me is that, in many cases, celebrity novels or memoirs are terrible and don't even sell that well, so why do they keep getting published?)
Truth is, I've had a few rejections, but I honestly don't know if it's because the subject matter doesn't interest agents, or just that I suck as a writer! If it's the latter, fair enough, but it would at least be nice to know if I'm wasting my time or not. The problem is that agents don't tell you anything other than 'No', if they even reply at all. I spent a lot of time writing and researching this book, including a total structural recasting that - I think - really improved it. I've even planned sequels but have refrained from starting any actual writing in case there's no point. On the assumption that my writing is of a publishable standard, all I'd need would be one person in the publishing industry (agent or publisher) who'd be interested enough to help get it into print. So, if any of this shameless begging sounds at all interesting or appealing, please feel free to get in touch!
(Mods: if any of this is inappropriate content, then I apologise and you should feel free to delete.)
It's just too damn hard to even get noticed these days...
