On Janet Reid, THE SHARK

This is not the face of evil.

Fish are our friends...

Like many, I subscribe to Janet Reid, the Shark, and her brilliant blog. I have done for years. Why do I do this? Why do I always open every single email from my subscription to her blog? I am represented by a literary agency I absolutely adore, I think Polly and Sarah are two of the best things to ever happen to me, and I have now found a perfect home for my little book in Little, Brown Books For Young Readers and Orion alongside amazing names like Leigh Bardugo, Holly Black and Marcus Sedgwick. In theory, I don't "need" to read her blog . . .  So why do I keep reading what she has to say with such thirst?

Because she takes the time to guide writers, despite her busy schedule, and she does it with genuine feeling. She will, in one blog post, reprimand a writer for being so silly and tell other agents to do a better job at treating writers like human beings. I love that! Every time I read one of her hilarious blog posts, it's apparent that she knows that there are actual people with feelings behind the queries and enquiries she gets. She seems to really understand the (neurotic) writer and his/her mentality. How much pressure we put ourselves under. How hard we work (and agonise) over the tiniest little detail—like what exactly an agency website means when their submission guidelines say to provide a "brief synopsis" . . .

Writer brain: Brief? A brief synopsis   . . .   But brief like the pitch paragraph? Or do they mean like a page long?  . . .  Or three? . . .  Should I break down the whole book? Or just the main bits?  . . .   Maybe brief means five pages, or ten   . . .   or half?   . . .    Maybe I should google it. Oh, wait  . . .  Google says it could mean any of those things. Oh shit. They'll reject me if I don't follow submission guidelines   . . .    but they haven't said if they want the brief synopsis in the body of the email or attached  . . .   if I attach it, will they delete it? But what if they hate long emails  . . . I've blown it! I knew it! I haven't even sent it and it's all OVER  —


            and on and on and on......


Janet Reid understands this. Her sharkiness gets it. For all aspiring writers out there, I would check out her blog. Have a read, hang out for a while. If you have a question, post it there (or look for the answer if someone else has already posted your question). She'll help you keep your crazy in check before you head on out into the wider world. The people who post in her comment boxes are usually pretty lovely too, and we can always use more of that in our world.

Ms. Shark, thank you for being a refuge in a sea of Scary. And for your snark, which is awesome.

Dawn, out.