It's my Blog and I'll B&(*ch if I want to..(Sing it like Leslie Gore)

I am assuming everyone has heard the phrase CATCH-22. Well without naming too many names let’s just say that is where most of us writer’s who do NOT have an A*$&%T, and the PUB&#&^#$er says you need one. But when queried, the A*$&%T tells you that they are not taking on any NEW clients, or that YOUR work is not right for any publisher in the known universe. That is when your frustration becomes almost tangible, and you are sure you can rip the yellow pages in half with your two front teeth.

Yes my friends, as I perused the vast world of media information to see just who is looking for what in the annals of publishing, I keep seeing the same phrases, WE ARE LOOKING FOR NEW AND FRESH VOICES and NO UNAGENTED MANUSCRIPTS ACCEPTED. So I ask you, is it fresh voices they are really looking for or just want to continue to walk the safe road? I have known a few brave A&*$&%Ts who dared to take a chance on someone new (not someone they KNEW) and made quite a name for themselves and helped someone get published. It was so refreshing. BUT THEN....the other day, I went into the one the larger book chains (you know of where I speak) and I was appalled at some of the stuff that has been put to paper. If I may borrow the line from somewhere, I WEPT FOR THE TREES. How in the world can such CRAP be published, yet people with real stories to tell never get a chance to tell them? The big HUH? in the middle of my face gave me a headache that has lasted until today.It’s said that everyone can write a book but not everyone can tell a good story, but WHY do some stupid stories get published?

Just the other day I was watching the FOOD Channel where this guy who was into photography decided he was going to take pictures of EVERYTHING he ate (before he ate ...thankfully) it. It was daily pictures of his morning French cruller, lunchtime pizza and even his all day chicken SOUP marathon when he had a week long cold. I kid you not, this GUY had a book published about it. He said he wanted to "educate the masses." ON WHAT? I eat every day and nobody gives an old rat's left nut ball.

Why do I and other writer/readers see the same old thing ALL the time? I’m not angry, just bewildered. When they say: "This is what’s hot" and "what we want more of," so run home and hurry to send it in, and WHAM, the manuscript hits you in the back of the head before you can get your car door closed. I call this the Frustration Factor and TOO many of us are living it. But I'll keep on just like you'll keep on, because you know what? YOU NEVER KNOW!