Writers Beware: The Fast Yes and the Slow No

In Hollywood, screenwriters soon learn that there are two types of responses that movie producers give to a screenplay:  The Fast Yes and The Slow No.

With the Fast Yes, the producer instantly “falls in love” with the script, clearly sees its commercial appeal, and can't wait make the writer an offer.

With the Slow No, the producer kind of, sort of likes the screenplay, and believes that if the writer would just make a few “minor” changes, he/she would (maybe, probably) like it a lot better and even (maybe, probably) buy it. 

Some writers run off and spend months, even years, dutifully making all these changes, only to find that when the screenplay is polished to the producer’s perfection and resubmitted, the producer still says no! 

The result is that the writer wastes a huge amount time and experiences untold anger and frustration.  Worse, the writer ends up with a screenplay that has been highly customized to the subjective tastes of one particular person, and is of very little interest to anybody else.

The same thing happens in the music business, and the A&R reps in the record industry have a similar saying:

“If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.”

Guess what, folks?  It's no surprise that the same thing happens in the publishing industry.  A literary agent or publishing house editor likes your book, kind of, sort of, and strokes your ego by telling you what a good writer you are, and that if you would just make these “minor” changes for them, they will “take another look” (and maybe, probably—you think—make you an offer to represent or buy the book)

Utter hogwash.

Most of the time, this is The Slow No.

If you find yourself tempted to fall for this (and if you really want to be published, you will be), tell yourself the following:

1.  You are not a slave.  You deserve to be paid for your work.

2.  Even if the agent or editor does not understand the highly subjective nature of the feedback he or she has given you, you do!  You know better than to spend weeks, months or years customizing (free of charge!) your book to please the taste of one person, no matter how “powerful” that person would like you to believe he or she is in the industry.

3.  You have developed confidence in yourself and your writing ability.  You believe in your work.  You do not let so-called industry experts dictate what is “good” or “bad” to you.  You let readers decide, because at the end of the day, that’s who you are writing for—readers—not literary agents, book editors or even book reviewers or critics.

It may come as no surprise that when you learn to "say no" to The Slow No, you start making real progress in your writing career.  

That's when people stop viewing you as an amateur and start treating you like a professional.

If you found this article useful, feel free to buy me a cup of coffee 😃  click here  - 

RETURN TO ADVICE FOR WRITERS PAGE