The Stench of Sycophancy in Publishing

If you’ve been around writers, agents, and publishers for a while, you will be aware that ass-kissing, pandering, and sycophancy (call it what you will) are a feature of this harsh industry, where only a couple of hundred top agents can actually get good publishing deals, where a safe bet for publishers is a book that follows current trends, and where the exponential increase in people aspiring to publication creates a Hunger Games scenario in many writers’ minds.Why not kiss ass? What do you have to lose?Your credibility, for one. And the time you could have spent better building relationships in a more sustainable and fruitful way.Your Gifted Underachievers discuss these other ways to create relationships with industry professionals. Although few of them require large amounts of money, they all take time and effort.Questions for Listeners:* Have you ever kissed ass hoping it would get your material read / seen / viewed?* How did that work out for you?* What else have you done to build industry relationships that’s yielded tangible results?For Further Exploration:Learn how to Sell Your Book Without Begging or Bragging: https://getaliteraryagent.com/sell-yourself-book-literary-agents/Get the lowdown on Ben Shattuck, James’s new BFF (not): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_ShattuckThe creative who LIKES pitching—Amber Petty:Meet the writer who connected Pat with her agent: https://www.sharonharrigan.net/Buy us a Coffee and Win a BookHere in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 20 coffee angels will get a free guide!Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com