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http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/wrg/1092910697.html
Except a hat tip to a dark haired lady who added me on FB recently. :-)
Except a hat tip to a dark haired lady who added me on FB recently. :-)
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I've had the pleasure of meeting several of my competitors over the last couple years. While we all have our own personalities, we do have several things in common. Near the top of that list is a dearth of time. This is true of those of us building our lists, and those who have lists that make their competitors salivate. One of the things that I'll take the opportunity to declare a universal truth of agents is that we tend to ask questions with a precision a neurosurgeon would appreciate. We know exactly what info we are looking for. We want it in a specific order if at all possible, and broken up into orderly clusters that can let us apply that information with the maximum effect later. So when we ask a question, please answer the question we do ask, not the question you wish we'd asked, or the question you think we should have asked, or ala most politicians and public relations talking heads the question you wanted us to ask.
The reasons for this are legion, the most salient are stated above. But they are (at least for me) not the only reasons we do this. For me, and I suspect most agents one of the things taken into consideration when we read enough of a submission and its cover letter is how much we want to work with the person who created the title. I've gotten no few submissions since I started the agency from people who wrote at a publishable level (or very close to it) but who were in the precise technical terms I learned as a psychology student bug-fuck-nuts and who would have sucked up more of my energy than I care to devote to any one person. Indeed, It would be unfair of me to other clients to take on these people who would take my time and energy away from existing and future clients who had entrusted their career to me.
The reasons for this are legion, the most salient are stated above. But they are (at least for me) not the only reasons we do this. For me, and I suspect most agents one of the things taken into consideration when we read enough of a submission and its cover letter is how much we want to work with the person who created the title. I've gotten no few submissions since I started the agency from people who wrote at a publishable level (or very close to it) but who were in the precise technical terms I learned as a psychology student bug-fuck-nuts and who would have sucked up more of my energy than I care to devote to any one person. Indeed, It would be unfair of me to other clients to take on these people who would take my time and energy away from existing and future clients who had entrusted their career to me.
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The human mind is capable of doing amazing things. When you think of if, it's rather amazing we haven't made more technological advances. The first airplane was designed without the aid of computers, and the general principles of aerodynamics are not much changed since that time. Someone decided that the funny stuff growing in a petri dish might make a real good medicine, and it has. Both of these were the results of specialized thinking. General thinking though is what has lead to the far ranging works of Leonardo da Vinci and his contributions not just to art, but to engineering, mathematics, botany and more. Ben Franklin was another generalist contributing in social and physical sciences.
( cut for length and pics ).
( cut for length and pics ).
I actually managed to leave my house a bit early today. Which is good, otherwise i would have ended up dithering around and packing another ten pounds of stuff into my bags. Not stuff i needed, but merely stuff I saw and couldn't resist the challenge of trying to fit it into my bag. My drive down to the shuttle was fine. I got there early, the shuttle was clean, nearly empty and on time. I got to the airport and despite hellalot of people in front of me (okay, about 15) i was seated in Legal Seafoods at Terminal C 13 minutes after stepping uff the shuttle. This is several kinds of marvel at Logan. Normally it takes people twenty minutest to understand they do need their ID, and it is helpful to remember what city they are flying to. I adore competent travelers!.
I ate. for the first time in about 22 hours and the food was excellent even for Legal Seafoods. I saw hellalong lines at the check point. Marvel of marvels, it took less than 15 minutes to go from back of the line to shoes back on. I adore competent travelers!.I get to my terminal and there is something new. Something glorious and new. Something glorious and powerful and new. I speak of course of the power outlets installed int he new bench seats that not only don't have stains and rips, have power outlets..I nearly leaped for joy. Instead, i sat down,. plugged my laptop in, hit the power button and heard The Call.
Yes, the call telling me my flights gate had been changed. I was ok with this. Really. Then I got to that gate, where there were also clean, unripped, powered chairs and found out sorry no connection for you ! Yep, the 13 minutes someone had booked between my landing in JFK and leaving for Denver wasn't gonna work with the delay of the incoming flight. The nice, nice man offered me a direct flight. I said 'Sure, you're the best!' and nearly did a happy dance.Then he even called and got my bags moved. If he'd been a woman i would have proposed. Then he told me the bad news.My shiny direct flight doesn't leave until about three hours after the flght i was supposed to be on. Oddly, this new flight landed only about 35 minutes after the flight i should have been on. I went meh and trudged off to the bar. Here, my challenge is to remain sober enough over the next couple hours to be allowed to board my flight.
Sadly it is way to lound to do slush or anything productive.
I ate. for the first time in about 22 hours and the food was excellent even for Legal Seafoods. I saw hellalong lines at the check point. Marvel of marvels, it took less than 15 minutes to go from back of the line to shoes back on. I adore competent travelers!.I get to my terminal and there is something new. Something glorious and new. Something glorious and powerful and new. I speak of course of the power outlets installed int he new bench seats that not only don't have stains and rips, have power outlets..I nearly leaped for joy. Instead, i sat down,. plugged my laptop in, hit the power button and heard The Call.
Yes, the call telling me my flights gate had been changed. I was ok with this. Really. Then I got to that gate, where there were also clean, unripped, powered chairs and found out sorry no connection for you ! Yep, the 13 minutes someone had booked between my landing in JFK and leaving for Denver wasn't gonna work with the delay of the incoming flight. The nice, nice man offered me a direct flight. I said 'Sure, you're the best!' and nearly did a happy dance.Then he even called and got my bags moved. If he'd been a woman i would have proposed. Then he told me the bad news.My shiny direct flight doesn't leave until about three hours after the flght i was supposed to be on. Oddly, this new flight landed only about 35 minutes after the flight i should have been on. I went meh and trudged off to the bar. Here, my challenge is to remain sober enough over the next couple hours to be allowed to board my flight.
Sadly it is way to lound to do slush or anything productive.
Today's lesson in reality is: Hard sells in the wrong places.
The hard sell is a technique which uses subtlety and guile in the velvet soft manner of a battering ram to gain access to your wallet. You'll often see this from used car salesmen, politicians, and late night infomercials. In the hands of the skilled the hard sell is indeed dangerous, effective and nearly irresistible. But only when aimed at the right target. Professional sales people are never the right target. Someone who is good at sales can spot the parts of your pitch only slightly faster than your mom could tell you had a bad day at school when you were six. The harder you push at said salesperson, the lower your chances are for success. Do expect that salesperson to critique your performance at some point, depending on your level of inanity it could be to your face. And of course the essence of the hard sell (or the soft sell, or any other sales technique) is have your facts straight. Black is not dark gray, blue is not off purple.
Today I had someone try and hustle me. They did not enjoy the experience.
The hard sell is a technique which uses subtlety and guile in the velvet soft manner of a battering ram to gain access to your wallet. You'll often see this from used car salesmen, politicians, and late night infomercials. In the hands of the skilled the hard sell is indeed dangerous, effective and nearly irresistible. But only when aimed at the right target. Professional sales people are never the right target. Someone who is good at sales can spot the parts of your pitch only slightly faster than your mom could tell you had a bad day at school when you were six. The harder you push at said salesperson, the lower your chances are for success. Do expect that salesperson to critique your performance at some point, depending on your level of inanity it could be to your face. And of course the essence of the hard sell (or the soft sell, or any other sales technique) is have your facts straight. Black is not dark gray, blue is not off purple.
Today I had someone try and hustle me. They did not enjoy the experience.
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