Tag Archives: Out of 1000 submissions made to a literary agent

14 reasons why you shouldn’t dream of being a full-time author

The British government’s YouGov poll on which is the most desirable job prompted several articles in the newspapers from authors.

Chas Newkey-Burdon discusses the reality of being a writer in this article from The Daily Telegraph :

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/11422473/14-reasons-why-you-shouldnt-dream-of-being-a-full-time-author.html

In the last few months, since I’ve been chasing a traditional publishing deal, I’ve come across two rather startling, not to say depressing statistics about the process of getting one’s work known.

It’s said that out of 1,000 submissions made to a literary agent or publisher, only one will be given any serious consideration.

Mirroring this figure, out of 1,000 downloads of an ebook on Amazon only one review will be made by a reader.

I keep saying it, but being a writer is tough!