shalanna

Publishing: liberal? Or conservative?

The impression I've always had is that editors and agents tend towards the more politically liberal side, especially because they come from the liberal arts track of the university (in general). So I would expect them to laugh at some of the things I mock in my Pundit Show novel.

I'm sending the first 25 pages to a contest that'll ultimately be judged by editor Michele Bidelspach at Warner Books (the Warner Forever line) and agent Pamela Ahearn of The Ahearn Agency. But that's the FINAL round. What I'm a bit concerned about is actually reaching that stage, because the contest judges (volunteers from the RWA chapter that's running the contest) may be far more Midwestern and Dubya-loving. I've run into crazy marks on score sheets before because of stuff that I thought was a tossed-off witticism and the judges thought was a treasonous, arrest-worthy offense. (And they NEVER "get" allusions. I don't care if they're Biblical allusions, Shakespearean winks, or a nod to pop culture, there's ALWAYS a dweeb who actually circles stuff and puts, "This doesn't make sense." So I'm trying to be more no-style in this one.)

Here's what I'm concerned about: I called the pundit whose show Kate works on "Rusty Lintball." We've always called The Large One that in jest, ever since he made some kind of awful racist or ignorant remarks a few years ago. Earlier this year, he mocked Michael J. Fox's illness, which really chapped my buns. So I don't feel bad at all when I call my pundit that. We can always change the name later, and I suspect that not everyone is still a Dittohead. And I also have her think fond thoughts of the people involved in the show, and she's working there, isn't she? But still, there are many people who would knee-jerk rate my entry all zeroes and say I'm not patriotic because of this. They can't take a bit of teasing, though they've always expected the other side of the aisle to. . . .

Anyhow, if you have any suggestions as to a funny name that might pass muster a little more easily, get 'em to me ASAP (and yes, I'm a sap . . . why do you ask) so I can edit that and print these pages. Wanna get 'em into the mail.

I sent off those three queries, BTW. I just went ahead and used that blurb in my previous entry with a bit of tweaking. If it's meant to be, yadda yadda yadda.