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***Has the electronic media explosion made the task for the agents and publishers harder?***
Emphatically YES, Geoff.
Since the first word processor made it easier than hand-writing or typing to actually produce a manuscript in the first place, and internet made it easier (if sometimes sloppier) to research -- sheeittt there are even programmes out there that will generate a plot and characters for you -- every man woman and their household pet can knock out 65K words and then send it to hundreds of agents and publishers at the tap of a few keys.
Seems the whole world believes the tired old cliche that everyone has a book in them Trouble is that they have lost track of the fact that it must be a bloody good book to be of any interest to anyone but their old mom and favourite (now retired) English teacher.
You would be amazed at the number of badly written and boooorrrrriiiinnnngggg autobiographies I knock back every week. Everyone's at it. And they don't even check the submissions guidelines that clearly state: No Non-Fiction, including biographies and autobiographies. It drives me potty.
Hoots. Neil
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