A.C. Crispin has a great post on her blog about the unrealistic expectations many aspiring writers have about what it’ll be like to have an agent and an editor, and how Hollywood fuels those fantasies:
“Remember Romancing the Stone with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas? At the end of the movie, we see Kathleen Turner’s romance writer character sitting in her editor’s office, having just brought in the ms. for her new book. The editor is reading the last page of the ms., and crying like a wee infant. The editor looks up, eyes brimming with tears, and tells her writer that she’s wonderful, the story is wonderful, it’s the best thing she’s ever read, etc., etc.
Ahem. Ahem.”
“I believe that Hollywood’s distorted portrayal of agents and publishers inadvertently softens up aspiring writers, making them vulnerable to the blandishments of scammers,” Crispin adds, explaining that scammers can prey on would-be authors who have no real understanding of how the business works, especially if they’ve already received a typical rejection from an established reputable literary agent who doesn’t have time to waste on unmarketable junk.