Response to Readings

So, I read How to Get a Book Deal with out an Agent, and am realizing that many of the authors that I read have been published due to an interns "mistake." Which, on the one hand, is great for the author, and on the other, makes me nervous. I'm not one of those people that goes against the rules and sends my manuscripts to big publishing houses if they don't accept unsolicited manuscripts. I don't know why I haven't done that, I think I'm just scared out of my mind. Maybe I should. I'm also not one of those who does as Jim Munroe suggests and sends my stuff to places that aren't my kind of stuff. After interning at Browne and Miller for a semester and reading tons of queries, I have a different respect for sending out only what a publisher or agent is looking for. Because I can't tell you how annoying it is to have people submitting children's books when the website clearly states we DO NOT take on children's books.
In thinking about cover art for novels and such, it makes me really angry that authors don't have more of a say on what THEIR novel will look like. This is unfair for many reasons. The biggest one being because some people go to a book store and if they don't like the cover they won't read the book (which is dumb, but it happens). I think the author should have a lot of say in the art for their book. It is after all, their book. Its the same with children's picture books. The author of the text has no say over the illustrations at all. It's such a weird concept--to have created something and then not get a say in how the final product looks. Needless to say, it makes me upset.
I totally understand what Munroe means when he says it's hard to get an agent to take you on. I myself have been searching and submitting with no luck so far, and it's a really frustrating process. But I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing, and trying and keeping my fingers crossed that someday I'll meet someone who wants to take me on, or I'll get lucky and an agent i submit to will actually like my stuff. The only good thing, is that I have gotten a lot of positive feedback.
The other article, An Argument for Writers' Taking Charge made me think about the fact that once I get taken on by an agent or a publisher that the person who actually cares about my book could very well get fired--and that also scares me to death. The article also talked about the sale of books and how usually most first time authors don't sell that many books, and honestly, that would be fine with me. I just want to be able to say I was published and have the physical copy in my hands. And leave it to fate whether someone picks it up and really loves it and it becomes and world wide phenomenon. That's not to say that I'm not going to market my butt off, because I would.
I've learned a lot about publishing in the recent years at Columbia and especially after my internship and I'm starting to believe that publishing is extremely scary! However, I'm still holding out on the hope that some day I'll make it big in a big house and get that lofty advance!