[Blarg]

Stephen King's book, On Writing, talks a bit about getting an agent. I really think you guys should read that. One thing he talks about is getting better known on the basis of short stories. A prize or two, however trivial, isn't a bad thing either. He suggests putting together a small portfolio of works before shopping around. FWIW, at least some high-end magazines like the New Yorker do the same thing. They want to get in on the ground floor of not just an interesting piece, but an interesting author. So they will ask for several samples of poetry, for instance.

So getting people to take little bites may be a good way to go about it, rather than asking them to gorge on a novel right away.