Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get published in the New York Times or Time Magazine? You need somebody to introduce you to those venues...somebody political. I was told by an agent that if I re-wrote the story I’d submitted so the main character was gay, he’d take me as a client. (It would have made the story unworkable, but you see what they’re looking for to make you a published writer?)I gave up mainstream and turned to fantasy and humor.
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A133140011%2Cp_27%3ABern%20Pearson