Getting Serious About Getting Published - #1
First, Happy Turkey Day! I hope that those who celebrate this holiday are enjoying themselves, not spending time in the emergency room because they popped a still frozen turkey in the ol' deep fryer vat and it exploded. It's a day to be thankful, after all, not a day to end up in jail because you got really drunk watching the football game and then picked a fight with Uncle Billy over the ref's call.
I'm just sayin' - be thankful and mellow.
So, I've decided to drag you along on my journey to get published. I'd pushed it aside for some time (after a computer crash made me loose over seven manuscripts and so I did some intense pouting - okay, yes, there were other reasons too) and decided it really is the time for me to get back to it. Also, the Capt. has been after me to GET WITH IT!
I'm currently working on a manuscript that is a contemporary romantic suspense. Since it will be at least several months before it's ready to make the rounds, I decided to haul out an old favorite to test the waters with again. It's the third ms I completed, a historical romance, with characters not only I love but also others say they love.
Part of the reason I was spurred on to get this out there was that several people I know just got multiple historical book deals and both have the same agent.
First, let me explain that publishing is cyclical. When I originally shopped this around, the market was saturated with historicals and the hot new trends were contemporaries and specifically chit-lit. Now, historicals are once again finding favor with publishers and fans, it would seem.
Having heard about two chapter-mates getting deals with this same agent, I decided to check her and her agency out. I researched her author list (looking at all, not just romance), recent book deals, current genres & sub-genres they are interested in and memberships to organizations. I got it all off her website and then followed that up by checking other organizations to be sure she and her agency were indeed members in good standing. They were. I also googled her name and found positive comments about her on message boards. While I knew she had years of experience, I learned that she was actively seeking authors since the agency was only a few years old.
Now that I had all this information, I decided to really work hard at my query and I sent it off exactly in the manner she had requested, which was again posted on her website.
I've submitted to agents before and had done a few just recently only to not hear anything back. That's quite common. Agents and editors get hundreds of queries a month. When I very first started writing, I sent a query and partial (first three chapters) to an editor. FOUR YEARS LATER, I got the rejection! I laughed pretty hard about that. The editor I had sent it to originally was no longer working for that publisher and someone else got stuck going through her slush pile in addition to their own. I didn't blame them for rejecting it - it was not nearly as polished as it should have been. But four years later? They should have just tossed it and saved themselves the additional postage and, I would think, the embarrassment!
Anyway, I am no stranger to the painfully long wait you get once you submit something. It can takes months and months to hear back, if you ever do. So imagine my complete shock when I checked my e-mail and received a request to submit a partial - THE VERY NEXT DAY! I have never heard of an agent being that fast before, ever. And she apologized that it may then take her a whole two weeks to get back to me on the three chapters. Seriously?!?!? No apologies needed!
That's where it stands right now. Of course, I will try not to freak out too bad if it takes her a little longer, what with Thanksgiving and all.
I will try but that's the best I can promise.
Oh, and happy Thankgsgiving again. You know at least one thing I'm thankful for this year!
I'm just sayin' - be thankful and mellow.
So, I've decided to drag you along on my journey to get published. I'd pushed it aside for some time (after a computer crash made me loose over seven manuscripts and so I did some intense pouting - okay, yes, there were other reasons too) and decided it really is the time for me to get back to it. Also, the Capt. has been after me to GET WITH IT!
I'm currently working on a manuscript that is a contemporary romantic suspense. Since it will be at least several months before it's ready to make the rounds, I decided to haul out an old favorite to test the waters with again. It's the third ms I completed, a historical romance, with characters not only I love but also others say they love.
Part of the reason I was spurred on to get this out there was that several people I know just got multiple historical book deals and both have the same agent.
First, let me explain that publishing is cyclical. When I originally shopped this around, the market was saturated with historicals and the hot new trends were contemporaries and specifically chit-lit. Now, historicals are once again finding favor with publishers and fans, it would seem.
Having heard about two chapter-mates getting deals with this same agent, I decided to check her and her agency out. I researched her author list (looking at all, not just romance), recent book deals, current genres & sub-genres they are interested in and memberships to organizations. I got it all off her website and then followed that up by checking other organizations to be sure she and her agency were indeed members in good standing. They were. I also googled her name and found positive comments about her on message boards. While I knew she had years of experience, I learned that she was actively seeking authors since the agency was only a few years old.
Now that I had all this information, I decided to really work hard at my query and I sent it off exactly in the manner she had requested, which was again posted on her website.
I've submitted to agents before and had done a few just recently only to not hear anything back. That's quite common. Agents and editors get hundreds of queries a month. When I very first started writing, I sent a query and partial (first three chapters) to an editor. FOUR YEARS LATER, I got the rejection! I laughed pretty hard about that. The editor I had sent it to originally was no longer working for that publisher and someone else got stuck going through her slush pile in addition to their own. I didn't blame them for rejecting it - it was not nearly as polished as it should have been. But four years later? They should have just tossed it and saved themselves the additional postage and, I would think, the embarrassment!
Anyway, I am no stranger to the painfully long wait you get once you submit something. It can takes months and months to hear back, if you ever do. So imagine my complete shock when I checked my e-mail and received a request to submit a partial - THE VERY NEXT DAY! I have never heard of an agent being that fast before, ever. And she apologized that it may then take her a whole two weeks to get back to me on the three chapters. Seriously?!?!? No apologies needed!
That's where it stands right now. Of course, I will try not to freak out too bad if it takes her a little longer, what with Thanksgiving and all.
I will try but that's the best I can promise.
Oh, and happy Thankgsgiving again. You know at least one thing I'm thankful for this year!
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