Happy late Thanksgiving, guys, gals, and Elves! I hope you had a great one! I sure did.
After ten days of consideration, I have decided to continue my search for an agent. The decision has been gradual, but I believe it is better than getting an editor or working on another project. This time, though, I will be sending the manuscript to several agents at once.
I have many hours of research ahead of me; I need to look into each agent to see if they are respectable and fair people who will not take advantage of a novice writer. To do this, I will e-mail a few of the authors and publishers who the agent has worked with and ask for their opinion of the agent. I did this with the previous agent, and it was time consuming enough with just that one. Now I need to do it for several agents!
I do not know when I'll have the time to do this, as I am busily preparing for a certain holiday called... um... oh, yeah, CHRISTMAS! After the season is over, I expect to be able to resume my quest properly.
So if you know of an agent that I should look into, let me know! :)
Post Tenebras Lux!
-ST
Showing posts with label Agents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Agents. Show all posts
Nov 27, 2009
Nov 17, 2009
The SASE I Hoped I Would Never See Again
An ominous letter came in the mail today. Addressed to myself... by myself... with the return address of the agent in the left-hand corner. I think I literally gulped as I opened the envelope and unfolded the white sheet that was tucked inside.
The letter got right to the point (unlike this post). The agent thanked me for sending my proposal, but said it was not what they were looking for.
But there is more. The agent was very kind and said that my proposal was well done (thanks for your help, Dwarf!). The agent also commented that my writing skills are high (not to toot my own horn or anything...), but I need to work on the crafting of the story. All around, the note was very encouraging. I would pick this type of letter for any writer's first rejection notice.
I am not as disappointed as I expected to be. For years I have been imagining what a rejection letter would feel like, so I think that has helped build a wall against becoming depressed. My family is super supportive. I have a God who still loves me like crazy. Basically, life is still awesome.
I do have some decisions I need to make now. Do I continue to search for the right agent? Do I send the story to an editor? Do I put it aside and work on something else for a while? I definitely need to seek God's guidance at this point (as I should be always, anyway). I'll post when I know what I'm doing, of course.
THANK YOU ALL FOR PRAYING!!! It didn't work out the way I had hoped, but that wasn't what I was praying for. Obviously, God has a different plan. Thank you, thank you, thank you guys and gals for keeping me in prayer and supporting me during this time. You are the best.
Post Tenebras Lux!
-ST
The letter got right to the point (unlike this post). The agent thanked me for sending my proposal, but said it was not what they were looking for.
But there is more. The agent was very kind and said that my proposal was well done (thanks for your help, Dwarf!). The agent also commented that my writing skills are high (not to toot my own horn or anything...), but I need to work on the crafting of the story. All around, the note was very encouraging. I would pick this type of letter for any writer's first rejection notice.
I am not as disappointed as I expected to be. For years I have been imagining what a rejection letter would feel like, so I think that has helped build a wall against becoming depressed. My family is super supportive. I have a God who still loves me like crazy. Basically, life is still awesome.
I do have some decisions I need to make now. Do I continue to search for the right agent? Do I send the story to an editor? Do I put it aside and work on something else for a while? I definitely need to seek God's guidance at this point (as I should be always, anyway). I'll post when I know what I'm doing, of course.
THANK YOU ALL FOR PRAYING!!! It didn't work out the way I had hoped, but that wasn't what I was praying for. Obviously, God has a different plan. Thank you, thank you, thank you guys and gals for keeping me in prayer and supporting me during this time. You are the best.
Post Tenebras Lux!
-ST
Sep 16, 2009
Writing the Book Proposal
A few days ago, I resent the e-mail to the second publisher asking about the agent. Let's hope they realize that I am serious for an answer this time. :)
While I'm waiting for a response from the publisher, I have begun to write my book proposal. It is going to take more time than I thought! Apparently, there is a certain way to do this, according to Michael Hyatt (the CEO of Thomas Nelson, you'll remember). I am under the impression that the proposal does not need to be followed to the letter of the law, but since this is my very first one, I don't want to experiment too much. When I am a million dollar author, I won't worry about it as much, but until then.... (ha ha, a millionaire, right.In my dreams!)
If you don't know, a book proposal is an overview of what you are presenting to the agent. It contains all the information, and I mean all. From the the manuscript length, to your selling ideas, to your biography, to a description of what your audience will look like. Yeah, a lot of work. And it doesn't help that every time I think about it, I get butterflies in my stomach!
It is so close now. Soon I will know if I am to be an author. Very scary.
I know that most first time authors get rejected. That's alright. God's plan will come about. If getting published is His plan, then whoopee!!! If not, then He knows best.
Just this experience is getting me all hyped up. This whole process is my dream coming true.
So, that is the short update.
Post Tenebras Lux,
-ST
While I'm waiting for a response from the publisher, I have begun to write my book proposal. It is going to take more time than I thought! Apparently, there is a certain way to do this, according to Michael Hyatt (the CEO of Thomas Nelson, you'll remember). I am under the impression that the proposal does not need to be followed to the letter of the law, but since this is my very first one, I don't want to experiment too much. When I am a million dollar author, I won't worry about it as much, but until then.... (ha ha, a millionaire, right.In my dreams!)
If you don't know, a book proposal is an overview of what you are presenting to the agent. It contains all the information, and I mean all. From the the manuscript length, to your selling ideas, to your biography, to a description of what your audience will look like. Yeah, a lot of work. And it doesn't help that every time I think about it, I get butterflies in my stomach!
It is so close now. Soon I will know if I am to be an author. Very scary.
I know that most first time authors get rejected. That's alright. God's plan will come about. If getting published is His plan, then whoopee!!! If not, then He knows best.
Just this experience is getting me all hyped up. This whole process is my dream coming true.
So, that is the short update.
Post Tenebras Lux,
-ST
Sep 6, 2009
My Journey so Far
This blogging is going to take some getting used to! As you will see, I am a random writer; depending on my mood, I can be as poetic as I was yesterday and then suddenly break out in slang... y'know what I'm sayin'? This is good for creating character voices, not so good for blogging. I'm going to have to find my middle ground....
Anyway, as I said in my last post, I am in the process of publishing a book I have written. I can't give too many details about the book on this blog, for the obvious reason that they could be stolen. I'm sure you can understand why that would be a bad thing. I can say that it is Christian sci-fi/fantasy, and I guess the age group would be teens, although I think it is good for any age. The book stands at approximately 300 pages and over 100,000 words. I am in the process of the final editing, but the numbers shouldn't change drastically.
So, where am I in the publishing process? Well, in between editing, I am searching for an agent. In order to be recognized by any large publisher, you have to have an agent. If you send in a manuscript just out of the blue, they will not even look at it. But finding an agent is almost as difficult as finding a publisher. Agents are besieged by author wannabes, and finding the right manuscript is like looking for that old needle in a haystack. But if the needle is solid gold, then it is worth the search. That is an agent's job; to find that gold needle.
Agents don't have time to read every manuscript, so along with your book, you have to send in a query, which is basically a mini book proposal, from what I have gathered. The query tells the agent the basics of your book. So I will soon be whipping up one of those, too.
I have found an agent who looks promising, and I expect to be sending in my book and query soon. It is incredible how God has been opening doors for me!
My book was not originally written for publication. I wrote it for fun, to be read only by my friends and family. Everyone kept asking if I was going to publish, telling me it was really good. I just thought, "Yeah, well, that's just cuz you're my friends. You wouldn't really think it was good if it had been written by someone else!" Then one of my friends sent it to someone I had never met (and still haven't met, in fact)... and this person was captured by the story! It was the first time someone I didn't know had read something I'd written, someone who had no obligation to say they liked it, and they thought it was good. I was... well, flattered! If that person liked it, then maybe other people would, too. I finally began to consider publishing it.
Since then, I have been slowly moving in that direction, but it wasn't until recently that it has begun to really come together. It is crazy how God seems to be letting all this happen. We'll see how it goes from here, but for now, I am going to keep pursuing getting this book published unless God tells me to knock it off.
-ST
Anyway, as I said in my last post, I am in the process of publishing a book I have written. I can't give too many details about the book on this blog, for the obvious reason that they could be stolen. I'm sure you can understand why that would be a bad thing. I can say that it is Christian sci-fi/fantasy, and I guess the age group would be teens, although I think it is good for any age. The book stands at approximately 300 pages and over 100,000 words. I am in the process of the final editing, but the numbers shouldn't change drastically.
So, where am I in the publishing process? Well, in between editing, I am searching for an agent. In order to be recognized by any large publisher, you have to have an agent. If you send in a manuscript just out of the blue, they will not even look at it. But finding an agent is almost as difficult as finding a publisher. Agents are besieged by author wannabes, and finding the right manuscript is like looking for that old needle in a haystack. But if the needle is solid gold, then it is worth the search. That is an agent's job; to find that gold needle.
Agents don't have time to read every manuscript, so along with your book, you have to send in a query, which is basically a mini book proposal, from what I have gathered. The query tells the agent the basics of your book. So I will soon be whipping up one of those, too.
I have found an agent who looks promising, and I expect to be sending in my book and query soon. It is incredible how God has been opening doors for me!
My book was not originally written for publication. I wrote it for fun, to be read only by my friends and family. Everyone kept asking if I was going to publish, telling me it was really good. I just thought, "Yeah, well, that's just cuz you're my friends. You wouldn't really think it was good if it had been written by someone else!" Then one of my friends sent it to someone I had never met (and still haven't met, in fact)... and this person was captured by the story! It was the first time someone I didn't know had read something I'd written, someone who had no obligation to say they liked it, and they thought it was good. I was... well, flattered! If that person liked it, then maybe other people would, too. I finally began to consider publishing it.
Since then, I have been slowly moving in that direction, but it wasn't until recently that it has begun to really come together. It is crazy how God seems to be letting all this happen. We'll see how it goes from here, but for now, I am going to keep pursuing getting this book published unless God tells me to knock it off.
-ST
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