![]() I'm so pleased that The Short Story, a UK site dedicated to the craft and promotion of brief fiction, approached me with a few questions about my writing successes and process.
Click here for the interview. You may recall that in October 2011 I came back from the Surrey International Writer’s Conference with a bunch of requests for the Aeden's Wake manuscript and ended up signing on with one of the agents I pitched. Well, it is my sad duty to report that we’ve parted ways. What happened? In short, I think we share the responsibility. She cooled on the project based on my reluctance to make every change she suggested; there were many good ideas, but some of the bigger ones took my work in directions that did not meet my vision. I erroneously assumed that she would approach publishers when I had made the revisions and was happy with the final product, while she planned to go on submission only after all the changes were made and only if she was satisfied with them. I should have asked better questions. Our mutual error was, I think, in not letting go sooner: birds in the hand, perhaps. So, the new year launches me back into the querying and pitching game. (Yikes.) I know it will be a slog with moments of heartbreak, but I’m not dreading it as much this time. This time around should be easier – at least in terms of the process, if not the success – because I know what to expect, how to pitch, and can focus my efforts even more. Also, with the new novels written and another begun, my regular column work and some freelancing keeping me busy, and starting a creative writing MFA in the fall, I’m also starting to realize how importance patience is to the writing game. Good things are happening: I just need to keep working hard towards my goals. It’s also exciting to read the experiences of other writers and that the agent-author relationship can be more than about a single manuscript. I realize that this post might scare off agents who are looking to represent a work at a time – and to an extent I get that, we have to start somewhere – but am also hoping that it might excite the ones who would be willing to look at a bright career in the making. For myself, as I jump into the next round of querying and pitching, here are my thoughts on “Finding an Agent, Part II”:
I hope it doesn't scare anyone off, but I have to be true to my aspirations too. Onwards and upwards! |
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