I did it, folks - I finished the 3rd draft of my YA novel! Could you possibly be more excited? No, I didn't think so. [Moving trash cans to the curb would be more exciting. Watching the grass grow would be far more exciting. Getting a root canal would be practically thrilling.] It is such a great feeling, almost as good as [sorry, folks, trying to keep this G-rated]. I will read through my ms one more time before I send it off to Awesome Agent (AA) and hope she loves it as much as I love my five-month old niece, Devyn from Heaven. [Will send 80% dark chocolate offerings to the gods in hopes she doesn't realize what a ghastly mistake she's made.].Once I send it off to her, I'll dive right into the follow-up like a good writer [go on a week-long shopping spree and play countle
ss games of spider solitaire.] I'm hoping the major edits are behind me, but that's not my call, now is it? [I'm begging you, AA - remember that Coach bag we talked about?]As long as Mother Nature cooperates and doesn't bring another snowstorm to the Northeast, I will be meeting AA in NYC on Thursday. [Mother Nature's a selfish hussy. I mean, isn't two feet in one week enough for her insatiable appetite? In her case, apparently size does
matter. ] I'm bringing my Flip camera and will film us having more fun than Brad and Angie on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. [PSYCHE! Get your minds out of the gutter, people, sheesh!] We will, however, do our best to whip up some enlightening publishing tips for your vlog-viewing pleasure. It's sure to be a monumental literary experience. [Will try not to get drunk and dance on the table. SO not a good look.]
And, here's the best part: List your questions for AA in the comment section, and she may answer them in person! Yes, that's right folks - you may get to see AA answer your questions live and in person on my next vlog. Aren't I amazing? [Um, no. AA's amazing. You, on the other hand, are a pitiful cross between boring and pathetically self-involved.]
37 comments:
Hey there BFF,
Will keep my fingers crossed that the Snow Gods will be merciful so that you get a trip to NYC! Loved the post!
Julie, Thank you, honey! And, glad you liked the post. I hope all is well in your world. Let's talk soon. X's & O's
I loved this post... I was grinning the entire time I read it!
If you do get drunk and dance on a table? MUST SHARE PICS ;-)
Also, I live in Northern Va and we're supposed to get more snow on Tues/Weds :-( But I will keep my fingers crossed for your trip! (Especially because I want to see pics of those drunk/dancing moments)
Karen, RE: the weather, I sure hope it cooperates. RE: Self-Publishing: That's an agent by agent call. You'd have to research the agents you're interested in and try to figure out their preferences. A lot has been written on this subject, so you might want to Google it. Best of luck!
Sara, I'm glad I made you smile. Normally I'd love the idea of a mid-week storm - just not this week!!!
Your SM posts always make my day :) Glad you guys are safe and sound with all this snow. I hope Mother Nature holds off so you can get to NY to meet up with AA! Sounds like you've been busy with edits - no wonder so quiet online!!!!
*has a talk with Gaia about the snow for you and those of us who are just tired of it in NOVA*
Ha! My MC's name in my WIp is Devyn. Short for Devalynn. I'll have to think of a great question for Gretchen, I really like her. Um, how about, Do you take on writers who dabble in a few genres? Such as YA and general fiction?
Congrats on the Happy Blogger Award from Kimberly! I found you from her blog and wanted to stop by and say hello. Your post made me laugh. I don't have an agent yet, but I just finished editing and revising my YA MS and plan on beginning the querying process.
My question: How did you know when it was time to send in a query? And when did you know your query was ready?
:) I'm a newbie at this blogging world and would love for you to stop by mine if you get a spare moment between shopping sprees and Spider Solitaire!
Stacia, I know, I'm afraid Twitterland thinks I've died. Put in a good word for me, will you? ;-)
T. Anne, That's wild about the Devyn thing! My agent is Bernadette Baker, btw, not Gretchen (although, Gretchen is totally awesome!).
Thanks for the question. I'll make sure Bernadette reads through them all. ;-)
Tiffany, Welcome! I'm so glad you liked the post. I'll definitely stop by your blog later.
As far as your question goes, I knew it was time to send in my query when I'd revised and edited my novels to the point I thought they were as good as I could get them. I played with my query letters over and over again until there wasn't a single word I wanted to change. That's when I knew they were ready. (I say "they" b/c I queried more than one project over the past year.)
If you think of a question for AA, feel free to leave another comment.
Snow had BETTER behave. :D I'm still on track for being in NYC by Wednesday! Woo!
I'm so glad you can meet your agent - and will be filming it!! You do realize we're all going to be vicariously meeting-our-agent with you. ;) No pressure or anything.
Congrats on finishing your draft! Awesome! And I love your Monday posts! They just crack me up! Have a great week, Debra!
Ruthanne, Let's touch base Wednesday night (email me & I'll give you my phone #). Please Mother Nature, go pick on someone else!!!
Jody, Thank you, and I'm so glad you enjoy the SM posts. They really are fun to write - takes some of the stress away from the "heavier" writing. ;-)
Wahoo! How exciting! A trip to NY!!!! I won't be there until July--and I've never met my agent. LOL! Crazy huh? You're just uber cool!
I hope you can make it!
Jenni
Can't wait to see your AA (that is Awesome Agent, not Alcoholics Anonymous because that would just be weird)vlog! : )
Subliminal Mondays are the best! Ever!!
: )
Jenni, I'm so excited to meet AA, but the weather report is not looking great. [Darn you, Mother Nature! Is there no pleasing you?] How are things going w/your books, btw?
Kimberly, You know I'm going to hire you as my publicist once my book sells, right? [Main job of publicist is to provide author w/CHOCOLATE!!]
I'm so excited for you! NYC & meeting your agent! That's the absolute best :)
I'm going to live vicariously through you if you don't mind!!
The snow storms miss NYC, so you should be fine!
My question for AA [I'm thinking you might want different initials, unless subliminal Monday has several meanings] is a tongue twister. Ready?
How many weeks must a writer wait for the query in question to be presumed a pass?
OR
[how long til i assume it's a no for queries, what about partials and fulls? can you tell i'm itching w/ 10 mss out, and waiting on more answers to queries? argh and yay at the same time]
Woot-woot! How exciting for you. Great to be where you're at right now.
That will be so much fun! So I'll be starting next week, right? You will have the best book [chocolate is being overnighted as we speak] ever!
; )
Jemi, You'll be meeting your own agent one of these days! Until then, sure, you can share mine. ;-)
Amy, I'll run that one by her. I hope you're right about the storm missing NYC! [How do you know these things? Are you some kind of genie?]
Also, for the record, there are many queries I never heard back from. Ever. Does that help? [No, I didn't think so.]
FL, I'm thrilled to be at this point. Am working hard on my edits. Want them to be as picture-perfect as possible before ms goes on submission. [YIKES!!!]
Kimberly, Next week's good. [I'm running out of chocolate.] ;-)
Deb, Yes it helps [but it gets me no closer to an agent, does it?] I know many agents don't reply because they're so busy [and pushing send on an automatic email is taxing] but I wish I knew when to call it quits with each one. It's harder waiting for my my 4 partials and 6 fulls to be read [you'd think they have other reading to do] because I'd like to get some 'real' feedback before I query [attack the other 70 agents on my list] more.
Amy, [You crack me up.] Let me just say, there were many I queried who clearly found it too taxing to hit an automatic "decline" button. The way I saw it was, I queried who I wanted when I wanted. I didn't wait to hear back from anyone, especially knowing a) there might not be any feedback at all, other than the usual: I like the story and the writing, but I just didn't connect enough w/the characters to take on the project, or b) the feedback from each agent would, most likely, be different. Put simply, trust your instincts. [I know, you hate me, but I still love you.;-)]
Good for you! That is so very exciting.
Debbie, Thanks. I try to keep some sort of exciting happening in my life at all times. ;-)
How you can make your trip! Have a wonderful time!
Gayle, If it's meant to be, it'll be. If it doesn't work out this week, I've got confidence AA will make it happen soon. ;-)
R u meeting with her for something specific, or does she just want to be near u like everybody else?...or is she Kathy Bates in 'Misery' wanting to crush ur legs to write it her way?....
Anywho- Ur seriously one of the fastest working writers I know! Ur like Stephen King-he can start and finish in 4 months total! Not fair! :)
I DO have a question that's a little stupid.
Is it normal to have a publisher paid for book party like on 'Sex and the City'? Or-Does that never really happen and the authors pay and host them? I want a sponsored one cuz they love me so much...
The Midwest just got done with major snow, I hope it's over in the NE by the time you go to NY!
Have fun with your agent! (and I think it would be quite fun to see you dance on the table!!).
THANK YOU for the tweet!
YIKES!! Today is Thursday, and I so want to here every single freaking detail. GIVE! I am so excited for you. We did have some snow in MA last night and I know it was bad in DC, but hoping it skirted you.
And congratulations on getting through that first draft. I bet it feels so good to put that aside.
Best of everything for NY with AA!
Snow Gods will be merciful so that you get a trip to NYC! Loved the post!
Work from home India
Post a Comment