The Call and other things

[la_belle_laide]

Two days ago I wrote this really loooooong post about how I was so frustrated with querying and writing new stuff, that I was about ready to just give it up and go back to writing fanfic for good. Why bother, if I wasn't getting anywhere and never getting any better? The post was full of angst and this really hopeless self-doubt about my writing. I read it back and thought, Wow, that is super angsty, hold back on posting that so you don't flounce out of something and then change your mind and feel stupid later.

Yesterday I got an email from the latest agent I queried, to whom I had sent first a partial, then the full manuscript. She is really interested, and wants to talk to me about the novel, and anything else I have lined up for the future. Our call is set for 2:30 tomorrow afternoon.

SO.

So now it's my turn to tell other authors to not give up/ :)

Of course, you know, it might not work out. Maybe we'll talk on the phone and have completely opposite visions about what to do with this book, or different ideas about my career or writing in general, or maybe we won't click. But, I did get referred to her by another agent, one whom I like very much and she thought we'd be a good fit. So, I'm hopeful.

I mean, hell, I'm way more than hopeful right now; I'm peeing my brand new Target shorts as we speak, have been peeing since last night and will not stop peeing, IDK, probably ever. The Call, you know? It's kind of huge! It gets capital letters when writers talk about it.

So now I'm writing down a list of questions and things to say. If I like her a lot and she likes me, then I'll have to email other agents who have partials (and who have queries, too? I'm not sure?) with a nudge, tell them, Hey, I've had an offer, JSYK. It's the polite thing to do. I have massive phone anxiety, especially with important calls. I stutter and say really dumb things sometimes (and then freak out about the things I said sometimes years later.) So having a list will help; a little cheat-sheet.

And like, work has picked up and we got some good news about a kind of partnership (sub-letting) that I think is going to go really nicely. I might start teaching classes again soon, and hopefully Hula, which will just be even radder.

Gonna try to hit the beach tomorrow.

Going to Disney in about 7 weeks.

Am I going to be this lady sitting by the seaside on a beautiful day, an agented author with a beautiful little son, a nice job, and getting ready to go on vacation? What's next, Tom Hardy is going to come and marry me?

This makes me worried. Doesn't it seem too good? Doesn't something have to go terribly awry now?

(Okay yeah, not all perf, I did lose my car insurance because TWO FENDER BENDERS IN TWO YEARS OMG and because I got side-swiped and made a rather large claim last year. So that's an annoyance and, yeah, a huge chunk out of my finances. And yeah, I wish my Gram and my Dad were here for this, and that's never going to change.)

But cherophobia is stupid, so I'm also going to sit here and worry about what simply must go wrong now, instead of enjoying what isn't wrong. And what could potentially be totally right. Isn't that awful of me? Stop it, anxiety. Stop being a thing.

Oh my god, how did it get to be 3:30? It was just 2:30 a second ago. Better post this and run.

Comments

[spatterdash.livejournal.com]

Yes, email the ones who have queries too, and title your subject line "Offer of Rep: re BLUESHIFT query" or similar. If you need to do that, hit me up because the agent i signed with was someone who had my query in his inbox and whom i only got a bite from due to this exact kind of situation.

Also! Another thing that could happen is a thing one of my grad school classmates is doing right now, which is that this agent gave him revision feedback and it was pretty extensive, and the agent was like "i know this will take you a lot of time and majorly change the book, so let's not sign a contract yet but if you decide to go with it, get back with me whenever you're done." So that's where he is at, in those revisions.

Regardless, this is AWESOME.

[la-belle-laide.livejournal.com]

Okay rad, it'll take me probably a week to see who all I've queried (because some of them were new, and weren't even on Querytracker yet.) We'll see how that goes.

I was wondering if I might get an R&R, actually. But I had always figured (hoped!) that they would say that in an email. I actually did get an R&R in email once, but then that agent stopped agenting. :/

I wonder if I should add to my list of questions, Are you in the business for good? Or something along those lines.

[spatterdash.livejournal.com]

Especially if this woman is new, i think it couldn't hurt to ask her about her own career plans. It doesn't have to be all "omg are you just gonna bail in a year?" You could ask her about whether she plans to stay at her agency or if she is hoping to move to another one at some point, and if she did so would she take her authors with her or would they stay with the agency.

And that's a good, legit concern that will make you seem like you are fucking clued into the business, too, because the woman who made the offer i didn't accept had just moved from a huge awesome agency where she was a little fish to a smaller startup where she was a primary player and all her authors moved with her, but she gave them the choice to stay or come along. And, my current agent has been at his agency for several years, but for a while he left and agented as a freelance guy, then came back--and the authors he has had for like, ten years stuck with him through those transitions. So you know, it's a good chance to see what she thinks about establishing author relationships.

[spatterdash.livejournal.com]

I went ahead and looked up my offer-of-rep letter just in case you need it.

And i found the one i sent to Connor Goldsmith, which i thought you would particularly appreciate, so i am just pasting it here, and you should feel free to take it as a template. I basically used another author's online version that she shared as a template to write mine:

Dear Mr. Goldsmith:

Though you have not requested a look at my manuscript, my query was relatively recent, and I wanted to let you know that I’ve received an offer of representation from an agent. I've agreed to get back to her by Friday August 22nd.

Again, thank you so much for considering THE DECADENCE PAPERS, and should you also be interested in it, I'd be happy to send the manuscript and speak with you further.

Best,
Rachel E. Pollock
http://www.rachelpollock.net/


(That's the one he replied to like, three months after the deadline, saying that he knew it was too late but that the book sounded like his kind of book and thanks, and if i ever needed to seek new rep to try him again. So that's why it's smart to send these, y'know?)

[la-belle-laide.livejournal.com]

OMG so helpful, sending them out tonight. :D Thank you again, for everything! I really don't know what i would have done without your help.

[misstottenham.livejournal.com]

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's great news about the agent. Fingers crossed that it all goes well and that you stop peeing yourself.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

[la-belle-laide.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Misty! It went great! :D