The Next Circle of Hell, Vol. 2

Atlantic12

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Putputt, that is so awesome - not the R, of course, but your agent being that great.

Moon and Krash, so sorry to hear about the heartache. Sheesh, I'm not even on submission to publishers yet and I'm shaking in my boots. Ugh. But I guess this is what we signed up for.

I like Scrivener for planning, but I don't write with it. It's too fractured. For me the story has to flow as one document. I'll move the bits around myself.
 

polishmuse

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Welcome Atlantic!

PutPutt, that's so sweet. Sorry to hear about the R though!

Finished the article I wanted to, shipped it off to my first choice pub spot, so crossing fingers for good news.
Still getting the hang of Scrivener. I kind of like it? It isn't super intuitive, but my new MS is a bit complicated, so might be helpful to figure it out this way.
 

polishmuse

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Just received my kindest R so far--truly gushing. Also got my first R on the new article submission (boy, that was fast turnaround!) Double R means I get something naughty for snack today. I'm thinking cookies.
 

spikeman4444

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Wow...I step away for one day and EXPLOSION! Everyone is posting. Moonchild, hang in
there. Everyone gets to that point. Several times. At varying degrees of frustration and anguish. But you'll fight through it in time. Sorry to everyone who has had an R. PuttPutt, sounds like your agent is awesome, so that's a win. I just got an R today but it was totally a lift my spirits R. Very complimentary about the writing and the story but basically said they don't do well with YA thrillers in general, so it's not a good fit. One of those, someone is def going to want to grab this, but it's not us--things. Although, one wonders why they would agree to read it at all if they don't usually take on thrillers....BUT, I'm not going to overthink it and just be happy with the compliments! Meanwhile, time to knock out the last of my WIP draft 1 this weekend!
 

hester

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Putputt, Polish, and Spike, sorry for the Rs, but YAY for supportive agents and complimentary Rs! And YAY for naughty snacks--I've been on a Keebler Soft Batch cookie binge lately for whatever reason :).
 

januarycomet

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Oh man, sorry for all the Rs guys!!! *shares R wine*

However, at least things seem to actually be happening? Maybe August is not so dead after all.
 

krashnburn

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Aw, sorry for all the Rs, but they all sound positive in their own ways.
 

Moonchild

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Thank you all for your kind words. Yes, it's not the first time I've felt like I've lost it or I'm broken somehow... I just hope you're all correct and I pull through this one again.

polish, putputt, spike - sorry about the Rs

pinkbow - FWIW, if I haven't heard from him in a while, I generally send my agent a quick "Touching Base" note every 4-6 weeks or so. Nothing long or anything. Just a note saying, "I know you would have shared news if there were any news to share, but thought I'd say hi and let you know what I've been up to. I'm still working on X, have had thoughts about Y, etc" Generally, he'll respond almost right away and confirm there's no news to share and offer thoughts about current projects/ideas that I mentioned." Quick and easy. Almost painless.
 

pinkbowvintage

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Aww, Puttputt. I'm so sorry about the R. But I'm glad your agent is there for you!

polish - So sorry about your R, as well. You definitely deserve cookies.

spikeman - Have some R rum, please! So many Rs. This trend needs to change for our group ASAP. But so glad it was complimentary.

I feel like at this stage, they're usually complimentary. Our work is strong enough to be agented and on sub, but for whatever reasons, an editor has to turn down a lot of good and strong submissions. It's rough, man.

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. I sent my agent a brief email and now I'm anxiously awaiting news that we've received like 10 Rs or something, haha. Emailing about news always gives me so much anxiety, so I tend to avoid it.

EDIT: My agent confirmed my suspicions. She hasn't heard anything either. This summer has been molasses slow.
 
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triceretops

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It's been hellishly long sense this thread has awoken. I've been to four hospitals and have seen almost 20 MD doctors and specialists who finally found super hyper tension in my heart, clots in the lungs, a massive inguinal hernia and an inflamed prostate. The lower half of my body is a total wreck and I gave up half way through a middle grade fantasy three months ago. the pain just won't go away. My agent is very concerned and has frequently sent hugs and kisses (we know each other that well) She has seven of my books lined up for submission--they are all clean and edited.. She loved them all and she is rotating the books for sub. Whats farked up about this is I might not live to see anymore in print. There is a life-saving operation procedure that could save me. So I'm holding out and fighting this thing every day.

BTW, my agent said that about this time of the year is slow for readings from publishers and it should pick up around Oct. Naturally I'm eager to get ANY responses at all (we are all in that boat). But have you noticed that publishers have cut staff, categories and print numbers. Damn it's dismal. No Danny Downer intended.

Dear Gawd I think the whole industry has suffered something akin to the 1929 crash, only less severe, of course. Market share is really drying up for the BIG publishers. The industry needs a positive shock wave, perhaps a huge best-seller that captures the readers.

All you guys roll up your sleeves and smoke this bitch. Don't give up. Don't go easily into the night. You'll grab a deal if you persist and stay confident and firm. Ask your agent if there is anything you can do to assist him/her. You'll find that agents appreciate a proactive writer, and there are many things you can do. I actually found a publisher for my last book, and my agent really pumped the deal and got an excellent contract, in addition to a nice advance.

This damn business is so slow and selective that it will drive you out of your mind. Don't let it do that. I've quit after 12 solid years of writing. But I know that I really deserve a break. If I make it through this and my health improves I'll be right back in there to pick up where I left off.

Bless all of ya.

Tri
 
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polishmuse

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HUGE hugs Tri. Keep us updated, and sending extremely positive thoughts your way for everything, but especially your health.
 

Putputt

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Tri, I hope you get the medical attention you need. May your recovery be quick and painless. Big hugs to you.
 

Atlantic12

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Tri, I'm new here and don't know your whole story, but. .. .wow. I'm hoping you get the medical help you need so your strength comes back and you can jump back into the fray. Thanks for your advice about what you can do for your agent too. It's the kind of thing I need to learn, and why I joined this site - to learn from people a lot further along than I am. We'll keep up the fight while you're away. Take care!
 

Jeneral

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Oh my goodness, Tri.... that's a lot to go through at once. I hope that you're able to power through this and come back strong. I'll be thinking of you.

And thanks for those words... I needed to hear them. I had set aside last night to write, but my brain decided to go into a "what the use" downward spiral, which it does every once in a while. There's no fighting it when it happens, so I just had a good wallow and went to bed. Hopefully things will look better this weekend.
 

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Oh, gosh, Tri, that's really awful! Sending well wishes for a good outcome on the new procedure. And thanks for validating my suspicion about it being good to be pro-active with agents. I've been researching relevant pubs/editors and forwarding them to my agent. She then checks they're not affiliated with houses we're already pitching. Seems I get more subs out there, that way. That said, we're getting ZERO replies. Still 4 outstanding from January, plus one who had an exclusive on another book...for the last ten weeks. Not even getting responses on pitches anymore, and had a 100% success rate with them at the start of the year!

Agent is hoping things pick up in September...of course, that's awfully close to the Christmas slowdown.....sigh...

Hugs and cake all round.
 

Fuchsia Groan

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Tri, I've been around here a while, and your persistence, determination, and good spirits have always been an inspiration. They still are. Keep hanging in there and fighting the good fight, and I'll be thinking of you.
 

pinkbowvintage

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Elsie, my agent and I are going through the same thing. We haven't heard a peep for 3+ months, and she's going to nudge at the end of the month since she thinks everyone will (hopefully) be back at their desks by then. Summer is brutal.

On another note, I'm helping my friend with his first query letter, and oh my god it is HARD to offer constructive notes without letting him devolve into self-hate and overwhelmed panic. I'm trying to be like "THIS IS HARD YOU ARE AWESOME DO NOT GIVE UP YOU ARE GREAT." Queries suck, man.
 

MartinaMay

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Elsie, my agent and I are going through the same thing. We haven't heard a peep for 3+ months, and she's going to nudge at the end of the month since she thinks everyone will (hopefully) be back at their desks by then. Summer is brutal.

On another note, I'm helping my friend with his first query letter, and oh my god it is HARD to offer constructive notes without letting him devolve into self-hate and overwhelmed panic. I'm trying to be like "THIS IS HARD YOU ARE AWESOME DO NOT GIVE UP YOU ARE GREAT." Queries suck, man.

Queries ARE hard! It's difficult to balance constructive criticism with encouragement. Sometimes, the query letter shows places where the manuscript needs work, i.e., if you're having a hard time coming up with decent stakes, it may suggest the MS doesn't have enough conflict. And your friend might start out thinking they only need query tweaks, but suddenly find themselves needing to rewrite 1/3 of their MS.
 

polishmuse

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And your friend might start out thinking they only need query tweaks, but suddenly find themselves needing to rewrite 1/3 of their MS.
This is the thing I've found most often! I have a few friends who are currently preparing to query, and as I'm reading their query and their first pages I keep thinking... the story doesn't start here. What is the story? It's hard to balance the encouragement with the experience that comes from making my own mistakes of querying when the story started in the wrong place or the conflict wasn't clear.
 

hester

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:Hug2:Tri--that's a lot to be going through all at once :(. Sending positive thoughts and healing vibes your way...

Pinkbow, Martina, and Polish, definitely agree on queries--it took me forever to come up with a formula that (sort of) worked for me. And, like Martina said, sometimes the actual problem is with the manuscript, and you don't realize it until you're trying to put a summary together...
 

UltraViolette

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Tri, I'm sending all the positive, healing vibes your way.

Pinkbow, I applaud your patience! I also would have nudged after a month, but I'm rather impatient. Hopefully, once August ends, you'll get some positive responses.

All who have received rejections lately, I'm so sorry. I'll echo that this business is so so hard.

As for me, just want to thank you guys for offering advice about my agent.

Fov: Your agent sat on your ms for four months without reading? That's seems crazy to me. I was under (the wrong?) impression that once we landed an agent the wait times wouldn't be as long as when we were in the slush. Perhaps that was me being wishful. Do any of you have agents who read new mss relatively quickly?

I submitted my ms only one month ago, and my agent said he'd get to it in a few-ish weeks. I'm hanging in there and trying like crazy not to doubt my work, while not expecting to hear anything this month and hoping in September things will pick up.

Spikeman: I'm so glad things have improved with your agent. That gives me hope!