The Next Circle of Hell, Vol. 2
- Thread starter Calla Lily
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Sonya, I didn't hear about the fires! I hope they're controlled soon. That's awful
I will have all responses by EOD. I'm terrified/excited. I can't wait until we have signed papers and I can share.
I will have all responses by EOD. I'm terrified/excited. I can't wait until we have signed papers and I can share.
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Yeah, some of the news agencies I follow have thrown the spotlight on this. Really crazy stuff happening Down Under. I nearly had a heart attack at the initial "Koala Bears are functionally extinct" headline until I read some other sources and found out that was a bit of hyperbole.
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It’s been a while since I popped in. Good luck, January! And woohoo Helios!!! Did I miss anyone? And I’m doing the #meetthe2020s too. Are there others here? (I see you Atlantic and Earthling.) Fingers crosses there will be a whole batch of 2021s on here too.
Sonya, I didn't hear about the fires! I hope they're controlled soon. That's awful
I will have all responses by EOD. I'm terrified/excited. I can't wait until we have signed papers and I can share.
Congratulations.
Just tell us here and we won't share it with anyone. 
The fires have all joined up, and one of them is now bigger than the entire city of Sydney. There are some amazing, disturbing pictures HERE and HERE (on Facebook).
Shoeless - yeah, that was some great clickbait they had going on. Hundreds (or more) koalas have been killed, but it wasn't a helpful way to report it. The fires have burnt all the way to the Pacific Ocean now. The beaches along the coast near me are famous for their forests, and for the kangaroos that live along the sand. I don't want to know what happened to them ...
Oh my god Sonya, that's horrifying. I've seen some of this in the news here in the US. I hope everything is controlled soon. :/
Good luck, January! And polish and helios, it sounds like you're both having a really exciting time right now - congrats and enjoy the ride!
So I hope you guys don't mind me hijacking the conversation, but... I have a meeting with an agent tomorrow (face to face, as I'm not far from London where she is based). She hasn't explicitly said she's making an Offer of Rep, but she read the full MS and is very enthusiastic, so I'd be kinda surprised if it wasn't heading this way.
So I guess my question is, when you guys had The Call/The Meeting with your agents, what questions were you really glad you asked? I think I've got the basic ones covered, but any personal wisdom is very welcome. I have a feeling I asked nothing useful when I met my first agent, and it was 10 years ago anyway (weep) so I barely remember anything anyway.
So I hope you guys don't mind me hijacking the conversation, but... I have a meeting with an agent tomorrow (face to face, as I'm not far from London where she is based). She hasn't explicitly said she's making an Offer of Rep, but she read the full MS and is very enthusiastic, so I'd be kinda surprised if it wasn't heading this way.
So I guess my question is, when you guys had The Call/The Meeting with your agents, what questions were you really glad you asked? I think I've got the basic ones covered, but any personal wisdom is very welcome. I have a feeling I asked nothing useful when I met my first agent, and it was 10 years ago anyway (weep) so I barely remember anything anyway.
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Thanks for all of the good wishes guys!!! It's not my first rodeo, but I'm maintaining a baseline of hopeful I think lol.
Raggy—I think one of the most important conversations I've ever had with my agent was how we'd handle it if I wrote a book that she didn't particularly care for. That hasn't actually happened yet, but it has definitely happened to a lot of my agented writer friends, and I wanted a firm plan in place in case it did happen so that I knew if she was a "let's part ways" agent or a "let's work through it" agent. Knowing how we'll work together has really helped me take more risks in my work, I think, and it cuts down on the anxiety when I send her a new project.
Raggy—I think one of the most important conversations I've ever had with my agent was how we'd handle it if I wrote a book that she didn't particularly care for. That hasn't actually happened yet, but it has definitely happened to a lot of my agented writer friends, and I wanted a firm plan in place in case it did happen so that I knew if she was a "let's part ways" agent or a "let's work through it" agent. Knowing how we'll work together has really helped me take more risks in my work, I think, and it cuts down on the anxiety when I send her a new project.
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I think another important question... well, it's not really a question, but it's important to lay out the ground rules for how you'd like submission communications to go. If you don't want rejections to just pop into your inbox whenever, be upfront about that, maybe make an arrangement for only Fridays to be "rejection day" so you don't spend the rest of the week on egg shells about incoming mail. On the other hand, if you want the news as soon as it comes, be clear about that too.
Also work out how much or how little reassurance/communication/hand-holding you want. I'm pretty minimal that way, so I think I surprised my agent with my reluctance to have phone calls. She's the one that's usually trying to set them up, and I'm like, "Well... email's fine... there's no human interaction involved WHICH IS SO COOL!"
Also work out how much or how little reassurance/communication/hand-holding you want. I'm pretty minimal that way, so I think I surprised my agent with my reluctance to have phone calls. She's the one that's usually trying to set them up, and I'm like, "Well... email's fine... there's no human interaction involved WHICH IS SO COOL!"
The biggest thing I'm happy I discussed with my current agent that I didn't get into much with my first was direction for career and future projects. Both my agent and I have the same goal: a sustainable writing career. My old agent I think was aiming for a splashy debut and didn't sub me widely after the big 5 favorite editors she had and didn't like any of the other writing I produced for her. I am so much happier and I hope your meeting goes well! Can't wait to hear about it!
Hi Friends,
I've been lurking on the forum and I'm now jumping in. My agent is sending out a select few submissions this Friday to test out the waters. We know that December is a horrible time for publishing, but I asked if we could send exclusives/sneak peeks out to a tiny group of our top pick editors before we go widely in January. I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I've never been on submission before. Saying hello because I know I will need a place to scream into once rejections start rolling in. My agent is very confident in the book, which is encouraging, but we all know nothing is in our control but the writing. I'm excited to have gotten to this point. But I'm freaking out because now it's out of my hands.
I've been lurking on the forum and I'm now jumping in. My agent is sending out a select few submissions this Friday to test out the waters. We know that December is a horrible time for publishing, but I asked if we could send exclusives/sneak peeks out to a tiny group of our top pick editors before we go widely in January. I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I've never been on submission before. Saying hello because I know I will need a place to scream into once rejections start rolling in. My agent is very confident in the book, which is encouraging, but we all know nothing is in our control but the writing. I'm excited to have gotten to this point. But I'm freaking out because now it's out of my hands.
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Raggy - A huge congratulations to you!!! As for questions, I thought looong and hard about which questions to ask and aside from the usual ones about what edits they want for the MS etc, I asked the following:
1. What happens when a client writes a book you don't like? (I expected all the agents I talked to to have similar answers to this question, but they actually varied pretty widely, and in one case, the agent's answer made it clear we would not be a good fit.)
2. How long do you take to read and respond to a client's new MS? (Again, I expected all the agents to have similar answers, but the answers varied quite a lot.)
3. How widely are they thinking of subbing the MS? What happens if it doesn't sell in the first round?
4. Do they rep different age categories? (The book I queried was MG, but the WIP I'm working on is adult, so it's important for me that the agent reps MG, YA, and Adult.)
5. I've gotten pretty problematic feedback from editors before that were bordering on...yanno, racist. In those cases, how would the agent handle it? And what happens if my cover gets whitewashed?
6. I also told each agent about my career goals. I told them that I write pretty fast and barring life getting in the way of things, I would ideally have a book for them once every 6 months. I was honest about wanting an agent who can deal with that, because I have zero chill and I need to be regularly pumping out books. Again, the answers to this varied a lot. Though they all said they're okay working with fast and slow writers, some seemed a lot more confident than others.
And, most importantly, ask to speak to a few of their clients. This is such a huge MUST. In the end, I went with the agent I did because I know two of her clients and they both spoke so highly of her. They've both been repped before, and said she's worth the wait, which pretty much cinched the deal for me.
Congratulations again!!! What an exciting time!!
January - Ahhhh congrats on going into sub/sob!!!! Big, big hugs to you and your awesome agent. You guys are going to do this!!
Topher - Welcome! You're in the right place. I love that your agent is listening to you and sending out a few subs to test the waters. That sounds like a great strategy. I hope you get an offer for Christmas!
I'm 30K into my WIP and it's going steadily, but it's not as fun as the first 15K. Blerggh. Is this normal... Please tell me it's normal!
1. What happens when a client writes a book you don't like? (I expected all the agents I talked to to have similar answers to this question, but they actually varied pretty widely, and in one case, the agent's answer made it clear we would not be a good fit.)
2. How long do you take to read and respond to a client's new MS? (Again, I expected all the agents to have similar answers, but the answers varied quite a lot.)
3. How widely are they thinking of subbing the MS? What happens if it doesn't sell in the first round?
4. Do they rep different age categories? (The book I queried was MG, but the WIP I'm working on is adult, so it's important for me that the agent reps MG, YA, and Adult.)
5. I've gotten pretty problematic feedback from editors before that were bordering on...yanno, racist. In those cases, how would the agent handle it? And what happens if my cover gets whitewashed?
6. I also told each agent about my career goals. I told them that I write pretty fast and barring life getting in the way of things, I would ideally have a book for them once every 6 months. I was honest about wanting an agent who can deal with that, because I have zero chill and I need to be regularly pumping out books. Again, the answers to this varied a lot. Though they all said they're okay working with fast and slow writers, some seemed a lot more confident than others.
And, most importantly, ask to speak to a few of their clients. This is such a huge MUST. In the end, I went with the agent I did because I know two of her clients and they both spoke so highly of her. They've both been repped before, and said she's worth the wait, which pretty much cinched the deal for me.
Congratulations again!!! What an exciting time!!
January - Ahhhh congrats on going into sub/sob!!!! Big, big hugs to you and your awesome agent. You guys are going to do this!!
Topher - Welcome! You're in the right place. I love that your agent is listening to you and sending out a few subs to test the waters. That sounds like a great strategy. I hope you get an offer for Christmas!
I'm 30K into my WIP and it's going steadily, but it's not as fun as the first 15K. Blerggh. Is this normal... Please tell me it's normal!
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Hello, everyone! Long time no speak... I've not been able to pop on here for so long as we've been very busy with the adoption process. Our little one is now home with us and it's going incredibly! It's been a blessed distraction from the submission process, that's for sure.
My news: I've been on sub now since September and haven't had any offers. I've had lots of rejections, and we're still waiting to hear from a few. BUT I do have some potentially exciting news... one editor (from a dream publishing house!!), said 'no for now, but please come back if you get no offers elsewhere as I would possibly want to discuss working with you on the book and getting it to a place where I might acquire'. So my agent got in touch last week and said 'we're not getting offers from elsewhere, let's go back to that editor and ask if he's still interested, as we don't want to leave it too long or he'll forget/lose enthusiasm - can you meet/talk with him soon if he's still interested?'. So obviously I was like WOW bad timing, I really can't commit to travelling to London right now as we're forming an attachment to our little one, but I'm 1000000% open to having a convo this side of Christmas with the possibility of meeting him ASAP in the new year. So my agent has reached out to him and now we're just waiting to hear back - so nervous, I really hope he is still interested. My agent also stressed that there are no guarantees, I could do all the work for him and it STILL might not hit the nail on the head. But I'm willing to give it a shot, of course I am.
Has anybody else had/heard of experiences like the above, and what the outcome was?
Raggy, that's amazing news!!! I hope it goes well. Let us know!!
My news: I've been on sub now since September and haven't had any offers. I've had lots of rejections, and we're still waiting to hear from a few. BUT I do have some potentially exciting news... one editor (from a dream publishing house!!), said 'no for now, but please come back if you get no offers elsewhere as I would possibly want to discuss working with you on the book and getting it to a place where I might acquire'. So my agent got in touch last week and said 'we're not getting offers from elsewhere, let's go back to that editor and ask if he's still interested, as we don't want to leave it too long or he'll forget/lose enthusiasm - can you meet/talk with him soon if he's still interested?'. So obviously I was like WOW bad timing, I really can't commit to travelling to London right now as we're forming an attachment to our little one, but I'm 1000000% open to having a convo this side of Christmas with the possibility of meeting him ASAP in the new year. So my agent has reached out to him and now we're just waiting to hear back - so nervous, I really hope he is still interested. My agent also stressed that there are no guarantees, I could do all the work for him and it STILL might not hit the nail on the head. But I'm willing to give it a shot, of course I am.
Has anybody else had/heard of experiences like the above, and what the outcome was?
Raggy, that's amazing news!!! I hope it goes well. Let us know!!
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leewhowrites - It's good that the editor was interested enough to say that, but be prepared for a lot of rewrite work and suggestions of changing it in ways you don't agree with. I've heard both sides of the R&R conversation, where even after implimenting all the suggestions it was eventually a No. But I've also heard the Yes... It's a bit of a toss up I'm afraid, but there was obviously something about your manuscript that showed promise to that editor, and that's a huge positive.
Raggy - PuttPutt had some great options. I also recommend asking about their communication style -- how quickly they respond to emails that aren't new books, for example, and how often they'd keep in touch with you on sub. You can also ask what kind of support their give their offers post-book deal (e.g., does the agency do any promo, etc).
leewhowrites- Sounds like an R&R! I've heard mixed results on these working out. I think Dan Koboldt had some data suggesting 80% of R&Rs ended in a no. That said...my best friend just got an offer on an R&R. Not from the original requesting editor, but because the R&R was substantial enough her agent was ok with sending it back out on another round of sub. She got an offer from a brand new editor. So even if the R&R doesn't work out with this publisher, it could still work out with someone else!
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My update: I had two more editor phone calls yesterday and I'm so exhausted now. It's really exciting, but I'm also starting to get really freaked out and fatigued by the thought of having to choose. Everyone seems amazing.
leewhowrites- Sounds like an R&R! I've heard mixed results on these working out. I think Dan Koboldt had some data suggesting 80% of R&Rs ended in a no. That said...my best friend just got an offer on an R&R. Not from the original requesting editor, but because the R&R was substantial enough her agent was ok with sending it back out on another round of sub. She got an offer from a brand new editor. So even if the R&R doesn't work out with this publisher, it could still work out with someone else!
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My update: I had two more editor phone calls yesterday and I'm so exhausted now. It's really exciting, but I'm also starting to get really freaked out and fatigued by the thought of having to choose. Everyone seems amazing.
Congratulations on the adoption!
The news from the editor seems promising - nobody is going to put effort like that in unless they think you're worth it. Maybe see what kind of work they're talking about before making a choice. If it's a dream publishing house I'd (personally) consider doing the revisions.
If my publisher is anything to go by, December is crazy slow, but I understand wanting to start trying. Everything in this business takes so flipping long!
Yeah, it gets harder and harder as you go on. I always think I've found THE book that will write itself and be done in a few weeks … and then I slow down and start giving wistful looks to other manuscripts ...
Good luck to January and Raggy and the 1000 people I've missed (It's after 1am here - I'm tired!)
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helios - Congratulations!
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First, congrats on your new little!!!
Second, I'm literally in the midst of this experience myself. Agent and I got to the end of a book's sub life and decided to do revisions with an editor. Now we're waiting to see if the editor buys the book... and we've been waiting for almost 3 months. I tell myself that all the work I do makes me better, so it's worth it, even if the outcome is not the one I want. I also felt like the book had nothing to lose because it was either do the revision and then put it in a drawer or just put it in a drawer, so.
Ask me again after the editor passes on the project lolsob.
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I desperately need this to be the title of a book. A chapter heading, at least. Maybe for one of those Pygmalion retellings or something, I dunno...
helios, how exciting to speak to the editors! No wonder you feel burned out - but in a GOOD way!
lee - no experience to help you on this one, but with a lack of other offers it sounds promising. However don't be afraid to walk away if the R&R (which is what it sounds like) takes you somewhere you aren't happy with. Do let us know what happens! Also, so delighted to hear about the adoption! I know from your Twitter how much you've wanted this. Enjoy every one of those early bonding moments <3
Thank you to everyone who wished me well and gave me tips for the agent meeting! It went well and I have an offer of rep! There are more details on the other thread but after having a lukewarm agent it was so nice to speak to someone with enthusiasm for my writing. Now I wait to see how the second agent who has my full responds, but I'm not fussed if she passes as the agent I met today is a great fit for me. Sub/sob hell beckons in 2020!
lee - no experience to help you on this one, but with a lack of other offers it sounds promising. However don't be afraid to walk away if the R&R (which is what it sounds like) takes you somewhere you aren't happy with. Do let us know what happens! Also, so delighted to hear about the adoption! I know from your Twitter how much you've wanted this. Enjoy every one of those early bonding moments <3
Thank you to everyone who wished me well and gave me tips for the agent meeting! It went well and I have an offer of rep! There are more details on the other thread but after having a lukewarm agent it was so nice to speak to someone with enthusiasm for my writing. Now I wait to see how the second agent who has my full responds, but I'm not fussed if she passes as the agent I met today is a great fit for me. Sub/sob hell beckons in 2020!
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(Sorry. That ^^^^ actually annoys me, but it seems this thread is calling for it again ...)
Raggy - I bet everyone who's been following this knew you'd get an offer!
As a fellow midwesterner, I say woohoo!!!! Congratulations!! Sounds like you're entering the big leagues!