My sob story

I don't have any advice, but I will sit and sob with ya.

WHAT??????

That's so disrespectful to you and your work and the hopes every reputable agent knows the author has. I feel you, you have got to be gutted, but very soon you will be so glad that creature is gone.

Have a bottle of brandy or a tub of ice cream on me.

Oh man, Zmethos, that's just terrible. I'm so sorry. You definitely deserve better that this. So does your story.

Mourn the loss, take the hit, give yourself time to recover and drink your liquid comfort of choice, but don't let this stop you. You're good enough, your book is good enough. You got someone's attention once, even if they turned out to be a flake. You can do it again.

Atlantic12 said:

WHAT??????

That's so disrespectful to you and your work and the hopes every reputable agent knows the author has. I feel you, you have got to be gutted, but very soon you will be so glad that creature is gone.

Have a bottle of brandy or a tub of ice cream on me.

Click to expand...

Very much this!
That is an awful way to treat a writer. I'm so sorry zmethos, but I'm sure you will land a really good agent! How was the writing workshop/retreat? It sounds suspect now in the light of this behaviour.

zmethos said:

So now I'm back at square one. I felt like I'd finally climbed the mountain and now an avalanche has knocked me back down to the base. I'm not sure I have the energy to try again.

Click to expand...

Oh, boy. I'm so sorry to hear this, and I know exactly how you feel.

Not that you asked for advice, but in case you're looking for some: Give yourself time. You don't have to decide today what to do with this book, or your writing in general, or any of it. Let yourself process and get some equilibrium back. Of course this hurts - yours is a normal reaction to an awful situation.

If you do decide to move forward, you may find there are lessons to take from this - questions you can ask up front before you choose representation again. From the little bit you mention here, a couple of things stand out to me: that she had only one publisher in mind, and that she "didn't have time" to do further work for the book. Both of those things suggest to me that, at the very least, she wasn't a good fit for you. That doesn't mean there aren't agents out there who would be. If you decide to go the agent route again, I think you could ask questions about their submission strategies, and what they do if/when those strategies don't pan out. (Too many of us, I think, don't want to ask about negative outcomes, but that's part of the deal.)

Regardless of how you choose to proceed - I'm sorry you're going through this. If it helps at all, remember what you've had here is exactly one publisher say they don't want to publish that book. That's literally all you know about this book's marketability: that one publisher has passed on it. Unless you've got an absurdly niche piece of work, that doesn't tell you anything at all.

Grieve however you need, and know you're not alone.

that really stinks. sorry to hear that. if one agent liked it, another one will too. you can bet on it. know it doesn't seem like it right now, but this may end up being one of the best things to happen in your writing career. who knows. get up, good luck and keep marching forward!

She sent it to only one? wow, I would say you are better off without that person as an agent. sorry she did that to you.

Ouch, that really stings, Zmethos. I hope you find a better agent soon.

I'm so sorry, zmethos. That really sucks. Sounds like you did your due diligence, but the agent was experimenting with your book — seeing if she could sell your genre/concept to this publisher — and when it didn't pan out, she was done.

I received the advice to self-publish from an agent once, and it crushed me. Not because I have anything against self-publishing, but because that advice doesn't soften an agent rejection of a book the author clearly hoped was trade publishable. So all I can advise is, don't take it personally. Don't let it discourage you. With any luck, you will find an agent who believes in the book strongly enough to take it out for a real submission round, and who doesn't give up easily.

That is awful, zmethos. Sending lots of

That was some astonishingly unprofessional (and just downright crappy) behavior on the part of that agent. Of course it hurts--but I think you're well rid of her. Take some time to mourn, but then try again. And virtual hugs for you.

Zmethos, that was extremely unprofessional of the agent. Let Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware know the details about this ASAP. She'll keep it discreet, but this agent should probably be avoided...or at least noted for this behavior.

Well, if the agent knew this was a solicited manuscript they may have just signed up to see the deal through. Although that sort of thing should be clear up front.

Agreed. That doesn't sound like any type of agent behavior I'm familiar with. If you hadn't mentioned other authors seem to be happy with the results, I'd seriously question if this was an agent or someone participating in Agent:The Role Playing Game.

I don't have anything to add that hasn't been said already, but .

She must have thought this one publisher/editor she knew would want it. When that turned out not to be the case, she dumped me.

Click to expand...

This. Is so. NOT NICE!

Sounds like she may have been using you, perhaps, to get a foot in with that particular publisher or editor, and when that didn't work, she dropped you. Very unprofessional and self-serving. I would tell my experience to Writer Beware as as suggested.

zmethos said:

So now I'm back at square one. I felt like I'd finally climbed the mountain and now an avalanche has knocked me back down to the base. I'm not sure I have the energy to try again.

Click to expand...

zmethos, you're going to do all of us and yourself a favour and climb that f*cking mountain again, all right? Imagine we're all a bunch of St. Bernards who pull you out from underneath that snow. There's loads of whiskey in those barrels around our necks* so take as much as you need--warm yourself or maybe even get drunk, I don't care, then don a fancy snowsuit and some snow goggles, take your pickaxe and a supply of energy bars, and go for the top of that mountain. I'm pretty sure there's a nice little shack up there where you can get some more whiskey and a divine cheese fondue--and guess what: there's a really awesome person waiting in that shack for you. Patiently sitting there and drinking whiskey and having cheese fondue, all the while reading your manuscript, until you come in through that door. And they're gonna be like, "zmethos, I am your agent."**

* I don't know how they really rescue people buried underneath avalanches, or what's really in those barrels, so don't take my word for it.

** If you read this in a Darth Vader tone, my job here is done.

That's ridiculous. I'd be angry and hurt, in your shoes.

Did the agent say she wouldn't sub anymore? Or was giving up on getting a book deal merely a (horrible, totally premature) suggestion? If she's not willing to sub anymore, I don't think you should have too much trouble looking for another agent. Normally, the fact that the manuscript had been subbed would put you at a disadvantage, but I can't see many agents being overly bothered by a single rejection. Just make sure you read your contract going forward.

Good luck with whatever YOU choose to do.

zmethos said:

Thanks, Maryn. Actually, yes--I'll admit I felt a wee bit like "too good to be true," even at the time. But I wanted so much to believe!

I did check her credentials, and even spoke to authors she repped who seemed very happy with her. One author she worked with had done very well, including having her books translated into several different languages. Still, the agent is a one-person operation, and my book was not her usual thing. Which is another reason I was a little surprised she was so eager to take it on. Turns out, not so eager? She must have thought this one publisher/editor she knew would want it. When that turned out not to be the case, she dumped me. I'm bummed because I had given her a list of publishers to maybe try (ones I'd thought were a good fit but I'd need an agent to submit to), but she just wasn't willing to even do that much.

Click to expand...

Most likely the reason for her actions. A pity. And, a useful learning opportunity I suppose.

I feels for ye, as they say. On the bright side, it was good enough for one agent, so...

UGH. That agent sounds awful!! Zmethos, believe it or not, this sounds liike a bullet dodged for you, because you want someone who is going to stick with you through thick and thin to represent your career.

I actually think you’re in a much better position now, because the MS was only subbed to one editor. That means if you do decide to query, you can mention that you were represented by Agent SoandSo, but the MS was only submitted to one editor before you parted ways amicably. I think most agents won’t be turned off by this, and also you’d get added points for the MS being strong enough to get repped.

Yeah, that's really harsh. I've had issues with agents too. Just keep going. Like others have said, take some time to heal. Hope things work out soon.