misery and frustration!!!

flowerburgers

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I feel so goddamn depressed right now and I'm wondering if anyone has some advice...I sent a short story collection to an agent whom I've been courting for almost three years, and she loved it and told me that she thinks she will be able to sell it if I can also give her a novel. From her enthusiasm, I am almost sure that she wants to represent me...as long as there's a second book. So, since hearing from her, I've been fumbling around with all my material, all my novel starts, and I have tentatively arrived at a frustrating realization: I don't think I want to write a novel! I find short fiction--especially novellas and short story cycles--so much more exciting, so much more fun to write, and I hate that such projects are completely unmarketable without a novel in tow. I'm so close to representation with a reputable New York agency and I am starting to doubt it will happen because I don't know if I can provide what she wants. I've thought about trying small presses, but it's just not the same. I've always want to be published nationally, and this agent has always been so supportive of me for years, so I really want to make it work with her. I'm playing around with merging some of my shorter pieces--two short stories, a finished novella, and an abandoned novel start--into a cohesive book, but it feels contrived to me; I think I'm making the stories weaker by trying to combine them, and she also urged me against doing it, so I don't know what I'm even thinking. I was so happy when I first heard back from her because she was so excited about my book, but now I feel hopeless. I told her I'd look over my projects and get back to her in a few months about which I want to pursue as a novel...but I'm worried that those two months will pass and I'll still have nothing because I've never had success with longer works.
 

cornflake

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I feel so goddamn depressed right now and I'm wondering if anyone has some advice...I sent a short story collection to an agent whom I've been courting for almost three years, and she loved it and told me that she thinks she will be able to sell it if I can also give her a novel. From her enthusiasm, I am almost sure that she wants to represent me...as long as there's a second book. So, since hearing from her, I've been fumbling around with all my material, all my novel starts, and I have tentatively arrived at a frustrating realization: I don't think I want to write a novel! I find short fiction--especially novellas and short story cycles--so much more exciting, so much more fun to write, and I hate that such projects are completely unmarketable without a novel in tow. I'm so close to representation with a reputable New York agency and I am starting to doubt it will happen because I don't know if I can provide what she wants. I've thought about trying small presses, but it's just not the same. I've always want to be published nationally, and this agent has always been so supportive of me for years, so I really want to make it work with her. I'm playing around with merging some of my shorter pieces--two short stories, a finished novella, and an abandoned novel start--into a cohesive book, but it feels contrived to me; I think I'm making the stories weaker by trying to combine them, and she also urged me against doing it, so I don't know what I'm even thinking. I was so happy when I first heard back from her because she was so excited about my book, but now I feel hopeless. I told her I'd look over my projects and get back to her in a few months about which I want to pursue as a novel...but I'm worried that those two months will pass and I'll still have nothing because I've never had success with longer works.

If you don't have any interest in novel-writing, I think it's best to just be up front about that, because if you know for sure you're not about novel-length works, and you did manage to produce one just to try to make a single agent happy, think of what happens next:

-- it's not the novel she was hoping for, as you patched it together or tortured yourself trying to figure something out, thus...

----- she asks for a different novel
----- she asks you to go back and revise the thing, which takes you months of more work, for no guarantee she'll like that either
----- she decides maybe it's not going to work after all, but thanks for trying.

-- it's a novel she thinks she can sell

----- do you think no one will want another if it does?

It may, of course, be that you start some entirely other novel and find it's better than you thought and you click and it's great and it all works out. That's also a possibility. However, given your current feeling, and that this is ONE agent, and the lists of possibilities... I think you have to weigh your options.
 
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flowerburgers

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Thanks cornflake. It just feels awful to get so close and to know my chances are so slim with a collection, no matter whom I try. I'm worried that all agents are going to say the same thing.
 

cornflake

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Look for a workaround -- if she thinks the shorts are saleable, ask if there's a way to make them more marketable to a publisher without a novel on board. Does she have suggestions for submissions for individual ones? If you can place any in higher-end markets, would that help, can she recommend any editors or placement possibilities?
 

flowerburgers

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I wish I'd shot higher with them because only two are published in a national magazine, both in Narrative. Four others are in smaller journals, one is pending at several top-notch magazines, and I figure I should save the novella that closes the book so that something in the collection remains unpublished. I have a 115-page in-progress story that I think is going to turn out to be a long novella, I guess I will focus on finishing it and see what happens--the main character of that story dominates the collection, so maybe I could convince her to take on a short story cycle? But she urged me not to pursue that when I broached the idea. I told her I'd be in touch in 1-2 months, so I'm going to hold off on asking her anything more for the time being.
 

cornflake

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I wish I'd shot higher with them because only two are published in a national magazine, both in Narrative. Four others are in smaller journals, one is pending at several top-notch magazines, and I figure I should save the novella that closes the book so that something in the collection remains unpublished. I have a 115-page in-progress story that I think is going to turn out to be a long novella, I guess I will focus on finishing it and see what happens--the main character of that story dominates the collection, so maybe I could convince her to take on a short story cycle? But she urged me not to pursue that when I broached the idea. I told her I'd be in touch in 1-2 months, so I'm going to hold off on asking her anything more for the time being.

What about working on other shorts?
 

flowerburgers

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Yes, I think that's what I'll probably wind up doing since I have plenty of ideas for those...and perhaps my long in-progress novella will wind up novel-length if I'm lucky? My professors both just sent me really sweet, encouraging emails, so I'm feeling a little better. Thanks so much for your response, cornflake.
 

ap123

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I feel so goddamn depressed right now and I'm wondering if anyone has some advice...I sent a short story collection to an agent whom I've been courting for almost three years, and she loved it and told me that she thinks she will be able to sell it if I can also give her a novel. From her enthusiasm, I am almost sure that she wants to represent me...as long as there's a second book. So, since hearing from her, I've been fumbling around with all my material, all my novel starts, and I have tentatively arrived at a frustrating realization: I don't think I want to write a novel! I find short fiction--especially novellas and short story cycles--so much more exciting, so much more fun to write, and I hate that such projects are completely unmarketable without a novel in tow. I'm so close to representation with a reputable New York agency and I am starting to doubt it will happen because I don't know if I can provide what she wants. I've thought about trying small presses, but it's just not the same. I've always want to be published nationally, and this agent has always been so supportive of me for years, so I really want to make it work with her. I'm playing around with merging some of my shorter pieces--two short stories, a finished novella, and an abandoned novel start--into a cohesive book, but it feels contrived to me; I think I'm making the stories weaker by trying to combine them, and she also urged me against doing it, so I don't know what I'm even thinking. I was so happy when I first heard back from her because she was so excited about my book, but now I feel hopeless. I told her I'd look over my projects and get back to her in a few months about which I want to pursue as a novel...but I'm worried that those two months will pass and I'll still have nothing because I've never had success with longer works.

I'm sorry, flowerburgers, it really can be such a frustrating business, for a million and one reasons.

I wouldn't rule out small presses, if you haven't already looked into it. While many of the more recognized ones won't take unagented subs, there are a few that will.

I write shorts and full length, and they really are different beasts. One thought, though--and I might be way off base, bc I don't write novellas, and they aren't my thing to read--but how long is (or estimated when complete) your novella? I def get not seeing a way to turn a short into a full mss, if it's complete in your mind at 2 or 3 or even 5000 words, that's it. But if you're over 30,000, maybe it's worth taking some time to think about how you could flesh out the plot to make it a full.

Overall, I don't have advice, the above are just thoughts, but I'm offering commiseration along with a glass of something. Gin and tonic?
 

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Since you seem to enjoy writing novellas, could you write 3 or 4 related novellas packaged as a novel? (Think Stephen King's Hearts in Atlantis.)
 

flowerburgers

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ap123, it's currently 25,000 words and not yet done, so perhaps there's hope! My amazing professor just read it despite the fact that the semester is over and offered to meet with me today, she sees it as a novel and is trying to convince me that it could be...so hopefully she can steer me in the right direction. Even if it does turn out to be novella length, I think it pairs well with the other novella I have (they're from the POV of an ex-husband and wife respectively), so maybe I could convince someone to take that on since it will be at least novel-esque.

Thank you guys for your nice responses. I had such high hopes that the agent would take me on with short stories because she likes my work so much, so I've been feeling really deflated, but maybe I can pull something together. I have two months before I need to give her an update.
 

flowerburgers

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Update: I had a great talk with my professor, who gave me direction with my long novella/very short novel/whatever it is, and I at least know what to do to finish it. From what I've planned, I don't think it's going to be much longer than 180 pages...which will probably make it as unmarketable as a short story collection...but maybe, if the agent is impressed by this book too, I'll still have a chance. I also wonder if I can sell her on the idea of paired novellas, as the stories feature shared characters and are thematically linked. If she doesn't bite, I'll have to accept that I write short fiction and look for someone who is willing to take me on anyway. Anyway, the main thing is that I got marketability out of my mind, and I'm back to work on a project that I like. Thank you all for your kind responses, I was having a miserable morning when I made my original post and your words were heartening.
 

Anna Spargo-Ryan

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Update: I had a great talk with my professor, who gave me direction with my long novella/very short novel/whatever it is, and I at least know what to do to finish it. From what I've planned, I don't think it's going to be much longer than 180 pages...which will probably make it as unmarketable as a short story collection...but maybe, if the agent is impressed by this book too, I'll still have a chance. I also wonder if I can sell her on the idea of paired novellas, as the stories feature shared characters and are thematically linked. If she doesn't bite, I'll have to accept that I write short fiction and look for someone who is willing to take me on anyway. Anyway, the main thing is that I got marketability out of my mind, and I'm back to work on a project that I like. Thank you all for your kind responses, I was having a miserable morning when I made my original post and your words were heartening.

Have you read Fates and Furies? These two novellas together sound so much like the structure of that book, which is a husband's story for 200 pages and then his wife's story for 200 pages. International best seller, too. Maybe that's an option to look at?
 

Qwest

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Update: I had a great talk with my professor, who gave me direction with my long novella/very short novel/whatever it is, and I at least know what to do to finish it. From what I've planned, I don't think it's going to be much longer than 180 pages...which will probably make it as unmarketable as a short story collection...but maybe, if the agent is impressed by this book too, I'll still have a chance. I also wonder if I can sell her on the idea of paired novellas, as the stories feature shared characters and are thematically linked. If she doesn't bite, I'll have to accept that I write short fiction and look for someone who is willing to take me on anyway. Anyway, the main thing is that I got marketability out of my mind, and I'm back to work on a project that I like. Thank you all for your kind responses, I was having a miserable morning when I made my original post and your words were heartening.

I'm glad to hear that you're finding your feet with this.

For what it's worth, some really popular short works have been coming out in the last few years. On the fiction front, "Grief is the Thing with Feathers" by Max Porter was a hit despite being very short. On the non-fiction side, a short book: "We Should All Be Feminists" by by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Fiction again: The New Yorker short story that went viral "Cat Person" by Kristen Roupenian is now being published as a book.

I think given that people have less time to read these days (internet, gaming, TV series), we might very well see novella length books coming into fashion. So, don't lose heart over your 180 pages. "Sell" your ability to write shorter pieces.

Good luck!