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I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I now have three different book deals. The past few years, I had sort of accepted that it would never happen for me, and that I'm just going to write and never sell a thing. To now be sitting with three different book deals is a dream and I am so beyond grateful.
The first book deal I got you can see at the bottom of this post.
Second book deal was for Book 7, which, like my first book deal, had a very long and shitty journey. Let's see...
-Written in mid 2017. Went out on sub with my ex-agent. Got rejection after rejection.
-I pulled it from sub, rewrote it.
-Trunked it. I was depressed by then, having written 7 books and not selling a single one. Burst into tears in front of MIL, what a great moment that was, lol.
-A very patient beta offered to read it again. This was probably (not even exaggerating) the 12th beta read.
-I rewrote the book AGAIN. More beta reads.
-Moved on to writing a new book (book 8). I wasn't feeling it at all, but finished it anyway and trunked it forever. It was basically a sad book of sadness and kind of helped with my writing depression to get it all out. Most importantly, though book 8 sucked, it helped pave the way for book 9, which I will talk about in a bit.
-It was at this time that my ex-agent sold one of my books. It was wonderful and magical, and I will be forever grateful to him for it, but due to various reasons, after the dust settled I decided it was still best to part ways with him.
-Parted ways with ex-agent. Queried book 7. Started writing book 9.
-Dec 2019: Signed with my current agent.
-February 2020: Agent sold book at auction.
So that was Book 7, a book that made me the saddest for a long time but has a happy ending. And here is the announcement!
My third book deal is for Book 9. Book 9...phew. Book 9's journey has been the most magical of all.
-November 2019: Started writing it.
-January 2019: Finished first draft. Sent it out to betas.
-February 2019: Sent to agent. She adored it and only had very minor edits to make.
-March 2019: Went on sub the same day that NYC went into lockdown. We were not sure how that would affect the book's chances, but my agent said she was too excited about the book to not sub it ASAP, so I trusted her gut.
-1 week into sub: 2 rejections.
-2 weeks into sub: A film agent and a literary scout reached out to my agent, asking to read the book. My agent was mystified. She had no idea who was leaking about the book, but sent it along anyway, since buzz is always a good thing. She also contacted a film agent she knew and asked if said film agent wanted to read. Film agent said yes.
-3 weeks into sub: I signed with a film agent. More film agents reached out to my agent and she had to turn them down. A publisher requested a call. Agent nudged everyone else with the MS and it was all smooth sailing from there. Sold at a very fierce and competitive auction.
The announcement for that one:
So that's my insane journey to publication. I can't even describe this feeling right now. I will have six books coming out over the next three years, which is totally fine *nervous laughter*. But seriously, I truly am overjoyed and overcome with gratitude. I was so elated with one book deal. To have 3 of them before my debut is even out is pretty unreal. I probably won't be going on sub again anytime soon, lol.
I would love to be able to give back to the community any way I can, so if anyone has questions about publishing or writing in general, I'll try my best to answer them. I'm still pretty much a newb at it so I probably won't know the answer to most questions, but I do have a lot of advice when it comes to things like: maximizing your writing time and working in the most efficient way possible, querying, what to expect from a healthy agent-client relationship, writing in different genres, and so on. I have been with an okay agent, a shmagent, a well-respected agent who is amazing but not a great fit for me, and now am without a doubt with my forever agent. Unfortunately since I now have some pretty tight deadlines, I can't spend as much time critiquing as I'd like to, but if you're from a marginalized community and need help with your query, my PM is always open.
-----------------------------Original Post Below---------------------------
I don't know how long I've dreamed of writing this thread, but finally, here it is. I have a book deal!!! Actually, I have a two-book deal!!! I can't even describe how long and twisty the journey has been, so here are the stats:
Books written: I have just finished my EIGHTH bloody manuscript. *lolsob*
Agents: 3. Yep. I have had 3 agents. Technically am on my 4th, but he also happens to be my 1st agent. Like I said, long and twisty journey.
Books that died on sub: 6
Number of times I went on sub across all agents: 8
Number of times an editor has loved my books, only to be cockblocked at acquisitions: 6, and I remember exactly each and every one of these close calls.
Number of times I have sobbed in the shower/on the floor/in some dark corner: Lost count, but at least 6, one for each of those close calls.
Number of years spent trying to get published: 8
Number of years I have aged in that time: Well, being Asian, I won’t age until I hit 50, when a switch will flip and I will turn into a little old lady overnight. But emotionally, about 712.
Book that got me the book deal: Lucky number 5!
A little bit about this book’s journey...I wrote it in 2016 for Camp Nano. It was a mess. My betas pointed out some really major issues which would take so much time to fix that my lazy ass decided to trunk it and move on to New Shiny. But then I decided to enter it into the Beta Project here on AW, just on a whim, and in writing a query for it, I realized that it had a great hook. So out of the trunk it came. I edited and sent to my agent. He loved it, but said it felt like it was lacking something. I agreed, but neither of us really knew what that something was. Books 6 and 7 were finished and sent to my agent, who started subbing them, and we both kind of forgot about 5. Then my agent read a book about a stalker and had a major brainwave. He pinpointed the issue with 5. I edited madly and finally, over 2.5 years after I finished the first draft, 5 went out into the world. By this time, I’d been out on sub so many times, with so many different books, that getting published seemed like a wild dream that would never ever happen to me. I didn’t get excited at the thought of being on sub, because I knew it would just end in disappointment.
Welp. I am very happy to be proven wrong. Also I’m kind of sitting in wonder thinking how, at one point, I’d trunked 5 and would’ve never looked at it again if not for the Beta Project. So here’s to trunked books. May they keep coming back and nipping our ankles and demanding to be heard. And here’s to AW, without doubt the best resource there is for aspiring writers.
Aaaand that is my ridiculously long journey to publication.
Book 5, in pictures:
Me writing the first draft with baby hippo1
Bippo1 the week I got the offer
What's that they say about publishing moving as slow as molasses...?
The first book deal I got you can see at the bottom of this post.
Second book deal was for Book 7, which, like my first book deal, had a very long and shitty journey. Let's see...
-Written in mid 2017. Went out on sub with my ex-agent. Got rejection after rejection.
-I pulled it from sub, rewrote it.
-Trunked it. I was depressed by then, having written 7 books and not selling a single one. Burst into tears in front of MIL, what a great moment that was, lol.
-A very patient beta offered to read it again. This was probably (not even exaggerating) the 12th beta read.
-I rewrote the book AGAIN. More beta reads.
-Moved on to writing a new book (book 8). I wasn't feeling it at all, but finished it anyway and trunked it forever. It was basically a sad book of sadness and kind of helped with my writing depression to get it all out. Most importantly, though book 8 sucked, it helped pave the way for book 9, which I will talk about in a bit.
-It was at this time that my ex-agent sold one of my books. It was wonderful and magical, and I will be forever grateful to him for it, but due to various reasons, after the dust settled I decided it was still best to part ways with him.
-Parted ways with ex-agent. Queried book 7. Started writing book 9.
-Dec 2019: Signed with my current agent.
-February 2020: Agent sold book at auction.
So that was Book 7, a book that made me the saddest for a long time but has a happy ending. And here is the announcement!
My third book deal is for Book 9. Book 9...phew. Book 9's journey has been the most magical of all.
-November 2019: Started writing it.
-January 2019: Finished first draft. Sent it out to betas.
-February 2019: Sent to agent. She adored it and only had very minor edits to make.
-March 2019: Went on sub the same day that NYC went into lockdown. We were not sure how that would affect the book's chances, but my agent said she was too excited about the book to not sub it ASAP, so I trusted her gut.
-1 week into sub: 2 rejections.
-2 weeks into sub: A film agent and a literary scout reached out to my agent, asking to read the book. My agent was mystified. She had no idea who was leaking about the book, but sent it along anyway, since buzz is always a good thing. She also contacted a film agent she knew and asked if said film agent wanted to read. Film agent said yes.
-3 weeks into sub: I signed with a film agent. More film agents reached out to my agent and she had to turn them down. A publisher requested a call. Agent nudged everyone else with the MS and it was all smooth sailing from there. Sold at a very fierce and competitive auction.
The announcement for that one:
So that's my insane journey to publication. I can't even describe this feeling right now. I will have six books coming out over the next three years, which is totally fine *nervous laughter*. But seriously, I truly am overjoyed and overcome with gratitude. I was so elated with one book deal. To have 3 of them before my debut is even out is pretty unreal. I probably won't be going on sub again anytime soon, lol.
I would love to be able to give back to the community any way I can, so if anyone has questions about publishing or writing in general, I'll try my best to answer them. I'm still pretty much a newb at it so I probably won't know the answer to most questions, but I do have a lot of advice when it comes to things like: maximizing your writing time and working in the most efficient way possible, querying, what to expect from a healthy agent-client relationship, writing in different genres, and so on. I have been with an okay agent, a shmagent, a well-respected agent who is amazing but not a great fit for me, and now am without a doubt with my forever agent. Unfortunately since I now have some pretty tight deadlines, I can't spend as much time critiquing as I'd like to, but if you're from a marginalized community and need help with your query, my PM is always open.
-----------------------------Original Post Below---------------------------
I don't know how long I've dreamed of writing this thread, but finally, here it is. I have a book deal!!! Actually, I have a two-book deal!!! I can't even describe how long and twisty the journey has been, so here are the stats:
Books written: I have just finished my EIGHTH bloody manuscript. *lolsob*
Agents: 3. Yep. I have had 3 agents. Technically am on my 4th, but he also happens to be my 1st agent. Like I said, long and twisty journey.
Books that died on sub: 6
Number of times I went on sub across all agents: 8
Number of times an editor has loved my books, only to be cockblocked at acquisitions: 6, and I remember exactly each and every one of these close calls.
Number of times I have sobbed in the shower/on the floor/in some dark corner: Lost count, but at least 6, one for each of those close calls.
Number of years spent trying to get published: 8
Number of years I have aged in that time: Well, being Asian, I won’t age until I hit 50, when a switch will flip and I will turn into a little old lady overnight. But emotionally, about 712.
Book that got me the book deal: Lucky number 5!
A little bit about this book’s journey...I wrote it in 2016 for Camp Nano. It was a mess. My betas pointed out some really major issues which would take so much time to fix that my lazy ass decided to trunk it and move on to New Shiny. But then I decided to enter it into the Beta Project here on AW, just on a whim, and in writing a query for it, I realized that it had a great hook. So out of the trunk it came. I edited and sent to my agent. He loved it, but said it felt like it was lacking something. I agreed, but neither of us really knew what that something was. Books 6 and 7 were finished and sent to my agent, who started subbing them, and we both kind of forgot about 5. Then my agent read a book about a stalker and had a major brainwave. He pinpointed the issue with 5. I edited madly and finally, over 2.5 years after I finished the first draft, 5 went out into the world. By this time, I’d been out on sub so many times, with so many different books, that getting published seemed like a wild dream that would never ever happen to me. I didn’t get excited at the thought of being on sub, because I knew it would just end in disappointment.
Welp. I am very happy to be proven wrong. Also I’m kind of sitting in wonder thinking how, at one point, I’d trunked 5 and would’ve never looked at it again if not for the Beta Project. So here’s to trunked books. May they keep coming back and nipping our ankles and demanding to be heard. And here’s to AW, without doubt the best resource there is for aspiring writers.
Aaaand that is my ridiculously long journey to publication.
Book 5, in pictures:
Me writing the first draft with baby hippo1
Bippo1 the week I got the offer
What's that they say about publishing moving as slow as molasses...?
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