Representation and Validation

I was at work when it happened. My husband called me with three words that made me shiver with excitement. Nope, not "I love you," though that works, too.

No, he said, "Call your AGENT!"

The second agent I sent my work to wanted to talk. I got right on the phone and she continued to say all the right things (referring to my previous blog When it Rains it Pours) .

First was, "I love the story." Next was, "I love the characters, and your writing style." Then, the pièce de résistance, "I'd like to represent you!"

Well, I wanted to leap from seat and do the dance of joy, however, my boss was downstairs and is already afraid I may be leaving soon. So, instead, I behaved with the utmost professionalism and told her (my AGENT) it was great, and asked what we do next.

She is now going over the contract I signed with my publisher to be certain I do, in fact, own the rights to my stories and characters. When she finishes, she'll call me and we'll talk business.

To say this is a long time coming would be an understatement. It took eight years and hundreds of rejections. It all seemed so easy with her, making me wonder why it didn't happen sooner.

Was it just finally my time? Or were the cosmos aligned in my favor (for once)? Whatever it was, I'm grateful.

Now, just because I now have an agent really doesn't mean anything other than a professional thinks my work is good enough to be on the market. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done.

She will have to pitch my Eyes of Garnet trilogy to publishers and editors, and get one (or more!) interested enough to want to take a chance on me. It's all about the bottom line: can they sell my work?

The reason an agent says yes to a writer is because they are excited about the story, the writing, the characters, and they are sure the writers will continue writing. She has to be as enthusiastic as I am about what she's pitching to convey her beliefs that the story(ies) will sell.

Since I've done so much of this (getting published, signings, sales, distribution) on my own already, she knows that I'm in it for the long haul. I want to be able to make writing my living. Lord knows, my muse never shuts up, so why not exploit it?

I know it won't happen over night, that's not how my life works, but this is one enormous step in the right direction.

So, with that all said, I've got some writing to do!

When it rains, it pours!

One of the agents from the Speed-Dating session requested to see the first three chapters of Double Vision last Sunday, and a 2-week exclusive read. I granted her the 2-week read and sent the requested work to her as an email attachment. Many agencies are paperless these days, and I, for one, am happy about it. Saves time and money … oh, and trees. Now, I wait for the longest 2-weeks in history to hear whether or not she wants to see more or wants to jump ahead and actually represent me.

Then, when I participated in the multi-author signing last Friday evening, Janet Chapman told me to send her agent a query letter mentioning her name because her agent loves all things "Highlander." I put a letter and color flyer of all three of my books with their respective jacket descriptions in the mail with good thoughts the very next day. Then, while I was home writing on Wednesday, I received a call from Janet's agent!

I was ecstatic, and we talked for a little while getting to know each other. It was a great conversation because, if you read my blog from last week, I wrote the following: Well, if an agent doesn't have a sense of humor, I can't work with them either. This should be a fun, thrilling, creative and rewarding career path. If it's not, why should we do it? Towards the end of our conversation, I swear she said those very words, nearly verbatim. Did she read my blog? Nope. She hates technology; no email, no internet. She just told me everything I'd hoped to hear uttered from a agent's lips.

She wanted a 2-week exclusive read, just like the other agent did, and I told her I already had an agent reading my work. She told me to wait, then send my first book to her. And get this, she said, "I just hope I can contain myself for that long!" It was like music to my ears!

Part of me wants to just send it out, but I want to keep my promise to the first agent, too.

Now what's going through my mind is, what if they BOTH want to represent me? Who should I sign with? They are from different ends of the agent spectrum, but both qualified to represent my cross-genre stories. I hadn't thought of such a situation. Hell, just getting one to look at my work with any seriousness was all I'd hoped for. Now there are two! I love it!

I'll keep you posted on the continuing saga next week.

Things I Learned at a Multi-Author Book Signing

Last night, 5 Maine authors congregated in Belfast at the Fertile Mind Bookshop for their annual Valentine's Day Gala, and I was one of them.

There were great goodies, wonderful hosts, and of course, super authors. As the 5 of us (from left to right), Kathy Lynn Emerson, Dorothy Cannell, Janet Chapman, LaRue Haynes, (the hostess), me, and Susan Vaughan, sat around the table waiting for the customers to begin pouring in, we chatted book.

What I learned is that agents call the authors they work for a stable. I was distressed by this at first, but upon further examination of the vernacular, I began playing with it. Firstly, if authors are part of a stable, then what does that make agents?

That's right. Book pimps!

Yes, I suppose I could have gone the horse route, where authors are called brood mares, but it didn't have the same ring with me. Hey, as long as we're not called bitches, I guess I can work around it.

I also learned that while one publishing house will give an author some freedom with titles and covers, other have the cover and title already complete before the book is even written. This is based upon what the author gives the agent/editor for their synopsis up front.

I wonder how such an agent would handle my books? What would I tell her (the agent)? "You'll have to wait until I finish channelling my characters to see what they want to do?"

I can see I'm going to need an agent who understands my work mode very clearly. It's my book, so I'm naming it and I'm having final say on what the cover looks like, or I'm not playing! Childish? I don't think so. To me, giving up your vision to someone else is giving up all creativity. If the agent/editor/publisher wants to write a book, let them, but to completely take over someone else's soul … well, it just ain't right.

Will I find such a person in the crowded book pimping arena? Boy, I hope so! But I can see it now. "Did you see what Mary Duncan wrote in her blog about agents?"

Well, if an agent doesn't have a sense of humor, I can't work with them either. This should be a fun, thrilling, creative and rewarding career path. If it's not, why should we do it?