Off to My Agent and What Happens Next

I sent my new manuscript off to my agent yesterday. It was a bittersweet moment as I love my new book, (working title: The Opposite of Normal) and will miss my characters and their struggles.  But, it was exciting to talk to my agent, tell her how positive I feel about the book, and hear her excitement over the title. (A good friend gave it to me as I suck at titles; Thanks, Dielle!)  

The hard part is the waiting, which is what it feels like you do all the time as an author. My agent warned me that she is very busy the next few weeks -- agents really do live in a state of constant busy-ness, as they juggle multiple authors in various stages of projects, contracts, editorial, etc. so I have to wait my turn.  I appreciated that she told me exactly what is going on and how long it would be and when I would hear from her again.  So now I have about three weeks to imagine her reading it, loving or hating it, thinking it's ready to go or that it will need more work.  And then we're up against the dreaded summer slow down. 

If you're not familiar with the summer slow down, it's famous among those of us in publishing as the time when people start vacationing and new projects can be put on hold.  Though a book will be acquired by one editor who falls in love with it and then feels compelled to bring it to market, that editor must first get her editorial team on board with support in order to make an offer, and because members of the team might be on vacation at various times throughout the summer, books don't seem to get acquired as often then. (But maybe they do and writers and agents are just a little too paranoid about this "supposed" summer slow down.)

So it's actually possible that my beloved manuscript will not see an editor's desk until September, when vacations are over and publishers are again focusing on finding that special book.  In the meantime, I will begin working on my next book, which will tackle a completely new subject for me but still focus on themes of family and hope, which are what interest me most.

Any questions about the publishing process? I would love to hear from you!

More About My Next Book...

I'm getting ready to send my next book to my agent;  I would like to send it to her sometime next week.  She'll read it -- hopefully quickly -- she is usually very good about reading new manuscripts in about a week's time -- and then advise me about what she thinks we should do next. I'm looking forward to this part.  Meanwhile, I'm on my second rereading since my work on the version I finished based off of my editor's suggestions. It's amazing that no matter how careful I think I'm being, no matter how many times I go through it, I still find things to change, whether we're talking about typos I missed or phrases that I could have written more smoothly or a new line of dialogue one of my characters just has to say.

Many of you have asked me for a sneak peek into this next book, and while I'm hesitant to say too much until my agent reads it and we decide how to move forward, I will give you a glimpse here. It's called The Opposite of Normal (right now, because titles almost always get changed somewhere along the publishing process) and it's told from three different points of view -- twelve year old Hannah, who is questioning her identity as an American Jew, since she was adopted from a Chinese orphanage and doesn't fit in with the mostly white, Christian peers in her town, her brother Aaron, who, at seventeen, is dating a Christian girl who wants nothing more than to marry young and have as many children as possible, while Aaron prepares to leave town for an Ivy League college, and their father, Rabbi Mark Friedlander, whose wife died two years ago from cancer, leaving him alone (and feeling quite incapable) of raising his two teenage children as a single parent while he fights to keep his job at a failing synagogue.

I'm really excited about this book -- hence the sneak peek for all of you -- and I can't wait to get it out there to hear what you, my supportive and enthusiastic readers -- have to say about it.

Editing...or The Part I Hate the Most

I just finished two hours of hard editing -- like hard labor, except I'm still in my pjs and robe, sitting at my kitchen table, and I can get up and get a drink or something to eat while I'm doing it.

Writers seem to come in all shapes and sizes and for some, editing is their favorite part. I can't relate. My favorite part -- once I get an idea that appears to have legs -- is the blank page. I love writing with abandon, not worrying about all of the technical issues, like whether a character is fully developed or my climax is fleshed out or even if I got the little details, like the color of someone's hair -- right. I love just waiting to see what my character will do next, how she's going to get out of a difficult situation, and how to address a controversial issue, such as tackling abortion and religion -- to name two --like in the book I'm writing now.

But editing is a vital part of the process -- probably the most vital part.  It requires great attention to detail, a fleshing out of scenes, writing new scenes, deleting old ones, figuring out how all the is are going to be dotted and all the ts are going to get crossed. And it isn't easy.

It starts with a great editor, and that editor can't be the author. No matter how many writers think it, they are not capable of editing themselves, even if they edit for others, professionally. No, you need distance, you need someone to look objectively, and say Yeah, this works! (Pat yourself on the back) and No way! This doesn't work! (Cringe, but accept this is right and toss the words.)  And you need someone who is good at detail. (I'm not.) And someone with patience. (Definitely not me.)

It's worth it to pay for this service. A writer friend reading for free (maybe you can swap) can be very helpful -- I have a writer friend who is always my first reader, even before my editor -- but a writer friend generally can't be as specific as a professional editor. Maybe she doesn't have time -- after all, she's writing, too! -- or maybe she's afraid of hurting your feelings, or whatever.  A writer friend is a start, not an end, in the process.

I started working with a new editor for this book. She came highly recommended from an author whose work I deeply admire, and when I contacted her she was professional, thoughtful, and direct. I signed her up immediately and sent her my manuscript, nervous.

There was nothing to be nervous about. Her suggestions were completely on target, and my book is coming together to be an even better book because of her. So I say...all hail the editor. Probably the most important part of the process!

A Literary Agent Will Make All My Dreams Come True, Right?

Most authors who want to publish traditionally (aka, through one of the publishers in the Big Five/Six, with a hardbound or paperback book that will show up at Barnes and Noble and book stores around the country and get reviews) need to find a literary agent.  The agent is the author's conduit to the publishing world -- the agent matches you up with editors he or she thinks would be good fits for your work, builds the relationship, sends the manuscript, negotiates your contracts, etc., etc. Literary agents work hard and long for us, the authors. I once spent a few months interning with an agent, which helped me understand what, exactly, an agent does and how valuable an agent can be.

It's hard to get an agent.  First you have to persuade, in about four paragraphs (called a query letter), why an agent should consider your manuscript. The agent (or, more often) the agent's assistant or intern will read through, literally, about fifty other letters just like yours EACH DAY.  The assistant or intern will pass the letters she thinks hold promise to the agent, and then the agent may ask you for a few sample pages or the first fifty pages or the entire manuscript. Then in the agent's spare time (which is, like, nothing) she will read through and decide whether she would like to represent you.

This is just the start. The agent will work with you to edit your manuscript until it's ready for submission, which could take weeks (if you're lucky) or months (usually) or a year, even (occasionally).  For many more months (or a year, even) the agent will shop your manuscript around, trying to get editors interested. This is a tricky process.

Here's the thing.  The agent does not guarantee you will get a traditional deal.  I have an agent.  Her name is Erica Silverman and she works for one of the top literary agencies in the country, Trident Media Group.  Whenever I tell anyone in the literary world who my agent is, the first thing the other person says is, "Oooohhh, Trident. You're going to get a deal."

I have not gotten a deal.  Erica has tried to sell TWO of my manuscripts, and neither was taken.  Child of Mine, my book that came out in March, was published by Trident Media's Ebook Division, because Erica believed in it so much that she wanted the world to read it.  (Thanks, Erica!)

Literary agents can be valuable partners in the publishing process.  Obviously mine has been for me.  But an agent is NO guarantee that you will make a deal.  Getting the agent is only one small step in the process.

Publishing Vs. Publishing

When I was in college, I got an internship at a small publishing company called Acropolis Books.  It was in Washington D.C., and I loved every minute. Eventually they invited me to work for them full time.  There, I learned from industry veterans -- I learned how to edit, to write a press release, how books are chosen to be published, how to go through a slush pile, how to write an ad, how to edit a book, how to choose a cover....it was very hands on.  I had always loved books and here was a place that I could talk about them and help bring them from an idea or a proposal or a rough draft to a bound book that would go into book stores. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

That internship cemented my feelings that I wanted to work in publishing. When I graduated from college, the Marketing Director of that company called around and helped me get my first job in New York. In Big Time Publishing.

Just a few months into Big Time Publishing, I saw something completely different. I saw a lot of people trying to claw their way to the top, doing anything that had to in order to get there. I saw a lot of underpaid people working their tails off to make it to the next level.  I saw a lot of exhausted people bowing out of Big Time Publishing altogether. It was the early nineties.

For the next eight years, I tried variations on Big Time Publishing.  I worked in nonfiction. I worked in Test Prep Books. I worked in library resource publishing. I climbed my way from Editorial Assistant to Managing Editor. I loved certain aspects of the business.

I dropped out when I became pregnant with my second child.  I knew I wouldn't be able to manage a career and my two kids, living in New Jersey and going into New York every day.  I didn't look back.

Then I decided to write my own novels.  And suddenly I was pressed back into Big Time Publishing. Only now it's so much more complicated than it was before. There's self publishing, only we call it Indie. And there's hybrid -- (which is what I've done) -- a cross between Traditional and Indie and there's Traditional, which some still see as the holy grail, where the big time publisher says THIS IS IT and you GET TO BE IT. (If only briefly)

Lately, I've been noticing a whole lot of versus in publishing. Indie Vs. Traditional. Agented Vs NonAgented. Ebook Vs. Paper. Brick and Mortar Vs. Amazon.  There seems to be a lot of bitterness, a lot of anger, a lot of dissension. It bothers me.  As authors, we are a unique community. There are many of us, for sure, but it is hard to write a book, hard for it to stand out, hard to get going in this world.  The last thing we need to be doing, as authors, is insisting my way is best, or my way is the only way, or your way is wrong.  We need to support each other.  How can we best do that?

Promote each other. Cheer each other on. Read each others' books. If someone asks for help, give it.  If someone doesn't ask for help, but you have help to give, offer it. But most of all, keep an open mind.  Can I help you? Let me know.