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!