12 March 2011

Roller Coaster of a Ride!

What a roller coaster this querying business is!

Whence last I left you, fearless reader, I had been offered representation. After getting an agent, the polite thing (and sometimes the exciting thing) to do is to send an e-mail to the other agents you've queried, allowing them a chance to make a counter offer, of sorts, or to at least get a chance to read the manuscript.

I sent the e-mail out at about 8:30am the day after I received the offer.

At about 8:32 I had a request for a full from an agent at D4EO. The agent said she'd get back to me in a week. A week!

So, all week I was biting nails, pulling out hair (I'm serious) and hardly getting any sleep. I was checking my e-mail, my voice mail, making sure my phone was on, making sure it was working. I'd test call myself--I'm serious--just to Be. Sure. Every. Line. Of. Communication. Was. Open.

Then I got it.

The e-mail from D4EO.

I pulled over--because I can't drive and read e-mails, right?--at a wayside overlooking a river. I got out of the car, my heart pounding, and walked through all the squishy mud to find a beautiful rock to sit on.

And I read it. And read it again. She didn't want the book.

But, seriously, guys, it was the Most. Amazing. Rejection. Ever.

I. Mean. Ever.

I laughed, I cried, I literally almost hurled. It was that fantastic.

At the end, there was even hope.

So, the question I then had to decide upon was whether or not to accept the offer from Agent 1. I like the agent. We get along well. I even edit for her other manuscripts.  But, long story short, I am continuing to query. At this point I am not going to accept the offer from Agent 1 (there will probably be a post about this later, but I'll wait on that). I may be burning bridges (I just typed burning bridgets, and I really hope I don't do that--eek!) but I think hope know I'm making the right decision for me and Gemma.

My baby is still out in the world, and I am sure, if two agents loved it, so will a third.

Until, then, I'll keep working on my next WIP, Code Name: BBCH and plotting some more blog entries.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Exciting, Joy! Good luck on the roller coaster. Just - don't look down!

Joy N. Hensley said...

Thanks, Diane. I'm enjoying it...sort of. Kind of want it to end, though! :)

Tonya Kappes said...

Very scary to turn down an agent, but you know what will work best for you and Gemma!! I'm proud that you can see that and not just "got an agent" which many writers do and find "got an agent" didn't work out well and then part ways. This happens more and more, only authors don't tell us about those times. You have to find an agent that works for you! Keep going!

Joy N. Hensley said...

Thanks, Tonya. At the beginning it was very much a case of "I got an agent! I got an agent!"

And, there's definitely nothing wrong with the one who offered. I just want to see what else might happen. It definitely was/is scary! Who knows if I'll get an offer again!

jeff7salter said...

There's an archetypal scenes in many movies where one 'side' of a conflict is dying of thirst and their opponents are bathing in their excess water --- in clear view of the thirsty other guys.
When I first read your column, that scene flashed in my mind. And, yep, I was out in the desert dying of thirst, and you were bathing in the water you had to spare.
[Well, maybe I should re-phrase that, since you prob. wouldn't want to bathe where I could watch. LOL.]
But, anyway, after I got over being jealous -- and startled at your decision -- I had to applaud your grit.
You've got guts, girl.

Joy N. Hensley said...

Jeff, what some people see as guts, many other people may see as stupidity. In the morning, I may see it that way, too.

Remind me of this in a year if I'm still waiting for an agent!