Well, the conference is over and this is the first chance I have had for a new post now that we are in a hotel with free wi-fi since I am such a cheapskate (at times).
On Saturday I had an editor pitch and later an agent pitch. When I had signed up for the appointments back in May, I had to be quick about it so as I didn't see any publishers I was familiar with, I had to do a quick search on-line to make sure that they published my genre; contemporary/women's fiction.
Fast forward to the night before my appointment and I finally do the homework on the specific editor and discovered that she was the only editor who did not cover my genre. Damn it. So on a whim I decided to pitch a book that was her genre that I had in the works. I wrote the pitch minutes before walking in. She asked me questions and I answered them best I could. She asked me what the word count was and I said 60K which was a downright lie. The truth was that it was only 30K and what I did have I had decided to pretty much scrap and just keep the basic idea and turn it into what I had pitched. My thought was that if she liked it, she would ask for an outline, then maybe some sample pages, then perhaps the whole manuscript thus giving me some time. She did like the idea. So much so that she asked for the WHOLE manuscript. I walked out of the room and thought "Oh, Shit!". But I was still excited, buzzing in fact. Obviously I won't be sending her anything as soon as I get home, but I haven't given up. I have given myself one month to finish it. It will be hard, but I need to tell myself that failure is not an option. If when I send it in she is still interested, great. If she gets it and decides I waited too long and decides to scrap it, well my loss, but no harm done. Really, I have nothing to lose and only everything to gain so I would be crazy not to go for it.
Now for meeting number two with the agent. First of all, I liked her a lot. She was a sweetheart and seemed willing to give me a chance. She liked my story, but informed me that the word count was too low to be marketable. But she was willing to read the first three chapters either now or when I finally upped the word count.
In summary... An editor asked for a whole manuscript that I have not yet written, and an agent asked my to up finished novel from 60,000 to 80,00. I have some work to do when I get home. While I am scared as hell, I am excited to show what I can do and to have this exterior motivation to write. This is what I wanted.
On Saturday I had an editor pitch and later an agent pitch. When I had signed up for the appointments back in May, I had to be quick about it so as I didn't see any publishers I was familiar with, I had to do a quick search on-line to make sure that they published my genre; contemporary/women's fiction.
Fast forward to the night before my appointment and I finally do the homework on the specific editor and discovered that she was the only editor who did not cover my genre. Damn it. So on a whim I decided to pitch a book that was her genre that I had in the works. I wrote the pitch minutes before walking in. She asked me questions and I answered them best I could. She asked me what the word count was and I said 60K which was a downright lie. The truth was that it was only 30K and what I did have I had decided to pretty much scrap and just keep the basic idea and turn it into what I had pitched. My thought was that if she liked it, she would ask for an outline, then maybe some sample pages, then perhaps the whole manuscript thus giving me some time. She did like the idea. So much so that she asked for the WHOLE manuscript. I walked out of the room and thought "Oh, Shit!". But I was still excited, buzzing in fact. Obviously I won't be sending her anything as soon as I get home, but I haven't given up. I have given myself one month to finish it. It will be hard, but I need to tell myself that failure is not an option. If when I send it in she is still interested, great. If she gets it and decides I waited too long and decides to scrap it, well my loss, but no harm done. Really, I have nothing to lose and only everything to gain so I would be crazy not to go for it.
Now for meeting number two with the agent. First of all, I liked her a lot. She was a sweetheart and seemed willing to give me a chance. She liked my story, but informed me that the word count was too low to be marketable. But she was willing to read the first three chapters either now or when I finally upped the word count.
In summary... An editor asked for a whole manuscript that I have not yet written, and an agent asked my to up finished novel from 60,000 to 80,00. I have some work to do when I get home. While I am scared as hell, I am excited to show what I can do and to have this exterior motivation to write. This is what I wanted.
Way to go, Jolene!!! :) Now write your butt off!
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