We all like to read each other's updates on any progress with our writing. I'm no exception. Who doesn't want to know if someone else has heard back from a submission or not? Or if an agent gave a personal reply whether it be a rejection or not. Anything. Something.
And after we get it, then we wonder about our own work. Should we send there as well? Should we be contacting that agent about a submission? What about that full? Should we let it drop?
If you've read much of my blog, you know I don't hold much back. The more we share information, the more informed we become to make good choices.
So here's my update:
In August, a publisher asked for a full of my second book--a romance. I sent it in and I am still waiting. I've heard from a source that their editors have changed abit in the past few months. I also know it can take time. But what is my next step and when?
In September, I sent a full request to an agent who asked that I give him three months. Yeah, I've been counting, too.
In the meantime, I started on my next book and have it a little more than halfway done. Everything I've read and heard is to not sit around and wait, but to keep writing because usually the next one gets better. I have to agree.
Finally, after I got my nerve up to submit to another agent, I never got one of those automated responses back saying they got it. Not in my spam. No place. Soooo, I decided to resubmit but when I went to the original email and changed the date --it disappeared. That's right. Not in my trash. Not in my spam or anyplace else.
So that's my update.
What's all this mean?
That I want you to spill as well:)
36 comments:
There needs to be a whole workshop on this very topic. I wish I could weigh in, but I'm greener than you! I look forward to reading what everyone else says.
It's a waiting game. For three month turn arounds, I usually wait twice as long, then send a friendly email...well, that was with the agents and editors I had connected with face to face. So I guess not only is it a waiting game, it's a guessing game as well. Waiting a little longer can't hurt...
I know from experience publishers and agents are SLOW. My manuscript has been out to publishers since October. We still haven't heard back from more than half the original submissions. (When my agent checks in they say they need more time to consider). Ugh.
And I got a rejection from an agent in December from a query I sent in July. (I signed with my agent in September). Some of them are just super slow.
The Preacher's Bride sat in Rachelle's slush pile for 9 to 10 months. So don't give up hope! Just keep writing and don't forget to enjoy the process! :-)
Since I sent out in early August to a house, I've received a form letter rejection which I fully expected since I sent a partial to an agent who requested at conference and she had already responded that it was more of a first draft copy. Since then I wrote a story for Nanowrimo and have been on hiatus from writing since with all that's going on with our family right now. I still am critiquing and reading up on writing books to keep my head in the writing world, but as far as actual writing myself, I feel God calling this time as Sunday hours now. I await His push to get back to my stories eagerly.
Oh, and I wanted to add, don't give up on those agents or house yet. They seem to go at a snail's pace.
Still have chunks of editing to do before I query.
Keep us updated!
~ Wendy
patience, faith and hope plus lots of prayers...
Waiting is the hardest part of it all. Writing helps. While waiting to hear on my first, I got excited about my second, and that's the one that ended up selling.
If an agent has had it three months, it's fine to write and ask about it. I did that two or three times and each time the agent wrote back nicely telling me they were behind and would get to it within the week. Which they did.
And two agents said they'd never received it (I sent it email, so maybe it ended up in spam?). In any case, it was good to follow up in a not pushy but just-checking-in kind of way.
Good luck!
How exciting and nauseating to be waiting in the throws of representation! I'm expecting great things Terri.
Terri, you've got some exciting things going on!!
And, things can move at a snail's pace.
What I've heard is that editors are being asked to do more b/c of all the downsizing, and on the agent side, more people than ever are querying. So, agents have the double whammy of having more queries and having a longer wait w/editors. This is just may semi-informed take from reading articles.
I think it's okay to ask for status updates. Just be honest and polite, and friendly but not apologetic. That's advice an agent gave me at a conference a few years back.
My novel is on submission via my agent right now. No news is no news.
Patience is also a form of action :)
It means, don't give up, continue on keep on creating...the time is not right, just yet. Oh, and be persistent in your inquiries.
I am the one that's moving at a snail's pace these days. Well, with my writing that is. I'm up to my eyeballs in tax returns, so I'm struggling to find time to get my manuscript ready for a contest.
I do hope you hear good news soon!
Love it!
Well, I shared mine on my blog yesterday. Ready to query for a second time but I'm going to enter some contests for feedback first. Then I'm going for it. And I'm working on book #6 while waiting.
I wonder if that is why God has never laid it upon my heart to write professionaly. I'd be stuck right at home waiting for that text, e-mail, phone call of acceptance. Yikes...I know my behavior but God knows me so much better.
Love YOU!
You are wise to continue writing "as if" there's a perfect time for the next book's release. In business it's called "keeping the pipeline filled". It's a good analogy, isn't it? When the pipeline dries up, so too the opportunities (if not the joy).
I'm with Yolanda, having never taken up the professional pen. It's not a case of fearing rejection so much as a way of focusing my energies in directions I believe are better suited to me.
Besides, patience and long-suffering are supernatural gifts of God's spirit. I can't make them happen, but I can sure cooperate.
Hang tight, sister! The best is yet to come.
Kathleen
Thanks for the update! I love hearing about others' journeys. That missing e-mail is very odd. You should still resubmit. :-) Also, did you check up with the agent who said three months? Send that agent an e-mail, it won't hurt. *grin*
Congrats on the full request! The house should be getting back to you pretty soon. :-)
Wish I had some news, but I don't. I sent the agent who rejected my historical the prologue of the story you read. I'm not going to start querying other agents until I make myself finish my WIP. LOL
Echoing what Jessica said. :D Keep pushing forward, and it won't hurt to make contact.
As for me.......still deep in my rut (for now).
I sent in a short story to a Big Literary Magazine and was rejected, but, what made me smile was that the BLM asked me to send more with a note that read, "and we really mean it, send more..."
*smiling*
I'm glad you are still writing - that is smart! Don't just sit and wait, exactly!
'Hurry up and wait' seems to be a common theme for writing, doesn't it? Most editors that I work with are very slow to get back to me. Although I must say, Hope Clark of Funds for Writers gets back to you in a flash.
Blessings,
Karen
Terri: I understand how frustrating it can be to wait for something you really want an answer to. Know that God is with you through this and that one day soon you will have answers.
But sometimes its hard to wait on God's timing and even harder to wait on fellow human beings. I'll keep praying things work out and that He gives you the strength and wisdom to know what to do next no matter what the outcome.
Blessings to you!
Im so proud of you for pressing on! You are a dedicated one! I have been sidetracked yet again to finish the edit on my WIP. Life happens. But at least I have entered the first chapter in Genesis and Novel Matters contests. Hoping to get some good constructive critiques.
Waiting can be so hard. But no news can be good news. I trust your turn is coming, Terri. I'm eager to join your happy dance when it does.
Hi, Tiffany! Thanks for participating in my contest at Book Dreaming. We follow a lot of the same blogs, so I have seen you in many comment threads. I look forward to getting to know you better. Good luck. :-)
Terri, thanks for being real and sharing! The road to publication is indeed rocky as a County Clare path.
The more I learn, the less I know.
Make sense?
Patti
OH, Terri. I will pray that you hear something soon. Anything.
I recently sent 3 articles to a magazine that's been publishing my work faithfully for the last year. I heard nothing. Finally i emailed the editor. It had gone into his spam, even though I used the correct email address. And it was too late--he'd already chosen the articles to be used for this quarter...
I felt like crying.
I'm proud of you for not giving up!
Love
Jen
P.S. Your prize box goes out today...
After my failed attempts at querying last year, I've spent the last year improving my writing. I hope to query again some day soon. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Best of luck.
I love reading your updates. Waiting can be hard, but I applaud you for getting stuff out there! I haven't submitted anything, nor do I have anything ready to go. One of these days it will get done!
Hi Terri -
I pray you get an answer soon.
At the moment, I'm preparing for the Genesis contest. The whole idea gives me the willies, but the feedback would be great.
Book 3, "Lost & Found," is in process. So far, I only have 8,000 words, but it's a start.
Blessings,
Susan :)
It means you can't put too much stock in technology! I have stuff disappear, too. And it means keep submitting!
When does patience cease to become a virtue, and throwing a stomping tantrum becomes one instead?
Waiting...I hate waiting. I'm a doer. Sometimes that gets me in trouble though. I so much admire and respect your ability to push forward...to hang in...to wait and to keep trying. I learn from you. It's good stuff. Stay strong ok. Nikki
I sent a query a few weeks ago to a contact at David Cook regarding my new WIP. I met her at a conference, and she was very kind to me. Still haven't heard anything, but she wanted me to keep her posted on my writing; thus, on an impulse I shot her e-mail letting her know just that.
An update on my writing.
Haven't quite decided where I'll go with this new work. I'd like to finish things first.
As for the one in the hopper with WinePress, I received back my proofreader's marked up copy today and am working it through. We're getting closer to launch, but there are tons of details to finalize and perfect before moving ahead. I certainly had learned a TON!
peace~elaine
Keep pressing on with the God given passion and creativity He's put within your heart!
Sometimes in life it takes allot of "knocks" before the door swings open!! Listen!....I think I hear the sound of the door lock turning!!!!
Hugs and Sweet Blessings!
Jackie
Wait well past the normal period before you contact them. Once I had an agency go well past their normal response time (I think it was by a few months), so I emailed the agent. They were really nice... But I ended up with a rejection. Happily, the manuscript has come a long way since then. An agent requested a full recently. They take three to six weeks to respond, so I have two to five more to wait yet. It's nice to come across the blog of someone in a similar place. Hang in there!
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