Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

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The Agent Hunt Continued

13 Comments

Seven full requests led to four rejections, one with a request for a second manuscript. Four manuscipts (including the request for the second) are still out. Of the four agents reading, two have my YA historical novel-in-verse, one has my mid-grade boy mystery, and one has my girly contemporary mid-grade.

Note: As of yesterday afternoon, the girly contemporary mid-grade was rejected. Darn.

So what happens next? I wait. And wait. I get impatient and send an email to a requesting agent I later regret. I email my agented friend, asking her to tell me I haven’t behaved like a complete idiot. Then I wait some more. I haunt the Absolute Write posts about each agent. I read interviews. I stay far away from the computer with Internet so I can actually write.

Who else is waiting out there? How do you handle it?

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Filed Under: publication, the writing life

Comments

  1. CKHB says

    September 22, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    I started a blog to keep me distracted. Seriously.

    Reply
  2. Natalie says

    September 22, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    The waiting made me crazy. It was about 6 months from the start of my query process to the end and they were a long six months. It sounds like you are on the right track. Good luck!

    Reply
  3. TerryLynnJohnson says

    September 22, 2009 at 1:15 pm

    Just curious, when you say they ask for a second manuscript, do you mean a different ms or the whole thing after you sent the query? That is totally cool to get such positive responses.

    I’m waiting for responses from 2 full requests. To distract me – I eat. I wouldn’t recommend it.

    Reply
  4. Caroline Starr Rose says

    September 22, 2009 at 1:26 pm

    The request was for a completely different manuscript. Luckily, I had a few to choose from!

    This, actually, was yesterday’s rejection. Essentially, I was told my work wasn’t commercial enough for this agent’s taste. It really is for the best, as I don’t think she would have connected with my other pieces, either. Still, the less reading, the more anxious I get.

    Good thing I’ve got a list of agents for the next round. I’ll hold off, though, until I hear from Dream Agent.

    Reply
  5. Kristen Torres-Toro says

    September 22, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    Right now I’m waiting until the time is right to query again. That isn’t a lot of fun either!

    I think the answer is, that while we wait, we’re supposed to write. It’s hard to turn my mind from one manuscript to another, though I’m trying really hard to do that!

    Reply
  6. Jody Hedlund says

    September 22, 2009 at 3:08 pm

    I handled the wait by writing my next book. By the time I was almost finished with the book, that’s when things heated up for me!

    Reply
  7. kate says

    September 22, 2009 at 3:23 pm

    Hang in there– it will happen! And in the meantime, eat ice cream:)

    Reply
  8. Dayle James Arceneaux says

    September 22, 2009 at 5:15 pm

    Since publishers usually sign authors to a multi-book deal (two or three), its really advantageous to have more than one project completed.

    The problem is that everytime I try to get to work on that next one, a football game comes on or a golf course calls or a bowl of ice creams beckons me till I can’t take it anymore.

    Seriously, I’m not sure I can write another novel as good as the one I’ve written. So I figure if I can’t sell that one then why bother. That’s faulty logic – I know.

    Reply
  9. Caroline Starr Rose says

    September 22, 2009 at 5:22 pm

    Dayle, Dayle, Dayle. Are you writing?

    Reply
  10. Linda Kage says

    September 22, 2009 at 5:44 pm

    Ugg. Waiting has to be the worst part of submitting stuff. Sometimes, I even think rejections are better than waiting.

    Reply
  11. Loretta Nyhan says

    September 22, 2009 at 7:58 pm

    The waiting is horrible. My book is on sub with publishers. I got my first rejection yesterday, and I was almost happy to get it, because it was some kind of communication!

    Best of luck to you!

    Reply
  12. sarah says

    September 23, 2009 at 2:59 am

    Oh I’m waiting. I’m still waiting for a request for a full. So I’m writing. Or, rather, trying to.

    Reply
  13. Casey McCormick says

    September 25, 2009 at 4:54 am

    It sounds like you’re getting a great request rate! Just hang in there. It’ll happen when everything is just right. Best!

    Reply

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