A Writer's Notebook, Day One-Hundred-Twenty-Two
I usually post these later, but I am expecting that this evening is going to be dedicated to research at most. I've had a very positive day and want to offer a bit of a report and a debrief of things after my discussion today with the agent that I mentioned previously. I feel incredibly encouraged after our interaction and far more prepared for the next steps.
The first thing that I really want to mention and which I feel very proud of is that she actually read the whole of the manuscript. Now, this may sound silly to those who are not familiar, but publishing professionals are generally quite busy and don't read a book all the way through if they don't feel it is something that they might wish to take on. Now, I tend to think that reading my book, she would be able to make that determination earlier than the ending. This may not be true, but it is an unusual book and if those qualities that make it odd give pause, they are present throughout. As such, I take it as somewhat meaningful that she did finish the book. It certainly makes me, as a writer, happy to hear that, as that is the purpose of having written it in the first place.
In some sense, I feel like this was my first real reader, as it wasn't a friend or my editor or something, and while I do have something of a relationship with her at this point, an agent reads a book from a certain perspective that I have to imagine isn't built upon that interaction. It feels quite significant to me, if only in a symbolic sense, that the first person who took on the whole book to read reached the conclusion.
Now, on a more practical level, having read the whole of the book, she was able to offer certain insights and to answer questions in a way that is extremely genuine. First, she told me that my pitch is ready. In itself that is a very big thing, but it is particularly helpful coming from someone that is aware of the book and can specifically say that I am reflecting the work itself accurately. That pitch is:
With his “supportive” family pressuring him to finish work on a commercial novel, a blocked writer feels the pressure of his own desire to create a truly great and daring work of literature. Then, in an unusual and powerful dream he is gifted with a bookwhich he is charged to write. It may be what he has been seeking, but it will mean he must tell his story, the story of writing the book itself. As he proceeds, he must journey deeper into the strange dreamworld the book seems to emanate from, and questions begin to arise about whether it is a gift or something darker with its own designs. A threat seems to lurk, unspoken, making it only natural to wonder, what will happen if the book remains unfinished? By the writer… or by the reader.
I had worried that it might be a good pitch in general but not reflective enough of the book, but I have guidance from someone who knows my book and knows the industry, and I feel incredibly lucky for that.
As well, she offered me advice on agents to query, and I am beginning research on that. I feel very vindicated that the book is actually good, despite it being so odd. One thing that came up which I find particularly interesting or at least amusing is the question of comp titles. I have heard it said by many agents that one really does need them and to offer guidelines suggesting that it is always a matter of looking around enough, as every book has some form of pre-existing analogue. However, even after reading the book, she couldn't think of any that were apt, and I suggested alluding to the trend of innovative and somewhat difficult fiction that includes Lincoln in The Bardo and Milkman. That the mention of these books as a comparison was not seen as overreach seems significant to me, but I read so much into everything... I intend, even in that comparison, not to say that my book is at that level, especially since they are both Booker Prize winners, but rather to present the idea that their is some precedent for work of an experimental nature finding real success in the current age.
I still have much work to do. For one thing, though I have a pitch, it is not yet integrated with a full query letter at this moment. I need to get that into shape generally, and I would am planning to personalize it to the agents that I am querying. That is going to require a large amount of research, though I do have a bit of that already under control. In terms of some of the agents suggested, I have previous exposure, and it is honestly fairly easy to get the basic information with just a few minutes of online searching. Some of them, I still need to dig a bit to find what I connect with in their work, but I trust that it will be there.
The overall outcome is that I feel very much that my book is ready and that it is more a matter of finding a person with the right knowledge, experience, and expertise to truly help me through that process. As well, of course, it needs to be someone that truly loves the book and is dedicated to it on that level. I feel very much that right now I am well and truly engaged in a process that is somehow attracting those resources to me, and helping me to become ready for what is to come. I feel very much that everything I need to find my ideal agent is falling into place, and am trusting that process at this moment.
Some would find that silly, I am sure, but it is a helpful perspective for me at this moment. It is encouraging me in taking action towards the goal of getting my book into the world, and I haven't felt very supported in that endeavor at times. Right now, however, it feels very much that I have that support falling into place, and I take that as a positive sign. It may be a sort of magical belief, but I've had many little coincidences and things that lead me to feel strongly that I am on the right path. While those things are certainly random and probably don't mean anything in an absolute sense, their significance as signs to me is meaningful if only as encouragement that I feel. That is to say, I don't care that it is likely false, as it is very helpful to feel that some force in the universe is at my back right now, and I am willing to let that go if I feel it stops serving me or becomes untrue. Anyhow, the whole point is that I feel very much that I'm moving forwards on my journey and am excited to see how things progress in the new year. My birthday is in a few days, and I am quite ecstatic to feel that I am starting my forties on such a positive note.
The first thing that I really want to mention and which I feel very proud of is that she actually read the whole of the manuscript. Now, this may sound silly to those who are not familiar, but publishing professionals are generally quite busy and don't read a book all the way through if they don't feel it is something that they might wish to take on. Now, I tend to think that reading my book, she would be able to make that determination earlier than the ending. This may not be true, but it is an unusual book and if those qualities that make it odd give pause, they are present throughout. As such, I take it as somewhat meaningful that she did finish the book. It certainly makes me, as a writer, happy to hear that, as that is the purpose of having written it in the first place.
In some sense, I feel like this was my first real reader, as it wasn't a friend or my editor or something, and while I do have something of a relationship with her at this point, an agent reads a book from a certain perspective that I have to imagine isn't built upon that interaction. It feels quite significant to me, if only in a symbolic sense, that the first person who took on the whole book to read reached the conclusion.
Now, on a more practical level, having read the whole of the book, she was able to offer certain insights and to answer questions in a way that is extremely genuine. First, she told me that my pitch is ready. In itself that is a very big thing, but it is particularly helpful coming from someone that is aware of the book and can specifically say that I am reflecting the work itself accurately. That pitch is:
With his “supportive” family pressuring him to finish work on a commercial novel, a blocked writer feels the pressure of his own desire to create a truly great and daring work of literature. Then, in an unusual and powerful dream he is gifted with a bookwhich he is charged to write. It may be what he has been seeking, but it will mean he must tell his story, the story of writing the book itself. As he proceeds, he must journey deeper into the strange dreamworld the book seems to emanate from, and questions begin to arise about whether it is a gift or something darker with its own designs. A threat seems to lurk, unspoken, making it only natural to wonder, what will happen if the book remains unfinished? By the writer… or by the reader.
I had worried that it might be a good pitch in general but not reflective enough of the book, but I have guidance from someone who knows my book and knows the industry, and I feel incredibly lucky for that.
As well, she offered me advice on agents to query, and I am beginning research on that. I feel very vindicated that the book is actually good, despite it being so odd. One thing that came up which I find particularly interesting or at least amusing is the question of comp titles. I have heard it said by many agents that one really does need them and to offer guidelines suggesting that it is always a matter of looking around enough, as every book has some form of pre-existing analogue. However, even after reading the book, she couldn't think of any that were apt, and I suggested alluding to the trend of innovative and somewhat difficult fiction that includes Lincoln in The Bardo and Milkman. That the mention of these books as a comparison was not seen as overreach seems significant to me, but I read so much into everything... I intend, even in that comparison, not to say that my book is at that level, especially since they are both Booker Prize winners, but rather to present the idea that their is some precedent for work of an experimental nature finding real success in the current age.
I still have much work to do. For one thing, though I have a pitch, it is not yet integrated with a full query letter at this moment. I need to get that into shape generally, and I would am planning to personalize it to the agents that I am querying. That is going to require a large amount of research, though I do have a bit of that already under control. In terms of some of the agents suggested, I have previous exposure, and it is honestly fairly easy to get the basic information with just a few minutes of online searching. Some of them, I still need to dig a bit to find what I connect with in their work, but I trust that it will be there.
The overall outcome is that I feel very much that my book is ready and that it is more a matter of finding a person with the right knowledge, experience, and expertise to truly help me through that process. As well, of course, it needs to be someone that truly loves the book and is dedicated to it on that level. I feel very much that right now I am well and truly engaged in a process that is somehow attracting those resources to me, and helping me to become ready for what is to come. I feel very much that everything I need to find my ideal agent is falling into place, and am trusting that process at this moment.
Some would find that silly, I am sure, but it is a helpful perspective for me at this moment. It is encouraging me in taking action towards the goal of getting my book into the world, and I haven't felt very supported in that endeavor at times. Right now, however, it feels very much that I have that support falling into place, and I take that as a positive sign. It may be a sort of magical belief, but I've had many little coincidences and things that lead me to feel strongly that I am on the right path. While those things are certainly random and probably don't mean anything in an absolute sense, their significance as signs to me is meaningful if only as encouragement that I feel. That is to say, I don't care that it is likely false, as it is very helpful to feel that some force in the universe is at my back right now, and I am willing to let that go if I feel it stops serving me or becomes untrue. Anyhow, the whole point is that I feel very much that I'm moving forwards on my journey and am excited to see how things progress in the new year. My birthday is in a few days, and I am quite ecstatic to feel that I am starting my forties on such a positive note.
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