My Big Meeting

[tradergirl]

It was today!  For all of you following along at home, I wore dark denim trousers (sort of like dressy jeans?) and a green blazer and a little white sweater underneath, and patent leather loafers.  And it turns out that was the girl version of exactly what the agent was wearing! (He had a button down shirt under his blazer... dark denim... loafers).  Funny, right?

ANYWHO... he said really nice things about my book.  He said it had "a good, commercial pace" and "builds good drama" and he thought the Wall Street theme was darned topical.  BUT (there's usually a but, right?  My meeting was no exception) there were many times when he (and his assistant who also read it) didn't understand the technical stuff.  They wanted me to add explanation, so that they could get it, and follow along.

Of course, my plan is to absolutely take their advice.  But figuring out HOW to do that isn't going to be easy.  They were also not succinct about WHEN they got lost... so I'll be figuring that out as I go.

I hope it works.

T.

[MarvaD]

LOL!  Wearing the same outfit is a plus, but (being a man), I doubt he noticed.  Seems like it went well.

I'm sure you can find those places that lost them.  I assume they were talking about the intricacies of trading on the floor of the NYSE or some such?  Maybe your MC (if that's the one doing the tricky trading) can have a meeting with an old friend and explain what he/she is up to these days.  The friend would certainly ask questions out of interest.  Right?

Anyway,  and 

[lizbrenaman]

First off, a big WOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Second, I'm not familiar with the work you're talking about (is some posted here?), but
you should be able to track most of the trouble down reading it back, and getting some
beta readers who aren't familiar with the subject matter.  Buy them a bunch of highlighters. 

Just wanted to say congrats, and wooohoooo!  I love hearing about all y'all's successes.

Liz

[EJRuek]

Congrats!  Get your beta readers to help you with the wheres and whats.

[ElanaJ]

Sounds like it went well - yea for you!

[joanjunkmail]

yay!

[sarahjen]

  read it outloud. That helps, and I agree, others who aren't familiar with the story come in handy. My cousin told me things she didn't like or find interesting, and unless they are vital, they're on the editing room floor. Some were just moved around and spiced up.
S-

[Jessica V.]

Glad to hear the meeting went so well T. Thanks for the update! Did the agent say anything about representation? If not, how did he end the meeting? Just sort of a "well, hope you revise, and submit to me again" type of thing??

[tradergirl]

Thanks everyone! 

Jessica-- They left it that they're looking forward to seeing the next version.  Nothing offered, no obligation on anyone's part.  They asked me if other agents had it.  I gave them one (very prestigious) name who has it, (kind of a stretch really, because that guy only has a partial so far) but I said I hadn't heard back.

Basically, it is possible that I could bust my ass revising and come away with nothing.  At the same time, these are very successful people who took the time to tell me what they thought it needed (generally) to become something they could sell.

It could go either way.

T.

[justwrite]

I don't think they would have bothered unless they were really interested. 

[katekquinn]

Whooo!!! Tradergirl that is terrific!!  They called your book "commercial" - that is totally terrific!!

For re-writing, I would recommend looking at novels in a similar vein to yours and see how they handle explaining technical stuff - off the top of my head I cannot think of any examples except (and I know this isn't really a good fit) Michael Crichton - who has llloooonnngg scientific fact filled sections in his books that should be dry as toast, but actually are totally fascinating.  And don't forget you can always post sections here for our friendly eyes

[Jessica V.]

I agree with JW. I think this is a really positive sign. I highly doubt they go around meeting with everyone who submits to them. Good luck with the project!! (Also, good call on mentioning the other prestigious agent's name.)

[Diane]

Oh yeah -- mentioning other agents' names has a definitely interesting effect.

And I don't think they have a meeting with everyone whose work is only halfway decent or shows a little potential. I think they think your work is really close and they're interested!

[JeanneT]

Pretty funny about the clothes but that always makes a good impression if only an unconscious one. LOL

I have to agree with Diane. I can't imagine them meeting with meeting with someone unless they're pretty darn interested.