The Waiting Game

[MaryL]

Elana really nailed it. The waiting is a huge factor no matter how far along the road you have traveled. You wait for query responses, you wait for the agency contract, you wait for agent revisions, you wait to submit, you wait for editor responses, you wait for editor revisions, you wait for the contract, you wait for the partial payment, you wait for the next round of revisions and the next and the next, you wait for your copy edits, your galley, your pub date, your royalty checks and subsequent transactions stemming from the project (foreign, film or audio rights).  Then, you get to wait all over again with your next project.

It's a slow business. They say patience is a virtue. Writers must be paragons of virtue.  (<<sarcasm, of course)

Hang in there everyone. As Gypsy Girl said in her post about her book being on Amazon: It is so worth it.

[violet]

@violet: How many editors is "everyone"? Mine sent out to 8 houses, which seems like a lot to me.

My first list was about 20 or so editors. And another batch went out Thursday--haven't received that list yet.

[Jessica V.]

My book went out to about 8 editors as well (after the initial first editor exclusive).

[violet]

Tumbleweeds...radio silence...crickets...need I say more?

 

[Molly Z]

Tumbleweeds...radio silence...crickets...need I say more?

 

You'll get there!  (Though it's very very easy to fall into a  funk...Blah.)

[violet]

Tumbleweeds...radio silence...crickets...need I say more?

 

You'll get there!  (Though it's very very easy to fall into a  funk...Blah.)

Thanks for your support, MollyZ!

[Sandy_Williams]

I'm curious: how often do those of you playing the waiting game communicate with your agents? And do you initiate the communication, or does your agent?

The reason I ask is because I strive to be low maintenance, but I'm a bit worried that my quest for low maintenance-dom might come off as me being unenthusiastic or aloof.

Basically, I'm wondering if I'm normal, lol. 

[Zooks]

not having agent representation, I can only say that WHEN I do have same, I think a call or email at least once a week would probably work for me.

[Tabris]

I'm curious: how often do those of you playing the waiting game communicate with your agents? And do you initiate the communication, or does your agent?

My ex-agent and I set up a "first of the month" status report. I'd email him on the first and tell him what I was doing and ask him what he'd done for me lately. Further updates as events warranted.

[JeanneT]

I'm curious: how often do those of you playing the waiting game communicate with your agents? And do you initiate the communication, or does your agent?

The reason I ask is because I strive to be low maintenance, but I'm a bit worried that my quest for low maintenance-dom might come off as me being unenthusiastic or aloof.

Basically, I'm wondering if I'm normal, lol. 

I have no idea what is the norm but my agent likes to talk at least every two months and will set that up if I haven't set something up sooner. We talked today for about half an hour, as a matter of fact.

And the silence from editors is deafening. That may be better than rejections but it somehow doesn't seem like it.

[MaryL]

I'm super lucky. My agent and I communicate all the time. The clients at my agency are close and we chat on a Yahoo loop, which makes it seem more like family. We also meet up at an annual EMLA retreat, so I've met the agents and some of my amazing fellow EMLA clients face-to-face which makes it personal.

To answer your question, Brimfire, when I was on submission, my agent initiated the communication and I heard from her regularly--at least weekly. She sent me editors' responses right as they came in.

When I email with questions, she responds right away. I've also cold called her on occasion when I needed a little talking down off of the ledge.

Every situation is different, though. I have friends with excellent agents who are less communicative than mine and do a fantastic job.

[ElanaJ]

Brimfire, I so get this angst! I do the same thing. Email now -- do I sound high-maintenance? Let it go -- am I showing her I don't care? Such a fine line.

For me, my agent said she wouldn't forward rejections because she didn't want them to mess with my head (yeah, she knew me a little too well). She said that when they came in, she'd let me know "So and so at such and such rejected." The end. Unless it was something we needed to address in revisions. (Luckily, it never came to that.)

She emailed me the list of who had the book after about a week. I expect that we'd be in touch every 2-3 weeks, just as we are now. She calls me without an appointment, and I do the same if I need to. But our main communication is through email, and like I said, we're in touch every 2 -3 weeks.

[sarah_biglow]

I try to email every 2-3 weeks or so.  I knonw editors are slow as snails right now so emailing more than that and I feel all pester-y.  I try to have something new to report myself in the email so it's not just "any news?".

I'll have to see when I last sent asking for updates (I emailed him about a new project over the weekend so that doesn't count).

[Sandy_Williams]

Thanks for the replies, you guys! And MaryL, you ARE so lucky. A Yahoo group w/ your fellow agency-mates sounds like a great idea. Most of my agency sisters (and one brother :-) ) tweet, but it's not quite the same thing.

ElenaJ: *sigh of relief* I'm glad I'm not the only one who worries about this. Not that I'd wish the angst on any, lol, but it's nice not to be alone in my neuroticism.

I've kind of scheduled myself to contact my agent once a month. Even then, I make some excuse because I hate just asking if there's any news. If there was any news, she'd tell me. Duh. :-) I guess I'm just going crazy b/c there's nothing to say. Two months and no rejections or anything.

Alright. I'm determined to finish this potential sequel synopsis today. Maybe once I get that out of my head and move to an unrelated project, I'll stop thinking about all of this so much. *snort*

[sarah_biglow]

I just wanted to pop in and say I got a really nice R today from an editor.  Said she really loved my premise but that the hurdle of Riordan might be too big.  Plus, my novel is more plot driven than character driven, and the latter is what they look for.

Still, it made me smile and tear up a little.  To know she actually read it.