Thursday, January 17, 2008

the good news and the bad news

First, good news! I've got 3 partials out, and today the agent who requested the first of those three emailed back and said she wanted to see more!

(Intermission for Snoopy dancing!)

But (and you knew there was a but, right?) before I send her more, she wants some changes. She said she really liked a lot of stuff, but had some plot issues. Everything she brought up was well reasoned and appropriate. I have no doubts the changes will improve the novel, and I can't express how awesome it was to have someone who is a big agent in Fantasy talking to me about MY novel with the words "there's a lot I like"... I mean, that's going on my wall, right there! But, I'm so nervous about the changes. She was pretty specific about what she wanted, and I think I know how I could do it, but what if I fuck it up? What if I do all this work and she's like "on second thought, no thanks."

Of course, that could happen, but if I don't make the changes, she won't request it at all. She obviously sees something there, or she wouldn't be putting time into asking for changes. Time seems to be an agent's most valuable resource, and if she's willing to invest it in my book, then the least I can do is go at her changes whole heartedly.

Mostly, I'm afraid that I'm going to shoot myself in the foot. I've wanted this for so long, my confidence in my own abilities is shaken, and that won't do at all. After all, it's my story! If anyone can fix it, I can.

All this author nonsense is turning me into an obsessive twitch-case. Believe it or not, I'm NORMALLY very laid back.

6 comments:

cindy said...

omg, that is great news! you will do fine! i know it! i'm so jealous and thrilled for you! =D yayaya!!

Rachel Aaron said...

Haha, thank you! I've been working on the edits 13 hours a day for two days now. It feels like every change I make sets off a domino effect of new things I have to fix!

Then again, I also found two major plot holes the agent didn't point out that I'd somehow missed... I guess it never hurts to go through again.

Man, and I thought three edits was enough -__-...

cindy said...

yes, this "final" revision before i start querying will be my 5th. you can never be done with edits, not until the book is published. hah! good luck!

cindy said...

i'm ONE day in to my first batch of queries sent and the waiting is *killing* me. haha!

James Dashner said...

Hey, I stumbled over here from Jenny's blog (lit soup), and got a real kick out of your story so far. If your writing is as humorous as your blog, you'll make it.

Best of luck to you!

May we all endeavor not to suck.

Rachel Aaron said...

The quest not to suck is a noble one, indeed! Best of luck!