The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Yesterday I blogged about the highs and lows of the NEC conference on Friday night. Today I’m going to discuss the good, bad and ugly aka, my agent appointment.

I was super excited about the appointment because the agent received the query and first 10 pages prior to the meeting. This way she had time to decide if she wanted more. The appointments last 8 minutes, after the brief introductions here’s how mine went:

Good:

I love your writing

Your dialogue zips along nicely

The flow from one pov to the next is fantastic

I LOVE your heroine’s unique name.

Bad:

BUT, the concept of a woman vigilante has been done before and I don’t feel I can sell this.

What else do you have?

I explained another book that is complete, but needs revision.

Her interest piques.

I’m thinking score one for me.

I say, “Maybe I could send you a partial?”

“Sure, you can go through the normal submission process online,” she says.

Ugly:

“Do you have any questions for me?”

I hate this question because I’ve read a lot about what not to ask. I bumbled through some question and realized the more we talked we weren’t a match. She was super professional and nice, but of course as a writer I want someone who is passionate about my work like me.

She asked if I had any more questions and I said no. I stood, thanked her for her time and left.

Time spent with agent? 4 mins.

As a first timer, it was an awesome experience and I learned a lot about what to do and not do. I’m thinking of self-publishing these contemporaries anyway, but it’s always nice to see what an agent thinks. Overall I had a lot of positives coming out of the meeting. She only made 3 minor comments on my 10 pages, so I was happy.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about the guest speaker and give away a book. :o)

Friday Again!

What a difference a week makes. Last week I was lying in the hospital hooked up to IV’s this week I’m feeling great. The weather is supposed to be close to 70 today. I’ll be sitting on the deck with my work laptop soaking up the sun.
This week was extremely busy with edits, getting my agent proposal out the door and writing. I’d like to finish the book I’m working on by the end of the month. There’s another book itching to be written, but I’m trying to keep the heroine at bay until this one is completed. I hope she cooperates. :o)
It’s Friday. The weekend is supposed to be rain-free so that’s a plus. Hopefully the DH and I will get out of the house. It seems someone has been sick the last five weekends. I’d like to see the new Bradley Cooper movie. The premise looks good and well, he’s just yummy to look at. Robert DeNiro stars in it so it’s got to be good, right?
The countdown begins for my first release of 2011. One week until Just Another Rainy Day will be available from Ellora’s Cave. Woo Hoo.
Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Happily Editing

Yesterday I picked up my manuscript I’ll be pitching to an agent in April at the RWA NEC conference. To be honest I haven’t looked at this book in almost two years. I did read/edit six pages a few weeks ago, but my heart wasn’t in it, so I put it aside.
Yesterday was different. I’m in a different mindset. I got through the first ten pages required for the agent. As I’ve mentioned before the agent will read these pages prior to the meeting. So I have to sit down and write the synopsis and a query letter to grab her attention and make her want more. What I found is I really LOVE this book. I’m excited about editing the rest and getting it ready for my agent appointment. And hey, if she isn’t interested I’m sure I can find a publisher who will want to buy it.
So while I await second round edits for All or Nothing and first round for Just Another Rainy Day I’ll be working hard on this non-erotic book. :o)
Happy Wednesday!

Frustration

I’m working on three wips. No, I should correct that. I have three wips and I’m not working on any of them.
One is my contemporary romance for my agent appointment in April. I have to make the first ten pages shine so when the agent reads it in March she’ll ask for more when we meet. :o) Hey, you have to be confident.
The other is a M/F. I’m about 3500 words into it. The third is M/M/F and that has 2500 words. Every day I open one of the wips and every day it goes untouched. It seems my muse has taken an early spring vacation. I can’t blame her. The winter is horrible.
Oh well…our house is torn apart as we get new floors. Today is the carpeting in our bedroom. I’ll have guys working here until Monday. Maybe inspiration will return. We’ll see. LOL
Happy Wednesday!

It's All Unofficial ;)

Today is an unofficial anniversary for me and the DH. I say unofficial because he decided we weren’t going to celebrate it after we got married. LOL It’s still special to me because it was when we first started dating. So I’ll give him a card or something cute.
This week will be busy. I received edits for Naughty St. Nick, received a revision letter from one of my publishers for a story I subbed and finishing up another story before Nano. I’m doing an unofficial version – I know there’s that word again. Unofficial, unofficial, unofficial. Okay that’s it for that word today.
Two friends and I do Nano every year. I normally reach the goal, but I’ve yet to submit the finished manuscript. Why bother you’re asking. This year I’m determined to submit the one I’m writing. I’m using this story for the agent appointment I’m doing at the NEC Conference in April. Maybe it will be sold before then, maybe not.
We had a fun weekend, but it flew by too quickly. I worked until Friday night until something like 2am. Sunday we spent the day with the granddaughter. She’s growing so fast. She’s a smart little bugger. She knows how to worm her way with Grandma and Grandpa. More grandpa, who she has wrapped around her little bitty finger. :o)
Anyway off to get some of this work done.
Happy Anniversary Honey!
Happy Monday!

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

This is a repost from my blog at http://sevensexyscribes.blogspot.com on Tuesday! I've tweaked it a bit, but if you read it Tuesday, go ahead and skip it! :)

There comes a time in every writer’s life when they must say good-bye to an editor. Usually it’s when the editor has decided to move on to something new. This past weekend I was approached by two writer’s at different stages of their careers that wanted to know if they should break up with their editor and/or agent.
The first writer is currently under a four book contract with a large NY publishing house. Her agent seems to be getting ready to retire. While said agent hasn’t confirmed the retirement all signs point in that direction. This writer is in a quandary because she knows there is so much that could be done to increase her sales, but her agent just isn’t doing her job. She doesn’t know if she should start shopping for a new agent or wait it out. The agent has rights to the four books. Only two are published at this point.
The way I see it she’s losing sales. Her blood, sweat, and tears are not getting the perks she should see from her agent. Another friend and I suggested she ask the agent point blank her plans for retirement and if she should start looking for another agent. It’s only fair that the agent give her a timeline. If the agent doesn’t give her any information, maybe it is time to part ways. I’d like to know what you think. If only I had an agent and a four book contract deal with a NY Publisher I could answer this issue for her! LOL

The other is a writing duo. They are working on their second ebook and their second editor. This editor is a writer’s nightmare. She is telling them what words to use or should I say, demanding they use "her" words, "her" dialogue and "her" descriptions. She's basically made them rewrite the entire story to make it her own. Now when they were offered the contract, the publisher stated there would be minimal changes needed on their part.
When does an editor go too far? When is it time for the author to step up and say, “Hey I’m not making these changes.” I'm all about learning and personal growth as a writer. Believe me I've a lot to learn still, but if the story is becoming the editors and the writer is losing her voice, I tend to feel it's not a good match.
Personally, I didn’t get good vibes from this situation from the beginning. They were offered a contract in May, received cover art in June and then heard nothing from the publisher for months. Their emails went unanswered. Then one day the publisher reappeared and said they now have an editor for the book. Things only progressed downhill from there.
I advised them to consider opting out of their contract when the publisher went MIA, but because they are new to the business they didn’t want to rock any boats. I understand that, because I’m still new myself. But I’m sorry at what cost is publication worth it?
Edits are one thing, but re-writing an entire story to fit the editor’s needs doesn’t bode well with me. Seriously, at this point is it still my story or the editors?
I’d be interested in your thoughts on this subject.