Agent update…

I think I have an agent! (And FWIW, she responded to my initial query in less than an hour…and to my work in TWO WEEKS…even though she said it would take her 3-4 weeks…I have NEVER received a response from an agent so quickly. It takes most of them about six times that long to tell you no…or to tell you maybe.)

Anyway…we talked on the phone for 37 minutes yesterday. And I was even pretty comfortable talking to her (I’m usually nervous with people I don’t know). We had a good talk…first she told me she liked my work (that’s always a good start!). She said she doesn’t normally like time travel stories (which is fine because I don’t normally write them), but she was “intrigued” by mine. She wanted to see more, and I wish I had more to send…well, technically I have an entire draft, but if I send it she might change her mind about representing me. It needs some work. In fact, the story needs to take a completely different turn at about the point she left off…and I’m really excited about getting back to it when I finish the other projects I’m working on.

She also told me she liked Monkey Man. The only concern she had was she thought the ending was a little too pat (which is interesting because my original ending was uh…not quite so pat…I actually struggled quite a bit with the ending to that book…but it’s published now; it’s too late to change it.). I didn’t mind her telling me this straight out…one of her other clients describes her as “very nice, but no BS either. If she thinks something isn’t working, she’ll tell you, even if you don’t want to hear it.” Well, sometimes I need to be told things I don’t want to hear…and it’s easier to hear those things from someone I like and respect.

I really liked her a lot. I like that she doesn’t need to get involved with my Boxcar Children contracts or my educational writing (another agent who “left the door open” would’ve dealt with those, too…even though I’ve already negotiated everything I possibly can out of those). We talked about large vs. small publishers (one of my favorite topics of conversation). I’ve been feeling a little confused about my career and where it’s going (vs. maybe where it SHOULD go)…I think having an agent could help me sort some of that out.

She said she doesn’t normally take on a new client without a completed project (and even though I’ve been selling to my other publishers on just a proposal, I will need to finish ANNA before we send it around to new publishers), but because I have a couple of contracts pending, she’s willing to get involved if I’d like her to (yes, I’d like her to…especially with this one new contract…I just have a feeling it’s not going to be where it should be…and I really, really HATE having to negotiate contracts).

A friend told me yesterday, “you must be so excited.” And yes, I am…I think I FINALLY found the right agent for me. But I’m not sure “excited” was the first word that came to mind. I think “relieved” is a better word. I had done some asking around about this agent, and I REALLY liked what I was hearing…more so than with any other agent I queried. I have never wanted an agent to say yes as badly as I wanted this one to say yes. In fact, I was afraid I’d gotten my hopes way too high on this. So…I’m RELIEVED she wants to work with me. And I got to thinking…maybe my thoughts/feelings on agents all along has been telling me something? Now that I know what it feels like to actually want a particular agent, would I truly have been happy with an agent I was so blase’ about?