What Happens After You Get Your Agent?

by Katy White

Last month, I was excited to announce that I have a publishing deal. Before getting an agent, I never really had a firm understanding of what happens next, let alone how one goes from being agented to under contract with a publishing company. I can't say my understanding is exactly firm now, but I wanted to share what my experience has been to this point.

I got my agent a little over eighteen months ago on the book that also got me my publishing deal (but the second book I'd queried). At the time, my agent was in the middle of going to conferences, so she let me know that it would be a couple of months until we could discuss next steps. About two months later, I got an email with her suggestions for edits and changes to the book, and she gave me a general timeline for when to have it back to her. A couple of months later, she signed off on my revisions and we moved to the next step.

Submission.

The way my agent explained it, being on submission was a lot like the process of getting an agent. She did her homework identifying editors she thought would like my work, from looking at their blog posts, interviews, manuscript wish lists (#MSWL), past conversations they'd had at conferences, etc. After she established the first list of six to eight, she essentially queried them. Then we waited to hear back from them. And editors, being tremendously busy, frequently take months to get back to agents on a project. We went through a few rounds of submission, and my full manuscript was requested by a lot of the editors, which was flattering. But it was also rejected by those same editors, which was not so flattering. The feedback was complimentary, but fairly similar to what those of us who've been (or are) in the query trenches have received: the story didn't quite connect for me, the characters didn't quite pop, it's too similar to something we've just acquired.

My agent and I had discussed how I wanted feedback beforehand, so based on that, my agent didn't send me every rejection, just occasional emails when one round of feedback had been received and we were submitting to another group of editors. After several months, I found out that an editor loved my book and wanted to take it to her editorial review board. I had never heard of an editorial review board, so I smiled and nodded when my agent told me this (and then promptly remembered that she couldn't see me, so I then used my words).  While we were waiting for word back from that editor, she also told me that another editor wanted to take my book to her review board, too.

There was a lot of this happening.

I felt great about both possibilities, but I had a feeling about one over the other--I was just certain that it was going to work out. Oddly, this was the exact same feeling I had with my agent when she and a few others had my full MS. There was something about both of these experiences that felt different to me, even kismet. So when my agent told me that the editor I felt so good about was offering, I didn't have a moment's concern.

From there, my agent and the editor/publishing house went through negotiations. This also took some time. A few months went by between the time I found out the publisher wanted to offer me a contract and the time the contract was actually signed. There are a lot of moving pieces involved, and I probably don't know the half of it. But contracts and negotiations take time. I told myself this a lot, even as I secretly stress-ate my worries that my editor would change her mind. However, that didn't happen. Huzzah!

After the contract came the Publisher's Marketplace announcement. Evidently not every agent does this, but mine did, and I was glad of it. Truthfully, I didn't want to announce anything to anyone until that happened, as it made it all feel extra official to me. When I woke up to see the press release from my publisher and the PM announcement, I was half-convinced it was all a dream.

And then my baby spit up on me, and I realized it was real life. And I was elated.


If you have any questions about the process or have had a different experience, please share below!

Interview with Adrienne Quintana, author of ERUPTION

by Merry Gordon

Her 2013 NaNoWriMo game was so hardcore that she finished a book on November 1st.

Her techno-thriller Eruption—already generating buzz on Publisher's Weekly and Goodreads—officially hits the shelves in January courtesy of Cedar Fort Publishing & Media.

And to top it all off, she has ridiculously perfect hair.  

(I would know.  I sit behind her in church.)

She's Adrienne Quintana, Mormon Mommy Writer extraordinaire, and she's ready to dish—on publishing, on comfort food, on the myth of "having it all"—in today's blog.

Talk to me about Eruption.  What inspired it? 

A:  I’m a daydreamer.  My kids call it “zoning out.”  The idea for The Tablet struck me near the end of 2012 while I was driving down I-10 in Phoenix on my way to pick up the kids from school.  I don’t recommend completely zoning out on the freeway, but a quiet car on a long commute can be a great place to ponder the universe and come up with cool story ideas.

The concept started out simple: a girl finds a tablet with strange pictures on it.  As she investigates further, she discovers that the pictures are from the future.  Her future.

The Tablet didn’t turn into Eruption until almost a full year later when I finally decided to take the simple idea and run with it. I sat down and started answering questions.  Why was the tablet sent back in time? Who sent it? How was it sent? Then I zoned out in front of my laptop for the next two months.  

As a writer, how do you know when you’ve written something good?—not necessarily perfect, but that “ooooh” moment when you know you’ve just nailed it and have something solid to work with as a draft?

A:  My mom is probably one of the most positive people on the planet, and I’m guessing that is part of why I’m not overly self-critical. Self-confidence is essential when busting out a first draft.  I can’t keep going back to change things.  I have to be like the contestants on American Idol and just sing my little heart out.  The judges can smack me down later. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the performance.

As long as I feel entertained and inspired while I’m writing, I assume that the concept is good.  Then I rely on people I trust to help me refine and edit.  I felt like I was on to something with Eruption when my test readers finished the book quickly and gave good feedback.  It wasn’t perfect, but I was ready to start shopping the manuscript around.

You’re a writer.  But you’re also a wife and a mom of four, in addition to being a woman who finds time to exercise, serve in church callings, and manage more than sweats and ponytails on any given day.   Tell me a little about the life/work balance.  There’s so much societal pressure for women to “have it all” – is that possible?

A:  I firmly believe that no human can “have it all” or “do it all.” I couldn’t do it all when I was a working mom putting my husband through Law School.  I couldn’t do it all with four young children.  I couldn’t do it all when I went back to school.  I will never be able to do it all. But I can do enough.  With Heavenly Father’s help, I can be enough. 

I love Ecclesiastes chapter 3 where it talks about times and seasons.  Heavenly Father is aware of the seasons of your life.  He knows your desires, goals, and dreams.  Don’t be afraid to tell him what you want.  He wants you to succeed and he will help you.

To accomplish something as time consuming as writing a novel, I had to learn to simplify my life.  I said no to non-essentials.  My housekeeping suffered.  My laundry piled up.  I wore plenty of ponytails. But I made sure to let my family know that they were still my top priority.  I made a commitment that if my pre-schooler asked me for something while I was writing, I would stop and meet her needs.

Multi-tasking is my best friend.  I write when I have any spare time.  I write in the carpool lane.  I write in my head while I’m at hot yoga or doing dishes.  I write at midnight.  I try to embrace every spare minute to work toward my goals. I try to be thankful for the time that I do have instead of wishing for more time.

How do you react to a bad review/critique of your work?  What is it that makes you get back up on the proverbial horse?

A:  Bad reviews and critiques sting but I have a lot of experience getting over the pain.  My grandpa has been dishing out constructive criticism since the day I was born. He told my parents I was ugly. He said I’d look much better if I’d just get bigger like everyone else and grow some hair. It turns out, he was right. 

Again, with criticism, I try to channel my mom’s positive vibes.  When someone gives her a pile of horse poop, she immediately starts looking for the pony.  I figure that if someone cares enough to read the entire book and offer me feedback, I should take it as a compliment.  If the criticism rings true, I try to use it to improve. If it doesn’t, I just try to let it go and move on.  My writing is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. 

What do you know now about publishing that you wish you’d known when you began writing?

A:  Most of what I’ve learned about publishing, I’m glad I didn’t know when I started writing.  The editing process was a real eye-opener.  After almost a year of self-editing, I was surprised at the number of changes that still needed to be made to the story. Eruption was like my baby, and they were asking me to slice and dice and move and cut and paste and sew it back together.  It was gut-wrenching and time consuming, but so worth the end result. My little Frankenstein baby turned better than I could have imagined.

Another thing I’ve learned about publishing is that building relationships is paramount.  Get to know everyone. I have been fortunate to work with wonderful people. The cover artist, Kristen Reeves, took my ideas and made them come to life.  My editor, Daniel Friend, helped me see things from the reader’s perspective.  My copy editor, Melissa Caldwell, had eyes to catch the small details.  My publicist, Kelly Martinez, is my best friend.  We call each other cousin.  These are all people who have helped to shape my success.  I know who they are and I appreciate each of them for their contribution.

How does your faith influence your writing, either in terms of content or practice?

A:  I hope that my faith is apparent in everything I do.  With writing specifically, I was conscious of keeping the content uplifting and appropriate for any age.  The character’s morals and values are in harmony with the gospel. I didn’t write or edit on Sunday.

On a deeply personal level,  Eruption is about Jace Vega’s relationship with her father. Her struggles mirror my own journey to feel the approval of both my earthly and Heavenly father.

Okay, let’s break it down by the numbers:

·         5 to-read books on your bedside table:

The Fault in Our Stars

The Hunger Games

Jane Eyre

The Hiding Place

Anne of Green Gables

·         4 authors you love:

Charlotte Bronte

Jane Austen

Dan Brown

C.S. Lewis

·         3 go-to comfort foods for those days when the plot unravels:

Chocolate chip cookies (made by my daughter Marina)

Chips and salsa

Lindor Truffles

·         2 times you knew you hit a breakthrough in your writing life:

1.       When I set a daily word count goal and stuck with it.

2.       When I realized that Eruption was about more than a girl with a tablet from the future.

·         1 piece of advice for newbie writers:

Don’t wait until you think you are good enough.  Start today.  

*****

Can't wait for the release?  Enter here to win an ARC of Eruption and other prizes as we count down the days until January 13th!  You can also follow Adrienne on her blog, on Facebook,  and on Twitter @AdrienneQuintan.

Just Rewards

 

Have you ever wondered why it seems so easy for many authors to maneuver the Perils of Publishing with such ease?  I often feel like some Angel of Literacy has taken some authors by the hand and walked them through the entire process and gently set them down in a comfy chair at a book signing tour, with a hundred eager readers already waiting in line to get their pre-paid copy autographed.  I’ve worked tirelessly at this craft; you’ve worked endlessly to create and revise; we’ve massaged our foreheads from the laptop key indentations when we were following a vein of inspiration late into the night and lapsed into unconsciousness.  Where are OUR just rewards? 

When I was 15 years old, I was invited to attend a very special camping trip.  Every young man in our Stake that had earned his Eagle Scout award during the previous year was invited to attend a three-day camping trip.  This may not seem like the perfect punctuation to years of earning merit badges and trying not to roll around in too much poison ivy, but you see, we would all be riding…horses.  I learned a lot on this trip about ‘just rewards’.

I don’t know what romantic notions ya’ll have about venturing into the wilderness, eating meager rations stashed in one’s backpack, and trimming the callouses and lancing the blisters formed from too many miles hiking in the same pair of soggy boots, but the idea of riding through the beautiful desert landscape of Arizona filled me to the brim with cowboy ‘YeeHaw!’  I had finally graduated to mountain man status, to gently lead my noble stead over hill and down dale until we reached old man Reeves’s ranch (complete with crabapple orchard) where we would rub down our horses, lean back against our dismounted saddles, and stare at the crackling fire while reminiscing about our days of Scouting. 

For the most part the trip was idealic for us boys; a crusty trail boss that had spent more time around horses that my heart had beat thus far in my lifetime; bacon-wrapped fillet mignon and all the beans and Dutch oven cornbread we could stuff into our cheeks; and one-one time with one of the finest animals the good Lord ever created. 

We learned the proper way to shoe our horses, we had epic crabapple fights at the ranch corral, we learned to endure a dusty trail, and we gave thanks each night in prayer for the Lord letting us find our ‘cowboy self’. 

But, like most group dynamics, there always seems to be that one guy, that one person, who just refuses to fall in line with the spirit of the whole experience.  There’s always that one person who refuses to comply, refuses to obey, has to always do things their way, or worse, no way.  They try to go it alone.  Today, that one person is easily identified as being the first person kicked off of the island.  They make everyone uncomfortable because they don’t seem to follow the unwritten rules of the group.  When it’s a young person, this is the kid who you see being pulled aside by an adult because their ‘look at me’ behaviors are having the desired effect.

On our horseback outing, we had such a young man.  He refused to pay attention to the trail boss when we were being taught how to properly saddle our horses; he seemed to wander off just at the moment he was supposed to be helping with KP duties after mealtime; he most certainly wasn’t “…helpful, friendly, courteous, and kind” as a portion of the Scout Law states.  When he was away from the group, we questioned his actually earning his Eagle Scout award because, after the many life changing experiences that occurred on the way to earning this prestigious award, surely some goodness must have rubbed off on him.

In the saddle, he was a holy terror.  If the trail boss had been allowed to bring his gun, I’m almost certain he would have fired a few rounds in this boy’s direction.  The boy yelled at the poor animal when it wouldn’t respond to his wishes.  He was constantly reminded that, yes, the horse had to be watered and fed before the humans got to eat.  And heaven help the Scout who tried to reach out a brotherly hand of support and encouragement.  It was briskly swatted away, either by word or by deed.  This young man demonstrated the worst attributes of a Scout and a young man that I had ever seen.  What a tragedy.

 

But I am a personal witness that Heaven keeps score.  Indeed, there are times when ‘just rewards’ are meted out to those that, metaphorically or literally, need a good swat on the behind.

It was the morning of our last day of the outing.  We were exhausted and dirty, but supremely happy with our accomplishments and the steps we’d taken towards manhood during the trip.  We were saddling our horses one last time for the ride to the base camp where the horse trailers were parked waiting for their four-legged passengers.  We were all cinching up our saddles and coaxing our horses to accept the bridles bits we were offering them.  But our challenging friend was impatient to get going.  He jammed the bit in his horse’s mouth.  He slammed the saddle down on his horse’s back.  He punched the horse in its back left flank because it kept trying to turn in circles.  His actions were definitely putting a dark cloud over the finale of our trip. 

But then, suddenly, the horse did something that I shall never forget.  I know it did it on purpose because that horse was smiling when it did it, and I’ll swear on a stack of chuck wagon cookbooks in any court of cowboy justice.  When the boy was throwing his most ugly tantrum that horse simply moved his front left hoof about a foot to its left and stood right on the boy’s foot.  At that moment, the clouds parted above and a warm ray of sunshine shone down upon that little miracle.  As the boy hooted and hollered that he was being murdered by his equine, his horse stood there, unmoving, in regal splendor.  We all looked at each other and smiled, trying very hard to stifle the laughs that were threatening to burst forth.  Even the old trail boss purposefully took his sweet ol’ time walking over to get the horses hoof off of the boy’s foot.    

                                                                              

Needless to say, the boy was sufficiently humbled.  He remained quiet and compliant the rest of the trip, occasionally wiping away a tear.   We later found out that his foot was just fine, but his ego would take a bit longer to heal.

My point in sharing this story is to remind all of us that there really are ‘just rewards’ meted out.  They come in two forms: Either they are consequences eventually handed out to the antagonists around us, who we perceive as always getting the easy road forward when we have to claw our way around and over every obstacle; and, they are handed out to those who have been valiant and long-suffering on their path forward, playing by the rules, lifting another along the way.

To all of us who are still trying to write that next “great American novel”; fear not, we will someday get our ‘just rewards’.  

“I Did It Myyyyy…Wayyyy”

You know it, and I know it. Very few writers, the “lucky” ones, get their work picked up by a major publishing house. But really, it’s okay. I mean, why should author’s sell their manuscripts for a pittance to publishing houses at all, if these publishers are sending out a mass-press-release only and are not more involved in the marketing aspects, then what good are they?

What about setting up your own publishing company? What? You can do that? Sure you can; here are some steps you may want to follow:

1. First, get your pillars in place. Find and get quotes for an editor, a book lay-out company, a cover artist, and a printer.

2. Set up your company. You can actually do it in minutes. A good place to start is by following the steps offered by the US Small Business Administration.

3. Write a solid business plan. This might take a few days, since you’ll want to make sure you have a solid understanding of the multiple facets of the publishing industry.

4. Find a distributor. Most distributors require only three books to be listed as a publishing business. So, either crank out three books (any three will do) OR band together with other authors to reach the minimum. In fact, this latter option is really good because your company will grow its title listings much faster with multiple writers.

5. Learn a few tips to market your book and get publicity. I mean, you’re the boss now, so go be one!

6. Choose a business name. Keep the name neutral and usable in a variety of languages. Before you spend the money to register the name, do a name check and save the headache.

7. Crowd fund your initial efforts. Don’t order any print runs before you have a reasonable amount of orders.

8. Obtain your ISBN and bar codes.

9. Copyright your book(s).

10. Submit a copy (register) with the Library of Congress.

11. Create a publication timeline.

12. Spend the necessary time (and perhaps money) setting up a GREAT publishing website.