Funny,
Isn’t It?
By Jeanne Charters
Remember these old song lyrics?
When it all comes true, just the way you’d planned,
it’s funny, but the bells don’t ring. It’s a quiet thing.
Life’s like that, I think. I’ll explain later.
If you know me, you know I’ve spent the past five
years writing a novel called Shanty Gold and trying to get it
published. Well, actually in that time, I wrote three novels, but Shanty
Gold was the one that I thought had a shot.
After so many rejections from literary agents that I
lost count (I needed to lose count or I’d have been on an anti-depressant), I
had pretty much given up. I had signed with an agent a couple of years ago and
was so excited and hopeful. Sadly, she turned out to be a bit lame. When, after
11 months, I was still waiting for her second round of edit suggestions, I
resigned that contract.
Many times during the past year, I’ve done that
second guessing thing. Should I have hung in with her a bit longer? Maybe she
really was having all those family problems and/or celebrations. Maybe I’m
being unreasonable. It’s easy to rationalize that way when the form-letter
rejections just keep flooding your email.
Which brings me to an important point. If you are
ever a literary agent, please, please, please do not use this phrase in your
rejection letter. “Because of the huge volume of queries we receive here, we
are not able to consider your novel. Perhaps another agency will feel
differently.”
That just tells the poor author that the agent is
super-duper important and that others are good enough, but that you’re not.
That is one crappy sentiment to let settle into your brain.
Funny, isn’t it, but I had given up. No, that isn’t
funny. My book is good. Think how many good books go by the wayside because the
author just cannot take one more rejection.
On a friend’s recommendation, I decided to give it
one more shot. It’s a small agency (Loiacono Literary Agency) in Texas…not on
Fifth Avenue. What I liked about the agent is that when she got my query, she
wrote back immediately. “Thanks, Jeanne. I like the concept and will put it in
my queue. Please give me at least 12 + weeks. Jeanie”
So, I did. And promptly counted two months and
two days and wrote in my Day-Timer to send her another email.
Then, I forgot about it and lived my life.
A week before the two months was up, I got a
contract from her. It was a standard and reasonable contract, so I scanned it,
signed it, and sent it back to her.
Immediately, I received by email a fully edited
manuscript with clear instructions for how she felt I could make my book better
and more salable. Wow!
I agreed with nearly every one of her suggestions
and took a couple of months implementing them into Shanty Gold.
Two weeks later, my novel was acquired by a
publisher. It’ll be out next year. And there are no bells. It’s a quiet thing.
A thing I can scarcely believe is happening.
Now I’m immersed in that dreaded beast I have
avoided all of my adult life—social media. Publishers now-a-days really do not
do much marketing for books, unless you’re a multi-published, A-list author. I
am neither of those things.
So far, I have a beautiful new website at www.jeannecharters.com and
invite you to visit it and let me know what you think of it. I will be posting
a new blog each week about writing Shanty Gold and sharing fascinating
historical Irish tidbits that you can repeat at cocktail parties and beer
blasts. Sign up to receive notices when a new blog is posted and you will be
informed by email. Come on along on my journey to publication. I promise it’ll
be a fun ride.
Jeanne Charters is a New Yorker blissfully relocated
to Asheville. She lives here with her husband, Matt Restivo, and their dog,
Bucky. Her novel Shanty Gold will be published next year, and she invites you
to enjoy her weekly blogs on Irish historical tidbits as well as the process of
writing and publishing a book at www.jeannecharters.com.
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