So… How’d the Manuscript Consultation Go?

Oh. Well. Hm. Good?

So Jen (the agent in question) thinks my writing is hilarious and darling (glee!), and in the sections on the advice form that are like ‘what to do next’ she wrote ‘send Jen more’ and put smiley faces and her email address, which… AWESOME.

But. We talked about the book. As you do. And as often happens when I receive a good critique I promptly wanted to go home and rewrite the whole thing. Even though Jen has not in fact read the whole book she managed to give me a way of looking at it that could help me fix something about it that has always kind of bothered me and that I am sure will make it better. (Which is the kind of editorial skill I would bleed to have in my life, honestly.)

So the I-want-to-rip-my-book-apart is a good thing. I mean, I’ve always expected that the second I got an agent they would want me to rewrite and the same thing when I got a publisher only more so. However, reworking the book in the way I have in mind would be an enormous amount of work and I’m wondering if it’s really worthwhile starting that process by myself rather than waiting to actually have someone with that kind of eye looking over my shoulder.

But maybe Jen would like to be that person? And then…

<Okay, this is the part where there should be a lengthy commentary about what I want to do with the book and what Jen wants me to do and my thoughts on that, but that would be a much longer post. Which I may do later when I’m capable of being more coherent on the subject.>

Aaanyway. I figure I’ll think about it some more (probably endlessly) and once I’m back from the trip I’ll get in contact with her and we’ll talk about it and I can decide what to do and she can decide if she’s interested in working with me or not.

So that’s that part. But wait, there’s more! Did I mention how much she likes my work? So she’s nominating me for the Sue Alexander Award. What’s the Sue Alexander Award you ask? So did I. (Yes, I know, I should be more aware of these things.) It’s an award given to the manuscript presented at the conference that’s ‘deemed most promising for publication’. (Mini-squee. Okay, not that mini.)

Just being nominated for the award could be helpful for the query/submission process if things don’t work out with Jen because it’s like saying, “Well, someone who knows what they’re talking about thinks I don’t completely suck” (and, quietly, is great for reassuring myself that I’m not kidding myself about this whole career-as-a-writer thing). And if I win they fly me to New York and hook me up with a number of agents and publishers who check out my work. So that would be… excuse me while I bibble with incoherent glee. So yeah. Either way that’s just AWESOME. That whole ‘honour just to be nominated thing’? Yes.

Also, after the meeting there was a Rick in my room. So, you know, pretty good day, really. Although I don’t know how I’m going to get through the next month without breaking down and holing up in a hotel room and writing. At this point my best bet is my fundamental conflict about what to write. Finish book two on general principle? Rip one and two apart and rebuild them? Write Wizards because GODDAMMIT?

So that was a thing. Was that what you wanted to know?