Ask the published (fiction) author(s)...
I've debated whether or not I should start this thread because in my brain, my life is divided into several categories, and never the twain shall meet. My message board life is different from my fandom life is different from my working life is different from my writing life. However, I've been thinking about ways to encourage more activity on the board, and that includes starting threads. But since I don't actually do much with myself, I don't have interesting things to talk about. But then I remembered that there is something I do! And it's actually quite fun, and maybe even interesting, so here I go.
I publish under two names--Pepper Espinoza and Jamie Craig. I write romance. Most people have "bodice rippers" in mind when they think of romance, or the Harlequin category titles. I do not write either of those things. Because I publish with e-publishers, I have a lot of freedom. Romance, in general, is intensely conservative. Not only when it comes to subject matter, but also when it comes to the publishing model. I mean, think about what the message of romance is--that the heteronormative ideal of love and the bourgeoisie concept of marriage is not only right and true, but the only real way to happiness. That's not what interests me, though. So while I am continuoulsy striving to reach the upper-echelons of publishing, I do have a pretty sweet gig with my current publishers, which include Liquid Silver Books, Samhain Publishing, Amber Quill Press, and most recently, Loose Id.
So, I can comfortably answer questions in any of the following areas:
1) Writing a book! I have over sixty publishing credits, plus a few degrees in literature, so I do have some knowledge on the subject.
2) E-publishing! What is it. How it works. If it's possible to make money off it. Etc. I've been in epublishing since 2005 (successfully, I might add).
3) Collaborating. I've been collaborating with a co-author since 2006, and I know that some people are fascinated by that fact because they could never imagine working with somebody else. The vast majority of my writing life is collaboration, and I'm always happy to discuss it.
4) Romance! Specifically, the difference between my area and category romance. What the industry looks like today, how its changing, and why it's the biggest selling genre in the world--and the only area of publishing that has not taken a hit during these bad economic times.
5) Any general questions about the process of querying, submitting, etc. I have not yet landed an agent, though I'm working on it, but I have successfully submitted to many publishers (that sounds kinda dirty, actually).
Also, I know that there are other published writers around here. Please, if somebody has a question and you know the answer, jump in. God knows I am not trying to set myself up as The Authority around here. I just thought a "Ask the..." thread could be fun and generate some interesting discussion.
Re: Ask The (Collaborating)(Romance)(Epublished) professional author...
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Originally posted by pepperlandgirl
3) Collaborating. I've been collaborating with a co-author since 2006, and I know that some people are fascinated by that fact because they could never imagine working with somebody else. The vast majority of my writing life is collaboration, and I'm always happy to discuss it.
This is the huge one to me. How do you do it? And also, why do you do it? How are the responsibilities divided? Do you just hand the story back and forth like a hot potato? Does someone provide the skeleton and the other one flesh it out with detail, dialogue, etc? Do you "act" characters back and forth at each other like improv theater in print?
And after answering that, do you know if your way is the most common way, or do you know other authors who commonly collaborate, and do it differently?
Re: Ask The (Collaborating)(Romance)(Epublished) professional au
I'll start with how we began working together.
Some people here are probably familiar with online roleplaying games. You have a character, or several, in a community and you write back and forth. Sometimes, you end up interacting with one player/character more than any other. That's basically what happened to us. I always knew of eurydice (going with her screenname here) because she also wrote Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfic and I was a huge fan of her work. God bless her, she updated three times a week. And she never missed an update. Her stories were in character, well written (especially by fanfic standards), and epic. But I'm shy, and so in all the years we were in fandom together, we never interacted. Except, one time, she nominated a short story of mine for an award, and I was insanely touched (now knowing her as I do, I'm even more touched. She really worked hard in fandom to promote good fic).
Anyway, so we knew each other as writers for about 4 years. Then a mutual friend invited us both to play in an RPG. Neither one of us had ever done an RPG before, but it was mostly an experiment, and it was a small group of people and a pretty no pressure environment. At first, we didn't have any cause to write with each other because our characters never needed to interact, and I was primarily writing with somebody else. It was fun, but I was doing all the work. It was like having sex with somebody who just laid there. Well, that person disappeared for a week or so, tying up the game. Finally, I asked eurydice if she would take over the other character and write a scene with me, just so we could get the game moving.
She did. And there was a choir of angels, and a voice from the heavens said "And You Shall Be Called Jamie Craig!"
Actually, that's not what happened. But we did have a lot of fun together--a lot of fun. So we started chatting more and more, and after all our friends on the east coast went to bed, we would stay up late together chatting/writing. We're both naturally fast writers, and working together, we could write 10k words a day without breaking a sweat. It was utterly insane. But as a result, other players claimed we were "taking over the game." So, we decided to take a break for a week. Well, not a break writing. We still needed to do that! But a break from playing.
We basically wrote a novel in that week.
Which we later sold to Juno Books.
And we haven't looked back since.
We still write like we're playing an RPG. I take one main character and she takes another. Before we begin writing, we hash out what we think the story is. Our most recent novel is one called The Unmourned. I had an idea of a woman who is stationed in Antartica who kills monsters that come out of a rift. One day, she's out killing a monster, and she finds a man lying in the middle of the ice. Where did he come from? What the hell is he doing? And what is he trying to warn her about? Eurydice liked the idea, and so we started trying to answer those questions. Now, those early brainstorming notes often don't look like anything we end up with, but it's enough to keep us going.
So, we have a basic premise and a plot, then we create the characters. This time, I wrote the hero. I named him Lysander, because the name had been in my head for a few days, and clearly, it was meant to be that character. She named the heroine Charlie. Once we have the basics down, one of us will start writing the chapter. This book needed to begin in Charlie's POV, so Eurydice started the book. We had several secondary characters that we split between us. So she writes a few paragraphs, sends them to me, I write a few paragraphs, send them to her, she writes a few paragraphs, back and forth. A paragraph at a time until we have a whole book.
It's not always easy. We go through a lot of discussion. We have to talk so much that sometimes, a whole day passes and all we do is talk. But that's one of the reasons I love it. I know I have weaknesses as a writer. For one thing, I'm not really big on action. For another, I never have a clear idea of what I'm doing, and I don't like world building. I'm more character focused. On the other hand, Eurydice will sacrifice characterization for plot every single time. We balance each other. I fight hard for when i think we need scenes that focus on the characters and their relationships (quiet conversations, etc), while she tells me when we need action and keeps an eye out for how the book should be paced. Ultimately, our books are stronger for it, and I'm exceptionally proud of everything we've written together. Even our earliest stuff which, in hindsight, is a bit rough.
After the book is written, we divide duties based on availability. If I have some free time, I'll take the edits on a book, but that means she's got to do the galley. I usually write the blurb and do the art questionaires, but she's got to take care of the website. I'm responsible for all the queries/submissions, but she generally foots our surprising number of bills (it's not cheap to be an author, unfortunately). We strike a pretty good balance, and I don't think either one of us ever feels like we're pulling more than our fair share.
Ugh ,this is getting really long. Sorry.
I know other authors who collaborate, and their process is different from ours. In fact, I don't think I've ever met anybody who writes the way we do. Generally, one person will write a chapter and send it to their co-author. Or one person will write the whole book and send it over to the other for editing. I could never do that. We work as closely as possible, each of us having input on every sentence and everything that happens. We don't always agree with each other, but we do seem to share a brain. And there's a reason my husband refers to Eurydice as my wife...in a lot of ways, it is like being married.
Re: Ask The (Collaborating)(Romance)(Epublished) professional author...
I am interested in EVERYTHING you have to say! LOL I am also co-writing with a dear friend, and we desperately want to get published. Unforutunately, I hear that it is almost impossible to get published if you are not established... and how do you get established without being published???
Anyway...we have talked about being e-published, so that's what I'll ask about. How do you go about it? Do you make any money off it? Any info you care to share on it would be much appreciated!
I'm sure I'll have more questions later...
Re: Ask The (Collaborating)(Romance)(Epublished) professional au
PapSett, what genre do you write in?
There's one thing to remember about epublishing--and it's really the only thing to keep in mind. In order for people to be motivated to buy an ebook, the ebooks has to offer them something they cannot get anywhere else. And no, I don't just mean a good story. They can get that anywhere. And no, I don't just mean porn. They can get that anywhere, too.
Two genres have really strong markets in epublishing right now--romance and horror. Why? Because there is a stranglehold in New York over both genres. The publishers are convinced that the readers only wanted one, certain thing, and the market could only support that thing. So romance publishers don't go beyond the norm or push boundaries, and I see horror novelists bemoan the fact that if you're not Stephen King or Dean Koonz, or Peter Straus (SP?), then you're not going to sell. But in epublishing...well, those rules are tossed out the window. Harlequin may not publish a gay romance in the near future, but epublishers will. And they're finding that gay romances are HUGE sellers (in epublishing terms. We're not on level playing field with NY yet). Menage romances are HUGE sellers. Paranormal romances were the vampires and the werewolves are dangerous killers AND the hero? Huge sellers. Hardcore BDSM? Huge sellers. In other words, epublishing is for books you can't find in bookstores. Or, if you can find them, you'd feel awkward buying.
But New York has sat up and taken notice. Harlequin now has two "erotic romance" lines. Berkeley has an erotic romance line. Kensington does erotic romance. There's a publisher that's releasing two gay historical romances this year with big plans for the future. It's actually really awesome and amazing, and I'm happy to be a part of it.
Last year I made about $13,000 from my writing. The year before that, $9,000. The year before that, $1300. It's possible to make money. It's not quite possible to live off said money. But remember that while epublishing is very viable for some markets/genres, it's going to be low-selling when compared to "traditional" publishing. Also, I make up for low numbers by publishing many books. I strive to have at least six solo tiles and 12 collaborative titles every year. I write 40+ hours a week. My life is my writing.
And there's still so much more information I can add. It might be better if you had some specific questions. What genre you're writing, who you think the audience is, what are your long-term goals as a writer, specific submission questions, etc. Otherwise, I'll just blather on and on and on.
Re: Ask The (Collaborating)(Romance)(Epublished) professional author...
Whoa. Just to confirm, that's 40-hours a week last year, for about $13,000.
You really gotta WANT to do this, or hope that your writing income curve will stay on this upward trend.
I wish you nothing but success.
Re: Ask The (Collaborating)(Romance)(Epublished) professional au
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You really gotta WANT to do this, or hope that your writing income curve will stay on this upward trend.
Pretty much. It's a lot of hard work, and it's basically never-ending. I chose to take today off of work. But I spent the past month busting my ass writing a novel (112k words in 30 days!) and then all weekend editing the novel. Then Monday, I wrote the synospis and query letter. Tomorrow I'm flying to Ohio for a conference. While there, I'll pitch to an agent, try to network with other authors, and my writing partner and I will begin working on our next project, which is due at the end of June for publication in August (cutting things way too close). Then next Monday, I'll be speaking to my editor on my most recent novel because we've got to hash out some revisions. Then I have a solo title due in August I've got to get started on. Plus, we'll have galleys for our July release coming up soon. And as soon as we finish the book we'll start this weekend, we'll be moving on to the book that's going to be published in September.
But I'm confident the trend will continue upwards, and there's really not anything else I want to do with my time.
Re: Ask The (Collaborating)(Romance)(Epublished) professional author...
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Originally posted by pepperlandgirl
2) E-publishing! What is it. How it works. If it's possible to make money off it. Etc. I've been in epublishing since 2005 (successfully, I might add).
I'm seriously interested in this, but discouraged by some of what I've found. How do you get into e-publishing that's not "self-publishing" (which, as near as I can tell, is pretty durn close to vanity publishing)? I want to stick to the principle that money flows toward the writer, never away.
(Also, thanks for starting this thread and making your experience available. And since you asked, it's Peter Straub. Haven't read him in years and years.)
Re: Ask The (Collaborating)(Romance)(Epublished) professional author...
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Originally posted by Baldwin
I'm seriously interested in this, but discouraged by some of what I've found. How do you get into e-publishing that's not "self-publishing" (which, as near as I can tell, is pretty durn close to vanity publishing)? I want to stick to the principle that money flows toward the writer, never away.
There are lots of epublishers out there! Real, genuine publishing houses that pay monthly royalties, edit the books, provide cover art, do promotion, and all that good stuff. Which ones you want to go with depends largely on your genre. Also, you have to keep in mind what your goals are. For example, I write gay romance. My goals are pretty modest because while there is a market, I know that it's not a huge one right now. That's fine with me. If you want to make a crapload of money and find fame and fortune...well, stop writing. Because it's not going to happen that way. But if you want your book to be available, have modest sales figures, and begin a career you can build on, then epublishing is a good start.
Anyway, my primary publishers are all romance/erotica publishers. Three of them began as "general interest" publishers, releasing a wide amount of fiction, but ultimately, the erotic romance is what sold, so that's where their focus has been shifting. The good news is that most publishers are very open to a wide variety of subgenres and will still accept books that aren't necessarily romances even if they know sales won't be great. Also, places like Mundania Press are flourishing and while they have a Romance imprint, they publish lots of things (and they just bought another epublisher that's been around for 15 years, Hard Shell). When you're searching for an epublisher, keep the following things in mind.
1) How long as the publisher been around? Lots and lots of people think that being an epublisher is an easy task. They are wrong. It's not. As a result, lots of publishing houses get started and then fail within a year, leaving authors to fend for themselves and with books that, in some cases, can't even be sold again. All the places I currently publish with have been in business at least four years (an eternity in epublishing, I assure you).
2) Would you buy the books published there? That is, do they publish the books you want to read and write? Furthermore, do they do a good job of it? Buy a book and find out. If the editing is atrocious and the book is awful, you'll get a pretty good idea of what sort of joint they're running. If you wouldn't buy a book there for any reason (poor website layout, poor editing, bad blurbs, ugly covers) then chances are, people won't buy your book there.
3) What do other people say about the publisher? Check out forums like Absolute Write, specifically the "Bewares and Background Check" forum. Also, Preditors and Editors and EREC. When in doubt, ask. Lots of people at AW will be happy to talk to you about their experiences.
4) If you can, email one of the authors and ask them about their experiences. This can be tricky, because some authors are so happy to have publishers, any publishers, that they will sing the publisher's praises to the heavens, even if they're only selling 20 books. But in general, most authors are happy to answer questions, and will give honest responses.
5) Distribution. Do the publishers only have books available on their site, or can you find their titles at Fictionwise or Amazon? Do they ever have books go into print? If so, what are the qualifications, and where are print titles available?
And as you already said, always follow Yog's Law. Money flows towards the writer. If any publisher, for any reasons asks for money from you, walk away and do NOT sign the contract.
There's lots of exciting things happening in the world of epublishing right now. With Amazon positioning itself with Kindle, Barnes and Noble purchasing Fictionwise, Google deciding to get into the ebook trade, and iPhone apps like Stanza and eReader, ebooks are becoming more and more viable. Harlequin has started selling many of their catalogue as ebooks, and have 2 imprints that are specifically for ebooks. HQN is basically the largest and most successful publisher in the world, and a pretty good sign of which way the wind is blowing. Ebooks were also a major topic of discussion at BEA this year. There's a major paradigm shift on the horizon. Now, I'm not saying this is going to happen overnight. Hell, I don't even know if it'll happen in the next ten years. But five years ago, epublishing was the smallest of small niches. Now it's a viable and thriving business model.
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(Also, thanks for starting this thread and making your experience available. And since you asked, it's Peter Straub. Haven't read him in years and years.)
I'm really happy to do it. I thought about doing it sooner, but I didn't know if anybody would care, and I honestly do feel a little shy about it. Thanks for the correction. I knew Straus wasn't right, but for the life of me, I could not think of what it could be.
Re: Ask The (Collaborating)(Romance)(Epublished) professional author...
Wow... there is a LOT to think about. I thank you for taking the time to answer our questions...and for raising more.
My genre...I suppose it would be called romance, although it's not like any romance I have ever read before. The book (it's actually planned to be a trilogy, at the very least) that I am working on with my partner is romance/comedy/action/adventure. The bad part of this all is that she has really starting to slack, writing slower...and slower...and slower... and I am beginning to wonder if we will ever get the damned thing done. She is obviously not as serious about it as I am, unfortunately.
I also have a couple solo efforts in the works, also considered romance, but in very unusual settings. One is a love story involving a man parayized from the waist down (LOTS of research going into that one) and the other set at a big cat sanctuary/rescue.
As for who my target audiance is... that's hard to say. There is a good bit of erotica in everything I write; as I mentioned, there is a big dose of humor as well. Animals always figure prominantly in the storyline--- no, not as part of the erotica, get your mind out of the gutter LOL! But animals are a HUGE part of my life, and of so many people I know as well, so I write with animals being important characters. Not unrealistically... no talking horses or lions doing heroic rescues... Just animals being animals, doing what they do in everyday life. I would say it's mainly women that would be interested in reading, tho I have never had a man sample, so I dunno.
I have actually thought about a supernatural romance; I have 2 ideas that have been rattling about in my brain for a very long time. It sounds like that might be something worth looking into.
So...how do you find a reliable epublisher? Do you need an agent to do this? How do you find an agent, if so? And what kind of money are you looking at for an agent?
(I told you I'd have more questions...)
Re: Ask The (Collaborating)(Romance)(Epublished) professional author...
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Originally posted by PapSett
Wow... there is a LOT to think about. I thank you for taking the time to answer our questions...and for raising more.
My genre...I suppose it would be called romance, although it's not like any romance I have ever read before. The book (it's actually planned to be a trilogy, at the very least) that I am working on with my partner is romance/comedy/action/adventure. The bad part of this all is that she has really starting to slack, writing slower...and slower...and slower... and I am beginning to wonder if we will ever get the damned thing done. She is obviously not as serious about it as I am, unfortunately.
First, it sounds like you're writing something that would actually be a prime candidate for epublishing. Epublishers, and people who buy ebooks, want something different. Like I said before, they want something they can't buy in bookstores (or can't find easily). They want books that are really hot, but also cross boundaries, cross genres, explore romance in ways that really hasn't been done before. I barely write any "straight" romance anymore. All my solo titles are gay, or menage (m/m/f, or m/m/m) or have some other element that makes them not right for big New York houses.
Now, as for the work you do with your partner, that's tricky. It's really, really tricky. Eurydice and I have similar goals, similar hopes, and similar priorities. We're both absolutely workaholics. Neither one of us takes a real day off. Even today, I've been toying with ideas, preparing for our trip, thinking about promo. But I'll be honest. We have problems. For starters, in this business you will be rejected. When this happens to me, I'm hurt, but I get back in the saddle. She, however, shuts down for the entire day, and she's gotten in the habit of threatening to quit. Finally, last week, I put an end to that. But if you feel like you have different priorities and different goals, you've got to do what's best for you.
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I also have a couple solo efforts in the works, also considered romance, but in very unusual settings. One is a love story involving a man parayized from the waist down (LOTS of research going into that one) and the other set at a big cat sanctuary/rescue.
First, make sure your story has a Happy Ever After ending, or Happy For Now. Second, if you make one of your characters a were-cat running a cat sanctuary, you'll be writing gold. I'm not even kidding. Right now, the market for shifters is huge, and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down.
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As for who my target audiance is... that's hard to say. There is a good bit of erotica in everything I write; as I mentioned, there is a big dose of humor as well. Animals always figure prominantly in the storyline--- no, not as part of the erotica, get your mind out of the gutter LOL! But animals are a HUGE part of my life, and of so many people I know as well, so I write with animals being important characters. Not unrealistically... no talking horses or lions doing heroic rescues... Just animals being animals, doing what they do in everyday life. I would say it's mainly women that would be interested in reading, tho I have never had a man sample, so I dunno.
The erotica makes whatever you write an easier sell. That's the fact of the matter. People who write romances light on the sex are not getting sales in the emarket. So, that's the one nice thing. I never have to worry, "Is this too much sex?!"
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I have actually thought about a supernatural romance; I have 2 ideas that have been rattling about in my brain for a very long time. It sounds like that might be something worth looking into.
It definitely is.
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So...how do you find a reliable epublisher? Do you need an agent to do this? How do you find an agent, if so? And what kind of money are you looking at for an agent?
Follow my pointers up above. Check out the links I already posted. Go to places like Fictionwise to see what publishers are distributing their books there. You do not need an agent for epublishing. Agents do find it worth their while to sell to Ellora's Cave (the REAL BIGGIE in the market) but otherwise, epublishing is still a waste of an agent's time because epublishers don't pay advances (except for EC).
When you have an agent, they take a cut of the advance the publisher pays. So if you get an advance of $5k, the agent will get 15% of that from the top. That is how agents get paid. You never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever cut a check to an agent. Ever. The way to get an agent is actually a long process. I think I might write about that in another post. I'm going through the process right now, so it's on my mind, and I have a lot to say about it. The reason I'm looking for an agent at this point is that I would like to sell books to New York and take the next step up in my career. Also, I know that DeadlyAccurate has an agent, and so when we get into the discussion, I hope she joins us.
Re: Ask The (Collaborating)(Romance)(Epublished) professional author...
Thanks, Girl from the Pepper Land!
Re: Ask The (Collaborating)(Romance)(Epublished) professional au
Coming at you from Ohio! WOO!
So, what does it take to get an agent? Well, here's a run down on the process. It probably won't be brief. Also, this is for fiction! I have no idea what the process is like for non-fiction.
1) Write a book.
That should be obvious, right? But actually, it's not as obvious as you think. In fact, I regularly see agents warn about this shit. Agents will basically never offer representation if you only have a partial, or worse yet, a summary of your book. Before you ever start querying agents, you need to have the book finished, and polished, and ready for publication.
2) Don't query too soon.
Once you finish your book, you're going to be SO FREAKING EXCITED! But, the book is not going to be perfect. And if it's your first novel ever, then it's probably going to need a lot more work. Set it aside and write another novel. You'll gain experience and learn a LOT by writing a second book, and then you can use your new knowledge about yourself and your craft to edit/polish your first novel (Or permanently hide your first novel because with some distance you can see that it's not great work. A lot of people have Not Great Work with their first novel.
3) EDIT EDIT EDIT!
Did I mention you need to edit? You don't want to edit the life out of the thing, but errors are distracting. If any reader ends up falling into the role of editor, then you've lost them forever as a reader. You never want to make the process difficult for them.
4) Write a query letter.
This is so hard! I don't know anybody who enjoys writing query letters. But it's a necessary evil. You should have the genre and word count of the book. You should have a succinct synopsis (generally about 250 words) that tells what the entire book is about, highlighting the main characters, the main conflict, and the main resolution. It needs to read like the back copy of a novel. It needs to be engaging and interesting. It needs to give the agent a taste of your style and leave them hungry for more. Tall order, right? You should check out Absolute Write. They have a forum dedicated to critique and suggestions on query letters. Also, check out Query Shark. She posts and disects queries that authors have sent her for that purpose. Her advice is very, very good.
5) Research your agents!
There are hundreds of people out there who claim to be agents. Most of them are. Some of them are scams. Once you have eliminated the scammers (NEVER SEND AN AGENT MONEY!), you need to figure out which agents are right for you. Start by going to agentquery.com, preditors and editors, and absolute write. Check out Publishers Marketplace. Go to their websites. Check their list of clients. Have you heard of any of them? Would you read those books? Make sure they represent your genre. If you have a thriller, and they say they rep thrillers, but they've never actually sold a thriller, consider if they're really the right fit for you. You should start to develop a list of agents that you want to work with. This is also a good time to check out blogs and whether or not the agent has an online presence (not necessary, per se, but can be an invaluable tool).
6) Prepare submission packets.
I wish there was a universal rule for this, but there's not. Some agents will accept queries through email or snail mail. Some will accept queries through snail mail only. Some will accept through email only. Some asks only for a query letter. Some want letter plus first five pages. Some want the first three chapters or the first 50 pages. Some will take attachments, some won't. Here's the important thing--their submission guidelines will be posted on their website. READ THEM! Follow them to the letter. Don't do any more or any less than what they ask for. That might mean you're doing a dozen different things, and it can get confusing, but that's what spreadsheets are for.
7) Prepare for rejection.
You're going to be rejected. Maybe after the querying stage. Maybe after you send a partial. Maybe even after you send a full manuscript. The fact of the matter is that good writing--great writing--isn't always enough. There are a zillion reasons why you might garner a rejection. Maybe you just wrote a vampire techno-thriller, and the agent receives your query an hour after she shouts, "If I see one more vampire techno-thriller, I'LL SCREAM!" Or maybe an editor just told the agent that they're all full on their vampire techno-thrillers for the next two years. Maybe an agent just signed their twelfth client for the year, and their all filled up. Maybe an agent is just really busy and can't take any more work, no matter how good it is. Maybe the agent didn't even read your query because you're writing in the wrong genre. Maybe they just left their spouse and they hate the world and you're the poor jerk with the letter at the top of the pile. Regardless, a few rejections doesn't mean you should quit. An anonymous agent from New York kept a blog called Miss Snark. She stopped updating awhile ago, but it's still online if you want to read it. She said several times that you're not allowed to even think about quitting until you've been rejected 100 times.
8) But you might get an offer!
I can't really tell you too much about what happens here. I do know that an offer from an agent isn't really a guarantee of publication. Because then the agent takes the MS to various editors and goes through the same process you just went through. And it's not enough to impress one editor at a publisher, either. There are several layers to the acceptance process. Your agent is going to be your champion. Your agent should fight for you. But the fight might be a long one. And the book you found an agent with might never be sold. Sounds bleak, I know. Writing is hard, soul-crushing work. And if you're good enough, and you work hard enough, it might all pay off one day.
