I've published 2 and my #3 got offers from 5 agents. The one I signed with was probably not the right choice because she's been fairly uncommunicative and uninvested. Supposedly going on submission any day now but really not hearing anything from her!? Lesson: go with the most enthusiastic agent, not the one with all the bestselling writers under her belt! Here's hoping something good still comes of it! 🤞
Oh no! Fingers crossed for you, and I'm adding you to my list of potential guests for The Long Road to Publishing b/c it sounds like you have stories to share!
There’s a whisper going around academia — that the ‘lost’ manuscript of Solace wasn’t lost. It’s caged. One scholar tried to teach a seminar around it. His syllabus was blank by week three.
Wow Eva! Twelve MS! I've self published four now, working on a fifth. Was each one better than the one before? You bet! I also strove to make each story more ridiculous than the one before. On that front I may have peaked with #3 😖😫🙄🤪
Regarding your manuscript question - it's complicated! (Like so many things). In terms of books I am interested in querying an agent about with an eye to traditional publication, I have one completed manuscript. Probably three books in various stages of "in-progress." It's not like I can't finish things - I have self-published two non-fiction books as well as three sweet romance novellas under a pen name. My major problem (among many, many others) is that I'm not really interested in writing 75,000+ words. And, I'm very picky about what I read (I tend to re-read books I already know I like), so the idea of "reading what I want to write" is problematic. I want to write a vaguely literary fiction-ish novel with elements of surrealism and mystery with a psychological bent, but I'm not really willing to read other people's books like that, and I have no desire to stretch such a book out to 70,000 or 80,000 words. It's an uncomfortable place to be - I really do enjoy reading AND writing, but knowing that the potential for agent interest is just about 0 before I start is a high barrier to overcome. And, while I am open to self-publishing certain things, my personal "magnum opus" (at least that's what it is in my mind) is not one of them. Which I think explains why I have only one completed manuscript to date!
Congratulations on yours, though, and on the upcoming podcast! I hope you continue to get more an more interest in your novels!
Sounds like your literary fiction/surrealist novel (or maybe novella??) could be a good fit for an indie press that's more open to experimental and outside-the-box books. Just a thought! As far as length, I keep hearing that people are interested these days in novellas and shorter fiction. I have the opposite problem. I find it really hard to write anything under 100K words!! That might have been one of the issues with my first YA manuscript that died on submission -- too long.
I've published 2 and my #3 got offers from 5 agents. The one I signed with was probably not the right choice because she's been fairly uncommunicative and uninvested. Supposedly going on submission any day now but really not hearing anything from her!? Lesson: go with the most enthusiastic agent, not the one with all the bestselling writers under her belt! Here's hoping something good still comes of it! 🤞
Oh no! Fingers crossed for you, and I'm adding you to my list of potential guests for The Long Road to Publishing b/c it sounds like you have stories to share!
Sounds great! Hopefully I'll have a victory story when you get to my name on your list! 🤞😁
There’s a whisper going around academia — that the ‘lost’ manuscript of Solace wasn’t lost. It’s caged. One scholar tried to teach a seminar around it. His syllabus was blank by week three.
Wow Eva! Twelve MS! I've self published four now, working on a fifth. Was each one better than the one before? You bet! I also strove to make each story more ridiculous than the one before. On that front I may have peaked with #3 😖😫🙄🤪
So exciting!
Gah! I'm so excited for you!
Congratulations! SO excited for this podcast!
I love this! And I'm so excited for you and for your new podcast. It was so fun to record and I think it will
Help so many writers. I appreciate you letting me be a part of it! 💚
Regarding your manuscript question - it's complicated! (Like so many things). In terms of books I am interested in querying an agent about with an eye to traditional publication, I have one completed manuscript. Probably three books in various stages of "in-progress." It's not like I can't finish things - I have self-published two non-fiction books as well as three sweet romance novellas under a pen name. My major problem (among many, many others) is that I'm not really interested in writing 75,000+ words. And, I'm very picky about what I read (I tend to re-read books I already know I like), so the idea of "reading what I want to write" is problematic. I want to write a vaguely literary fiction-ish novel with elements of surrealism and mystery with a psychological bent, but I'm not really willing to read other people's books like that, and I have no desire to stretch such a book out to 70,000 or 80,000 words. It's an uncomfortable place to be - I really do enjoy reading AND writing, but knowing that the potential for agent interest is just about 0 before I start is a high barrier to overcome. And, while I am open to self-publishing certain things, my personal "magnum opus" (at least that's what it is in my mind) is not one of them. Which I think explains why I have only one completed manuscript to date!
Congratulations on yours, though, and on the upcoming podcast! I hope you continue to get more an more interest in your novels!
Sounds like your literary fiction/surrealist novel (or maybe novella??) could be a good fit for an indie press that's more open to experimental and outside-the-box books. Just a thought! As far as length, I keep hearing that people are interested these days in novellas and shorter fiction. I have the opposite problem. I find it really hard to write anything under 100K words!! That might have been one of the issues with my first YA manuscript that died on submission -- too long.
congrats on the new podcast, Eva! it's such a great project!
Gah! I'm so excited for you!