July 12th, 2012 → 6:55 am @ // No Comments

    “Oft expectation fails, and most oft there
    Where most it promises.” – All’s Well That Ends Well

After more than a year of trying, it appears that my dream of finding a killer agent to sell my novel is nearly dead.  The industry is changing.  Agents are being squeezed out.  But more than that, I am told that my Shakespeare-Virginia Woolf audience is too selective a niche.  Well, I knew it never had Hunger Games mass appeal or anything, but still.   

*sigh*   

This is life, right?  You do what gives you pleasure.  You work your hardest.  You don’t give up.  And on a day to day level?  …you admire your snoozing baby’s curled-up toes while savoring exquisitely hot coffee in the morning…


4 Comments → “Dreams”


  1. Chris Clark

    11 years ago

    Take heart! Lots of successful writers have had to write several novels before getting published. A few less well known examples for you: Hilari Bell’s first sale was the fifth novel she wrote, and at the time, she was working on her thirteenth novel (http://www.sfwa.org/members/bell/a.bio.html); Jim Butcher had written seven novels before making his first sale (which was the fifth novel he had written) and that (per Jim; http://www.jim-butcher.com/jim) still took a lot of getting out to literary conventions to meet the agents face-to-face; and even the tremendously successful Bernard Cornwell was working on his third novel when he sold the first one (and this was after years as a successful writer and producer of TV shows for the BBC).

    Persistence pays off. If it gets too disheartening to keep sending it out, then you can always shelve the current work for a bit and move on to the next novel that’s trying to force its way out of your head through your fingers.

    Reply

    • Lea

      11 years ago

      Thanks for being so supportive. That’s quite a lot of good examples you’ve got there! How do you know so much? Do you have a stack of manuscripts hidden away in a drawer somewhere too??

      Reply

      • Chris Clark

        11 years ago

        Just a few authors that I’ve followed over the years. No novel length manuscripts in a drawer for me. I’ve a number of short stories that I’ve written, but I’m bad about finishing and had to set them aside to make time for grad school. (Roughly, a choose three of: day job, family, grad school, and fiction writing.) I expect to finish school this fall so I hope to get back to fiction writing next year.

        Reply

        • Lea

          11 years ago

          Life is so busy, isn’t it? I have this recurring daydream where I plan what I’ll do in retirement – read, write, travel, pick up woodworking?? It’s silly because I’ve got so many years yet until retirement, but still, can’t help thinking about it… Congrats on finishing grad school in the fall!

          Reply

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