As I’ve probably mentioned ;), I write science fiction. And today I took a big step forward: I am now represented by Vaughne Hansen of the Virginia Kidd Literary Agency.
The acceptance made me giddy. It turns out she and another agent there both wanted to take me on. And she hasn’t even gotten to the end of the novel.
They’re also offering a contract for full representation; usually they give new authors a provisional contract, but they decided to waive that (since I have something of a track record).
Next step: a book deal. But this puts me in a position I love to be in.
I first submitted the end of November. I had met someone from the agency at World Fantasy Con and he gave me his card. I sent a query letter mentioning two novels I had available, with a four-sentence summary of one and a seven sentence summary of the other, as well as some of my credits.
He read one of my stories and asked for one of the novels in December. He asked for the second in February. Then it’s been waiting. Evidently, they were passing it around the agency.
They notified me yesterday that they wanted to take me on.
I’ve felt that the longer someone has your work, the more likely it is to sell. It’s easy to reject.
This is awesome. Please keep us posted on how things go, and how they work. One of the great things about the Dope is we get to learn things, and although I’m actually friends with a published author, I didn’t experience the time when she got her agent and went down that path. I’m interested in how this works out.
Congrats! I’ve been limping along just submitting work to indie publishers, with fair to middling success and virtually no financial rewards. Hope it works out great for you! Keep us apprised!
Congratulations! Fantastic, and I’m so jealous! How long did it take you, and can you give any tips? I’m almost done with my 3rd novel (sci-fi), and I’ll be submitting to agents soon.
Well, in a sense, it’s taken about 35 years, but I submitted a query to the agent in November. He got back to me about a month later asking to see one of the novels I mentioned, then asked for the other in February. Wednesday was the next time I heard from them.
I’m somewhat of a different case. I’ve been publishing SF since 1982, including one novel. But my agent dropped me around 1990, so I’ve been working primarily with short stories, and novels when I felt like it. So in my case, I already had a track record, which helps a lot.
I actually met the agent at a party a World Fantasy Convention last November and asked if I could send him something. He gave me his card (quite possibly to get rid of me so he could go back enjoying the party), and I sent the email off.
For a new writer, the key would be to find an agent who handles your type of work and write a dynamite cover letter. When I wrote mine, the stories were described more like a blurb than a synopsis. The description of the novel was only four sentences (long ones).
Other than that, you just have to keep trying and be patient. Very patient. I’ve learned that a long response time is usually a good thing.
!