The hunt for an agent has begun! I've spent a couple of hours on the internet tonight looking at the websites of Little Black Dress authors and a few other authors whose books I love reading looking for the names of their agents. Names found, I visited the agents websites and have been printing pages and taking notes. So far I have a list of seven agents, which is a good starting point.
But I have so many questions!
The first question...
Is it OK to submit to more than one agent at a time? Most of them seem to suggest that they won't read your query/proposal/first 10 pages if you've sent it to more than one agent at a time. Some say they'll get back to you in seven days/two weeks/eight weeks. If I was to send my query/proposal/first 10 pages to one agent at a time this could take a while!
The second question...
Do I mention this ms is with a publisher? I sent the first seven chapters into a publisher after a brief email conversation with an editor in September.
The third question...
Do I mention the ideas I have for other mss or that I have already completed a few other mss?
I'm sure I have other questions but that's enough for now!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
rejection
The title says it all really - I got a rejection letter in the post from M&B today. I knew it (well, a letter) was coming because I gave in to temptation yesterday and emailed the office to ask for an update on my ms since I sent it into them in September 2006 and got a reply saying a letter had been written the day before.
As rejections go, I guess it was one of the "good" ones because the editor said I have a lively contemporary voice and then went on to explain what didn't work about my ms for her. She also mentioned my past submissions and told me what I should focus on in my writing, and she also gave me a comps slip to send in with my next submission.
I'm not sure that there's going to be another submission. I feel like I'm back at a crossroads that I know I've been at before. I started submitting to M&B in June 2003. The same editor has read all of my submissions and every time she's sent me a rejection letter she's also sent me a comps slip asking me to send her something else.
My M&B history has gone like this:
June 2003 - sent in The Wrong Brother which got a revisions request on the partial followed by a full request but was eventually rejected in October 2003. I know, it all happened very fast! I still love this story and haven't given up on it just yet.
December 2003 - sent in Sea of Dreams which was rejected in March 2004.
March 2004 - sent in The Italian's City Bride which got a revisions request on the partial but was then rejected in October 2004. I definitely still love this one!
December 2004 - M&B asked to see The Wrong Brother again because I mentioned I'd revised it so I sent the revised full in. It was rejected in April 2005.
July 2005 - sent in Tarts Inc. All my previous submissions had been aimed at the M&B Tender line but an announcement about the line changing was made just before my last rejection and I didn't think my voice fitted the new direction so I decided to try something a little different. Tarts Inc was aimed at the new Modern Extra line. It got a revisions request and a full request but was eventually rejected in September 2006.
September 2006 - sent in Heaven Sent, which has just been rejected.
So why am I at a crossroads? The editor's advice in this rejection and the one before was to keep reading the current books as this gives the best idea of what they want. My problem? Apart from Kelly Hunter's books, I'm really not reading M&Bs much.
I do have one other submission that I could send in but it doesn't have any Modern X elements (those that read Modern X's will know what I mean by that!) and I have recently come to the conclusion that I'm not actually a Modern X writer because I don't feel comfortable writing those scenes!
Aside from that, I simply don't think I have any more M&B material in me. I have ideas but they're not M&B style.
I'm currently polishing up Rules - the seven first chapters of which are at Little Black Dress - with the intention of sending it to an agent or two. I have three previous mss which, having been left sitting for some time, I'm now keen to drag back out and polish up also with the intention of looking for an agent. I've got the baby idea and the allotment idea that have been running around in my head for many, many months, and I've got two partially written mss originally aimed at M&B that haven't been completed or sent anywhere that I could do something with, although they're not suitable for M&B anymore.
Don't think I'm looking for sympathy here because I'm not. I admit to feeling slightly offended by the content of my rejection letter and bemused at the same time (why keep sending me those comps slips when my writing clearly isn't going in the right direction for them?) but the underlying feeling here is that it's time for a change of direction.
As I said earlier, this isn't a new feeling. I was at this place when I was writing Tarts. I'd sent M&B the partial and while I waited to hear back the ms turn a look that I wasn't expecting - it wanted to be written in first person as a mainstream book - so I thought long and hard before deciding what to do when the full request came. In the end I wrote it as a M&B and it eventually got rejected. But it didn't die there because I went back to the beginning and finished the first person, mainstream version, which become known as Breaking the Rules.
I guess I'm putting everything I've got on Rules right now. Ultimately, if it doesn't go anywhere, I'm going to put the writing to one side until I've finished my masters in procurement.
Yes, you heard me right. Even though I still have seven exams to sit this year before I complete my graduate diploma, I've already decided that having finished it, I will go on and do my masters. Then I can be Monica Cole, MCIPS, MSc. Surely all those letters will make me feel good!
Right now, the only thing that could possibly make me feel better is chocolate so I'm off to eat lots of it!
As rejections go, I guess it was one of the "good" ones because the editor said I have a lively contemporary voice and then went on to explain what didn't work about my ms for her. She also mentioned my past submissions and told me what I should focus on in my writing, and she also gave me a comps slip to send in with my next submission.
I'm not sure that there's going to be another submission. I feel like I'm back at a crossroads that I know I've been at before. I started submitting to M&B in June 2003. The same editor has read all of my submissions and every time she's sent me a rejection letter she's also sent me a comps slip asking me to send her something else.
My M&B history has gone like this:
June 2003 - sent in The Wrong Brother which got a revisions request on the partial followed by a full request but was eventually rejected in October 2003. I know, it all happened very fast! I still love this story and haven't given up on it just yet.
December 2003 - sent in Sea of Dreams which was rejected in March 2004.
March 2004 - sent in The Italian's City Bride which got a revisions request on the partial but was then rejected in October 2004. I definitely still love this one!
December 2004 - M&B asked to see The Wrong Brother again because I mentioned I'd revised it so I sent the revised full in. It was rejected in April 2005.
July 2005 - sent in Tarts Inc. All my previous submissions had been aimed at the M&B Tender line but an announcement about the line changing was made just before my last rejection and I didn't think my voice fitted the new direction so I decided to try something a little different. Tarts Inc was aimed at the new Modern Extra line. It got a revisions request and a full request but was eventually rejected in September 2006.
September 2006 - sent in Heaven Sent, which has just been rejected.
So why am I at a crossroads? The editor's advice in this rejection and the one before was to keep reading the current books as this gives the best idea of what they want. My problem? Apart from Kelly Hunter's books, I'm really not reading M&Bs much.
I do have one other submission that I could send in but it doesn't have any Modern X elements (those that read Modern X's will know what I mean by that!) and I have recently come to the conclusion that I'm not actually a Modern X writer because I don't feel comfortable writing those scenes!
Aside from that, I simply don't think I have any more M&B material in me. I have ideas but they're not M&B style.
I'm currently polishing up Rules - the seven first chapters of which are at Little Black Dress - with the intention of sending it to an agent or two. I have three previous mss which, having been left sitting for some time, I'm now keen to drag back out and polish up also with the intention of looking for an agent. I've got the baby idea and the allotment idea that have been running around in my head for many, many months, and I've got two partially written mss originally aimed at M&B that haven't been completed or sent anywhere that I could do something with, although they're not suitable for M&B anymore.
Don't think I'm looking for sympathy here because I'm not. I admit to feeling slightly offended by the content of my rejection letter and bemused at the same time (why keep sending me those comps slips when my writing clearly isn't going in the right direction for them?) but the underlying feeling here is that it's time for a change of direction.
As I said earlier, this isn't a new feeling. I was at this place when I was writing Tarts. I'd sent M&B the partial and while I waited to hear back the ms turn a look that I wasn't expecting - it wanted to be written in first person as a mainstream book - so I thought long and hard before deciding what to do when the full request came. In the end I wrote it as a M&B and it eventually got rejected. But it didn't die there because I went back to the beginning and finished the first person, mainstream version, which become known as Breaking the Rules.
I guess I'm putting everything I've got on Rules right now. Ultimately, if it doesn't go anywhere, I'm going to put the writing to one side until I've finished my masters in procurement.
Yes, you heard me right. Even though I still have seven exams to sit this year before I complete my graduate diploma, I've already decided that having finished it, I will go on and do my masters. Then I can be Monica Cole, MCIPS, MSc. Surely all those letters will make me feel good!
Right now, the only thing that could possibly make me feel better is chocolate so I'm off to eat lots of it!
Monday, February 12, 2007
700 words!
I wrote 700 new words tonight! I know it's not a lot but it's a start and I'm happy with every single one of them because they form the foundation for my new chapter eight, which I need to write because I deleted the original chapter eight when I edited.
With a little luck I'll have this chapter finished by the end of the week. Then I'm going to print a copy of the entire ms and do another polish before I start hunting for an agent.
I forgot to mention something really cool earlier - Waterstones have a buy one get one free on Little Black Dress books this week!
With a little luck I'll have this chapter finished by the end of the week. Then I'm going to print a copy of the entire ms and do another polish before I start hunting for an agent.
I forgot to mention something really cool earlier - Waterstones have a buy one get one free on Little Black Dress books this week!
catching up
I'm bored with being sick. I think I might be well again. I didn't have any painkillers today, which is the first time for about two weeks. Or did I? I might have taken some first thing but none since. Fingers crossed I'm well again.
I did manage to get all the Spanish CDs last week. Have listened to the first two but probably didn't take much in because on both occassions I found myself drifting off into a conversation my current characters are having! Still, I'm not seriously learning Spanish right now. I just wanted to get those CDs since learning Spanish is on my list of things to do.
I spent most of the last week sleeping. When I wasn't sleeping I was either working or playing computer games! I got through all five rounds of the first CSI disk. Then at the weekend dh and I played a really cool game called The Ship. Unlike CSI, which is just me and the computer, The Ship is an online game so you're playing against other people.
The dh had talked about The Ship before but didn't think I was really into computer games. But after I got the CSI games he said the next time The Ship had a free weekend we could play and if I liked it, I could buy it. Of course, he wasn't expecting the free weekend to be the following weekend!
Because it was free to play, we played for hours and hour on Saturday and Sunday. I was rubbish at it but I loved it so I bought the game last night.
However, I'm not playing it tonight because I'm writing. Jane and Adam are demanding that I write a new chapter to replace the one I deleted and I'm happy to do so because they have worked out exactly what they want to say to each other.
I also started reading a LBD book today called She'll Take It. I can't remember the author's name right now, which is terrible of me but I'll report back on that later. All I'll say for now is that I'm loving it!
And I'm also thrilled to report that M&B author Kelly Hunter has been on my blog! Kelly, I loved Wife for a Week! It was the best M&B I've read in a long time. I still pick it up every now and then to have a flick through a page or two, and before I sent my last partial to Richmond in September I reread the entire book to remind myself of what I was aspiring too! So, of course I was going to love Priceless! I'm glad you didn't put it in the too risky bin because it was great. I love your voice. Can't wait for your next book.
Phew! I think I've covered everything.
I did manage to get all the Spanish CDs last week. Have listened to the first two but probably didn't take much in because on both occassions I found myself drifting off into a conversation my current characters are having! Still, I'm not seriously learning Spanish right now. I just wanted to get those CDs since learning Spanish is on my list of things to do.
I spent most of the last week sleeping. When I wasn't sleeping I was either working or playing computer games! I got through all five rounds of the first CSI disk. Then at the weekend dh and I played a really cool game called The Ship. Unlike CSI, which is just me and the computer, The Ship is an online game so you're playing against other people.
The dh had talked about The Ship before but didn't think I was really into computer games. But after I got the CSI games he said the next time The Ship had a free weekend we could play and if I liked it, I could buy it. Of course, he wasn't expecting the free weekend to be the following weekend!
Because it was free to play, we played for hours and hour on Saturday and Sunday. I was rubbish at it but I loved it so I bought the game last night.
However, I'm not playing it tonight because I'm writing. Jane and Adam are demanding that I write a new chapter to replace the one I deleted and I'm happy to do so because they have worked out exactly what they want to say to each other.
I also started reading a LBD book today called She'll Take It. I can't remember the author's name right now, which is terrible of me but I'll report back on that later. All I'll say for now is that I'm loving it!
And I'm also thrilled to report that M&B author Kelly Hunter has been on my blog! Kelly, I loved Wife for a Week! It was the best M&B I've read in a long time. I still pick it up every now and then to have a flick through a page or two, and before I sent my last partial to Richmond in September I reread the entire book to remind myself of what I was aspiring too! So, of course I was going to love Priceless! I'm glad you didn't put it in the too risky bin because it was great. I love your voice. Can't wait for your next book.
Phew! I think I've covered everything.
Monday, February 05, 2007
i'm learning spanish
I should be studying but instead I'm playing CSI and learning how to speak Spanish! At least, I would be if The Sun had delivered today's free CD to the WH Smith on Fleet St.
I admit to being a Sun reader - but only on Saturday's when I buy it for the TV Mag. Having been a journalist on a daily paper in a previous life (ie New Zealand) I used to buy The Sun when I first moved to the UK because I couldn't believe a newspaper would publish such stories!!!!
Then I got over the humour and only started buying it on Saturdays - for the TV Mag. We like Spain. I've been there twice. The dh has been there numerous times. Plus they speak Spanish in Cuba, which we visited last year. We intend to go back to Spain, many times. So after Cuba I decided I was going to learn to speak Spanish...after completing my graduate diploma at the end of this year.
Then in The Sun on Saturday they give away a Spanish language CD along with the promise of more each day for the coming week. All you have to do is take your voucher into WH Smith each day to exchange it.
I figure, what the heck. Let's learn a little Spanish now. Get a head start. I bought The Sun on my way to work today, filled in the voucher and headed to WH Smith on Fleet St at lunchtime only to find no CDs had been delivered. WH Smith said to complain to The Sun. Which I did.
The response? Collect all the vouchers this week and send them to the address listed to get the CDs. The cost? £4.50. But I don't want to pay £4.50, I replied. Not when I should be able to get my CDs for free from WH Smith. The response? NOTHING.
I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow they'll deliver Monday and Tuesday's CDs. On the up side, I did get to listen to part of Saturday's CD as I made my way home from work tonight.
By May I should be able to speak some Spanish. Not sure how that will help with my exams though! I'll worry about that another day. Right now I'm off to help Sara Siddle from CSI with a tough arson case that kept me up until midnight last night!
I admit to being a Sun reader - but only on Saturday's when I buy it for the TV Mag. Having been a journalist on a daily paper in a previous life (ie New Zealand) I used to buy The Sun when I first moved to the UK because I couldn't believe a newspaper would publish such stories!!!!
Then I got over the humour and only started buying it on Saturdays - for the TV Mag. We like Spain. I've been there twice. The dh has been there numerous times. Plus they speak Spanish in Cuba, which we visited last year. We intend to go back to Spain, many times. So after Cuba I decided I was going to learn to speak Spanish...after completing my graduate diploma at the end of this year.
Then in The Sun on Saturday they give away a Spanish language CD along with the promise of more each day for the coming week. All you have to do is take your voucher into WH Smith each day to exchange it.
I figure, what the heck. Let's learn a little Spanish now. Get a head start. I bought The Sun on my way to work today, filled in the voucher and headed to WH Smith on Fleet St at lunchtime only to find no CDs had been delivered. WH Smith said to complain to The Sun. Which I did.
The response? Collect all the vouchers this week and send them to the address listed to get the CDs. The cost? £4.50. But I don't want to pay £4.50, I replied. Not when I should be able to get my CDs for free from WH Smith. The response? NOTHING.
I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow they'll deliver Monday and Tuesday's CDs. On the up side, I did get to listen to part of Saturday's CD as I made my way home from work tonight.
By May I should be able to speak some Spanish. Not sure how that will help with my exams though! I'll worry about that another day. Right now I'm off to help Sara Siddle from CSI with a tough arson case that kept me up until midnight last night!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
it's my birthday!
It's my birthday so I don't have to study today! Yay! I did actually go to the library for a couple of hours yesterday morning for an intensive session so I don't feel bad at all about slacking off today. We've been to Tesco and got a finest Indian meal for two for dinner tonight - my choice since it's my birthday! And the dh got me some computer games which he has just installed on my laptop so I'm off to play CSI!!!
Saturday, February 03, 2007
jessica hart's new website
Jessica Hart has a new website - http://www.jessicahart.co.uk/ - go check it out!
Friday, February 02, 2007
i passed!
Exam results posted online today. Passed both. Hopefully now I'll be able to settle into study for May exams, which I need to enroll for on Monday. Have spent most of the day in bed so far. Planning to watch a couple of Harry Potter movies this afternoon. Will eat more ice cream for dinner and then go to bed.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
sick
The bug that has been chasing me for the last couple of weeks finally caught up with me this week. I am now officially ill and probably won't make it to work tomorrow. In the last three days I've probably been unbearable at work and have been through several packets of painkillers, a whole load of strepsils, drunk gallons of Night Nurse, eaten ice cream for dinner and filled the freezer with ice lollies. I've also done very little study but I'm too tired to be bothered about it right now. No exam results yet. Maybe tomorrow. Tonight I'm going to do a little bit of work to make up for the guilty feeling I'll have when I don't go in tomorrow, I'll eat some more ice cream, drink more Night Nurse, have another ice lollie, watch an episode of CSI and fall asleep on the sofa. And spare a thought for my poor dh who is also ill with a slightly different bug than the one I've got - or at least it's affecting him differently to how it's affecting me - because he's got to put up with me being at home tomorrow! Of course, I may wake up tomorrow feeling 100% fit and go into work. Here's hoping!
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