Sure! I like this idea. I think (says the self-professed worrywart) that writers, and people in general, spend too much time worrying about the wrong things.
So. What are you worried about? Comment, and I'll choose a few--and will make you feel better. Or tell you you're totally justified. But probably the former. :)
15 comments:
I'm worried that the agent who loved my work and phoned me to request an R&R will not like the revision I'm working on especially for her. Even though she is so enthusiastic and we really hit it off, I'm scared I'm imagining the vibes I got from her and she won't want to take me on as a client :(
I'm rather worried that no one will be interested in my YA manuscript because it's epistolary.
Also many other things. I worry too much. :/
* That I'll never get a book published and when I die my spirit will walk (or float, or heck, just plain fly!) away wishing I'd spent more of my free time writing (or on other things entirely) and less of it querying.
* That I'll get an acceptance that turns, over the course of years, to frost when it becomes clear that I can't make the changes the fifth editor to take over the project demands.
* That I'll get a book published but in the process will have lost 99.5% of the passion for writing. And with my luck I'll be the only writer in history to log more returns than sales.
* That I have more worries than reassurances at this point in life, and expect the trend to continue, and exponentially so.
Existentially angstily yours (well, you asked for it!),
:)
I'm concerned that my editor/publisher will love my book, sign me, but then push to change things I'm not willing to change. Naturally, I want to be open to anything that makes the book better, but if I put my foot down strongly about a particular detail (or a couple of them), will that get me labeled as a difficult author?
Ooh, that icky line between mature compromise and writerly integrity!
Ugh. I worry about writing well enough for myself. I'm a merciless, spiny, dancing devil on my own shoulder.
Great topic, thank you!
I worry about nudging agents who have full manuscripts and pissing them off BUT I also worry that if I don't nudge they'll never remember to send a rejection and I'll waste a year worrying about something that was dead in the water after two months.
I'm also worried that an agent will ask for a R&R while I'm in the midst of the revisions I'm working on for the book I recently sold. (SUCH a promble to have to worry about, I know, lol)
Oh, and I'm worried that there will be another canned pumpkin shortage this year....
I worry that I'll accept an offer of representation from an agent who isn't a perfect fit, or doesn't have a great sales record, just because I don't want to pass up an opportunity.
Is having a sub par agent worse than having no agent at all?
I'm worried that I will always be on the bottom rung...never moving upwards.
An agent requested my work and responded very positively - but ultimately she said she would have to pass because she didn't think she could sell it to her contacts. I'm worried I wrote something hard to sell!!
I'm worried I should have been paying more attention in English instead of braiding Mark Whats-his-name's hair for pep rallies every week.
And now I am worried because I'm obviously having memory issues.
If you receive multiple offers of representation, what are the best words to use to turn down an agent? Do you explain why you chose A over B?
If you receive an offer of representation, what are the best words to use to inform other agents - who already have your manuscript - about the offer?
Basically, what are the etiquette rules regarding offers of representation?
First of all, thank you for letting us share and for providing a friendly human voice in what is (let's face it) a daunting and even Kafkaesque situation (every time I stand in the post office, waiting to send off another query letter, I think of his story "Before the Law" and quail just a little bit). I appreciate the warmth and joy of your perspective - it is encouraging.
On to the angst. I worry that my project is not sufficiently like anything else I see on the shelves. In several places I have read the suggestion that a query letter compare one's work to what else is currently on the market, but I cannot find too many eschatological satires (think "The Big Lebowski" meets the Book of Revelations - but not quite so stoned). I worry I am writing myself into a niche from which there is no hope of escape. While writing yet another permutation on yesterday's bestseller is bad (to wit - the tired vampire novel), how bad is writing something too offbeat?
Hmmm... I'm worried about a few things.
First, I'm worried I'm not going to find enough agents who I like that might also like my work.
Second, I'm worried that I'll be completely incapable of coherent communication if/when an agent calls to offer representation.
Third, I'm wondering if my book is too original. >_>
Forgot to mention I'm also worried that one day I won't even be able to get blog comments published.
:)
I'm oscillating between two different working titles & I am worried the one I ultimately choose will not sufficiently hook. I've read several agents say they requested a partial because of a "killer title"-- I'm concerned that if I go with the safe one, it won't hook, and if I go with the edgy literary one, it will confuse. Can you ever go Rocky & Bullwinkle style "Title One," Or, "Title Two" ?
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