Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Stranger than Fiction--HOPE!


Like most writers, when I was searching for an agent, I devoured every agency's website, I googled until my fingers yelled at me and endlessly scoured the writing boards and forums for info on agents until my head throbbed and my eyes wanted to go on strike. Why? Because that's what we have to do in order to land an agent.

I still have subscriptions from the forums, which alert me via email when someone posts on certain agency's threads---the ones that I was waiting for feedback from. Recently, I received an alert from one of those threads, because a new post had come through. The poster, a writer of course, was down because she'd received a call from this agency a couple months back. The agent she spoke with was very excited about her writing and told her she'd hear back from her right after Bologna, which sadly she never did, even after sending a few gentle email nudges she's gotten no response. Even though this post has nothing to do with me, my heart sank when I read it, because I've certainly been in her shoes (175 times to be exact). When you want something so badly, the waiting turns from nagging to all consuming. Even with family, friends, jobs, it's hard to think about little else.

Well...I have hope.

Some of you know, Craig Virden, Nancy Gallt's husband was my original agent. He was a wonderful man and a powerhouse in the publishing industry and it was a great loss to everyone when he passed away last year. Well, Craig was the agent I desperately wanted. You know what I mean...THE agent--the one. He'd had my requested full for what seemed like forever and a day (or about 6 months), I'd sent a couple email nudges hoping for an update, but with no response. Then finally a letter from the Nancy Gallt Agency arrived at my home. I nervously opened it, my heart beating like a rabbit's. What did a find? A rejection from Craig. Mind you, the nicest, most personal, genuine rejection anyone could ever get, but a rejection all the same. So there it was. What did I do? I immediately starting writing. He told me to send him whatever I had "moldering" in my desk that he might like. So I picked up the pace on a manuscript I'd been working on, finishing it about a month after his rejection--right after the 2009 Bologna, where he happened to be.

That's when I got the call. It was Tuesday. Just after returning from Bologna, Craig called me out of the blue. He'd changed his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about NIGHTSHADE CITY and wanted to represent me. He said he didn't care about the market and that my book needed to be published. The rest you know.

So, please, to this writer and to everyone else who's struggling to find an agent, keep having hope, even if you're down to your last agent or have subbed your third manuscript with no bites--keep having hope. Strange and wonderful things happen every day. Trust in whatever it is that forces you to be a writer. There is a reason why you're here.

xoxo -- Hilary


Originally posted on www.hilarywagner.blogspot.com

15 comments:

  1. I love this story! I wish every writer who is ready to give up after a few rejections would read this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome. I really needed to read this today! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great post Hilary. I really needed that right now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, this is a good story, puts everything in perspective. Thanks for sharing.

    Julie

    ReplyDelete
  5. A wonderful and inspiring story--thanks Hilary!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post. I can use the inspiration now. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love a bit of hope, with my lunch. Very timely. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hope with lunch is also delicious, Elaine!

    If any of you are ever feeling like giving up--don't! Because I'll have to hunt you down and I'm pretty friendly with some oversized rodents! Tim Power knows a few wild animals too!! ;)

    xoxo -- Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very nice post, Hilary. I never had any interaction with Craig but from all accounts he was a wonderful and much-loved man.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love hearing your story, Hilary. Thanks for your encouraging optimism!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Stranger Than Fiction(2006)

    Something about Stranger Than Fiction...
    check it out..

    http://grepler.com/articles/index/596588/rec.arts.movies.current-films

    interesting :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very inspiring since I'm subbing right now, thanks.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for adding to the mayhem!