Unlawful Orders - To Market, To Market

 

A year ago this month, my then agent divorced me. As if the opening surge of Covid sweeping the nation wasn't enough, she decided that was a good time to let me know that in spite of her earlier enthusiasm about my work, she was just not that interested in what I was writing anymore.

First, you need to know that I had changed agents in 2018. At the time it seemed the right thing to do. The relationship with my original agent had gone stale.   Like a marriage suffering from the “seven year itch” (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/meet-catch-and-keep/202002/is-the-7-year-itch-myth-or-reality) we no longer communicated.  The problem was as much my fault as hers, I’m not a natural communicator. But I still felt ignored.

I attended a conference in March 2018 and met an agent who seemed wildly enthusiastic about my work. I was in the mood for enthusiasm, so I said goodbye to my old agent and signed with a new one.

Turns out, all that enthusiasm was only on the surface. By the time I began work on Unlawful Orders, she had already asked for changes on, and then ultimately shot down three other stories I sent her. Unlawful Orders was a child of my heart and almost wrote itself. By the time I felt ready to tell her about the manuscript,  Covid struck. She and her family chose to move from New Jersey last March. She did give me a chance to talk, using that time to admit she had not yet bothered to look at an earlier manuscript I had sent her at the end of 2019.

Then she divorced me.

Reading the email ending our relationship felt like going through a divorce. Possibly what my prior agent felt when I sent her my goodbye email. 

Last month my post described how I got the idea for my next release, Unlawful Orders (https://romancingthegenres.blogspot.com/2021/02/unlawful-orders-black-history-month.html). I was still developing the manuscript in March 2020.  It was still a WIP, but I already knew the manuscript was one of the best things I had ever written. I wanted to get the message it contained out in young readers' hands. I was preparing to remain agentless and self-publish just to it available.

My former agent would at least have read the story, even if she ended up saying no. That thought kept growing in my head.  I ended up swallowing my pride and sending her an email with a quick pitch over the summer.  

As soon as she got the email, my former agent asked to see what I had so far. The next thing I knew, we were together again. The thrill of fixing our relationship and working with her was H-U-G-E!

My agent instructed me on putting together a non-fiction submission package. It was a little different from the fiction submissions I had done until then. Non-fiction does not require a completed manuscript. Instead, I put together: 

• a cover letter about myself and why I was the right person to tell this story
• the prologue and first four chapters (sometimes a prologue fits, and one felt right in telling this story)
• a table of contents with details on what each chapter would cover

She immediately sent that package out. Within days I had a slew of rejections … and offers from two publishers. Next came negotiations and the decision of which offer to accept. It’s a heady feeling to know that publishing professionals feel the same way about my work as I did. My agent and I evaluated the proposals. Over the next month she negotiated with both publishers. In the end the choice was mine. I selected my dream publisher and Unlawful Orders found a home with Scholastic. 

With the terms agreed to, I was surprised to discover that writing the actual publishing contract took over a month. The path of publishing does not run fast. In the meantime I was doing some final editing on the manuscript and growing eager to send them the whole thing. The contract was not finished and signed until December, 2020. As soon as the signing was accomplished, I sent my completed manuscript to my new Scholastic editor. 

The real work of working with the editor to sharpen up the manuscript and getting it ready for publication begins now for a release in 2022. I have received a set of revision instructions from the editor, so I'm about to put nose to the grindstone and begin making the updates that will improve the story. And, in spite of a Covid inspired depression period, I have just finished writing another fiction novel that I will happily be sending to my agent. I now understand why sometimes people remarry a partner they divorced. Sometimes a relationship deserves  a second chance.