I was sitting at my desk at work the other day, staring into space as per usual, when an agent whom I'd sent my work to over 6 months ago called me up out of the blue, & said she'd definately be interested in representing me! All things considered, that's just about the best news I've ever received!! I know this doesn't mean my novel wil be published, not by a long way, but boy does it feel good.

Having sent my std synopsis + 3 chapters off to way too many agents, only for them all to come back in pristine condition, it was impossible not to get dejected - and I'm convinced that for a writer with no history, it's all but impossible to now break thro'. I found this agent 'by accident': she was running a short story competition which I emailed her about with a few Q's, and during those 2-3 exchanges the subject of my novel came up & I emailed her my synopsis. And 6 months later...I'm convinced that being found conventionally is 99% luck & 1% talent.

Congratulations, that's great news!

Emma

Very well done indeed - that's marvellous!

)

A
xxx

Well done Earl. Best of luck with it.

JB

Fantastic news!

Myrtle

Congrats! And you've given me hope about being kept waiting by the two who have my mss!

Cath

Add my congratulations, too, Earl.

Julie

Nice one Earl. Yes, I think luck has something to do with it. Especially if you're as dumb as me, and don't know how to go about targetting the right people in the right way at the right time. When I was explaining to my publisher how my agent (sorry, I love saying that) picked me up, he sighed and looked at me with pity in his his eyes and said: "Ah, the shotgun approach". Like buying a lottery ticket really. For twenty years. But sometimes your number comes up.
Good luck with the next bit.

Jim

Fantastic news, Earl.

Andrea

Thanks everyone for your kind words - I know the journey ahead to publication remains a long one, so i'll not trip the light fantastic just yet.

And Jim - as for the 'shotgun approach', I'm convinced that the signal-to-noise ratio is just too low: without any 'previous', it's just too difficult.

As I mentioned I was really extremely lucky in how I found/stumbled across this agent. I also had another lucky break/experience where an ex-colleague put me in touch with a friend of his who is an agent, and whilst ultimately she decided it wasn't something she wanted to run with, she gave me tonnes of encouragement/feedback - I doubt if she'd even had read more than one paragraph had I sent off my synopsis + 3chapters in the usual manner.

I hate to say it but in a market where Jordan/Katy Price can take up acres of shelf space, the cream just isn't naturally rising to the top. I feel that we have to take other approaches - say trying to get a short story or an article published somewhere? Just something to get the wheels turning. I personally still have a long way to go - who knows whether or not I'll make it. Either way, I wish all us WW scribes the best in our efforts.

Fantastic news, Earl. Well done!

Dee

That's such good news, Earl - well done to you and good luck for the next step!

Isn't it funny that the call came 'put of the blue' - presumably long after you stopped staring at the phone willing it to ring - I feel that if only I could stop caring/noticing, then Fate might arrange a similar surprise for me - watched pots and all that!

Fingers crossed for you

Many congratulations, Earl and all the best for the next step.

Harry

This is a big deal. Congratulations!

Congratulations, and good luck Earl!