This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Welcome to another Writers' Tuesday and our regular column by Emily Tootsweet about life on the hunt for publication. I do hope you enjoy, and if you have any questions or thoughts then please do leave a comment!
Confessions of a Wannabe Chick Lit Author by Emily Tootsweet
Getting Ready to Sub…
As some of you may have seen on my blog, I did manage to tear myself away from the internet and Facebook long enough to go out to Waterstones to buy The Writersโ and Artistsโ Yearbook 2010. This book is a must for anyone in the writing industry. It has all the information you need when it comes to subbing to agents or publishers. As soon as I got home I flicked to the literary agents section and itโs quite daunting seeing all the names and addresses of people who will decide the fate of my novel.
Before I go head first into subbing, I have to find the agents who deal with Chick lit. And thereโs quite a few who donโt. Underneath their name and address, they have a list of requirements and what genres they deal with. I canโt just sub to any old agent and hope for the best. That would make no sense at all. So Iโm currently going through the process of flicking through the section making little ticks at the agents who Iโll write to.
But itโs scary. Iโm not too ashamed to confess here that Iโm terrified to sub again. I describe subbing my novel as if it were sending your child off to school for the first time. Youโre scared it wonโt fit in, youโre scared no one will like it, youโre scared it wonโt be acceptedโฆ.
I canโt let those fears manifest or Iโll never sub anything again.
Iโve been told by various other writers that finding an agent can take a while. My four previous submissions were only a drop in the ocean compared to some writers. Iโve heard some subbed between 40 and 100 times before they got snapped up by their agents. Itโs a tough world and you have to develop a thick skin.
Iโm thickening my skin as we speak.
In other news, Iโm getting to know my second novel again slowly. I havenโt added any words recently as life has been getting in the way. Again. But I can feel the need to write building inside and as soon as life has calmed down Iโll be typing away like a mad woman. I want to get my second novel finished as soon as possible so I can edit it and sub that one, should Novel 1 get me nowhere.
Iโve got one or two issues with my second novel, and I might use this column to gauge opinions on what readers want to read.
Iโm trying to determine whether the novel *is* actually Chick lit or indeed womenโs fiction and what makes it either or. But thatโs another a subject for another column, probably next weekโs.
So for now, Iโll continue making my list of possible agents and crossing my fingers that one will accept me and my novel.
Yours,
Emily Tootsweet :o)
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