gratefulTwo years ago today, The Agent was shopping the Toby Daye books, trying to find just the right house for my debut series. I mean, really, we knew what Just The Right House was: DAW Books. It was the very first publisher we'd been in contact with, after being referred there by one of their existing authors. They had exactly the right sort of atmosphere, and they'd published a lot of books I've really loved. I wanted to work with these people. All I could do was hope that they wanted to work with me.
Two years ago today, my phone rang. Caller ID said that it was The Agent—that's actually what her number is saved as in my phone book, because I am sometimes a little bit bizarre about such things—so I excused myself to take the call.
The Agent said three words to me. "We got DAW."
This was followed by a lot of other information about contracts and money and publishing schedules and blah blah blah fishcakes, because I had really checked out completely. Out of the conversation, out of body, out to lunch, buh-bye. I made all the appropriate noises of assent, and managed to sound like I wasn't crying, because years of fake-it-til-you-make-it has made me really, really good at that sort of thing. (Severe back injury plus chronic pain issues plus "suck it up" equals I can sound perky and happy about my situation while being consumed from the toes up by a giant snake. It's awesome. Also sort of bad, because my automatic response to trauma is frequently "gosh, what fun.")
Eventually, the call ended. I went outside. I called Vixy. I made horrible shrieky bat-noises, causing dogs all around San Francisco to bark themselves hoarse, run in circles, and slam into trees. Pigeons lost the ability to fly and splattered down on the pavement like really disturbing rain. Vixy, upon determining that I was shrieky with joy, not distress, made suitable noises until I calmed down enough to tell her what was going on. Then she started shrieking, too. It was a shrieky day.
Two years ago today, I sold the first three Toby books. Today, I have three framed cover illustrations on my living room walls, and five framed covers hanging scattered through the rest of my house. I have books on the shelf with my name on them, and published reviews in places like Locus and the Onion A.V. Club. I have a contract for two more Toby books after those first three, and my fingers crossed for more after that.
Two years ago today.
Wow.
May 14 2010, 02:38:07 UTC 7 years ago
May 14 2010, 02:50:55 UTC 7 years ago
My husband's parents had moved to Florida after my wedding back in 2005. My mother-in-law, Libby, became friends with a non-fiction author, I think her name was Mary. Mary was involved with a book club, and apparently Stephen King would occasionally hang out there when he was in Florida. Apparently. Libby asked me to email her the first three chapters of my book, and she would email them to Mary, and Mary would show them to the book club, and maybe I would make a connection.
A few weeks later, I got a frantic, shrieky call from Libby: "Joanna! Mary showed your book to Stephen King, and he loved it! He wants to show it to his editor!"
Cue me screaming and going nuts and calling everyone I know, who all screamed and went nuts.
A few more weeks went by, and I heard nothing else. So I emailed Mary and politely inquired. Mary's reply? "Sorry, nobody ever showed your manuscript to Stephen. But I did show it to my friend John. John loves it and wants to talk to you."
So... John and I chatted over email for a while, but he couldn't really make connections for me, although he did give me a lot of good writer advice and he really was "blown away by the work."
I never did talk to Libby about why she lied, by the way. Libby has a habit of exaggerating things. A lot. Like, to the point where reality warps and her mind substitutes her own reality for any actualities. I should have checked my sources.
Moral of the story: Check your sources before going crazy and telling everyone you know that Stephen King loves you.
May 14 2010, 04:34:36 UTC 7 years ago
May 14 2010, 04:37:15 UTC 7 years ago
(I've finally started applying to proper literary agents, though!)