Thursday 12 January 2012

KINDLE & MY AGENT WISH LIST


I got my Kindle. Woo, the excitement! It's so pretty and light. The first book onto it was Ron Rash's Burning Bright, which I am embarrassed to admit I am only getting around to now. I also got some free Oscar Wilde so I am now sorted for the weekend at least :) Any suggestions for great poetry and or short fiction e-books appreciated. (Er, reasonably priced!) I can, of course, recommend YOU which is available for Kindle from Amazon.com :)

My new novel has been rejected by another agent. Weep, gnash, snarl. That's the second rejection; the last one came just before Christmas. Nice. They say lovely things but again I am getting 'It is a quiet book', which I now take to mean 'It is uncommercial when compared to chick-lit/celebrity memoirs'. This latest rejection said: 'It is beautifully done but is a matter of me not having enough time and being very cautious about taking anything on, rather than a reflection on the quality of the work.'

The book is with a London agency now (via a literary scout) so the situation is not desperate (yet) - I am waiting to hear from them. In the meantime here is my very undemanding and simple Agent Wishlist:

* Based in London or Dublin
* Preferably female (I'm flexible on that)
* An excellent business person (as opposed to being a lovely person...she can be lovely but I want a business person first and foremost)

I'm fed up that this is proving to be so extraordinarily time-consuming and hard. Thoughts?

36 comments:

TOM VOWLER said...

Hi Nuala
A Happy New Year to you and wishing you much success in 2012.
It's a tough game we play, yes: writing the book we're compelled to, yet still with half an eye on commercial vagaries.
As for recommendations: if you've not got round to last year's Edge Hill winner, it's a stunner. I reviewed it here: http://oldenoughnovel.blogspot.com/2012/01/review-touch.html

Group 8 said...

Cheers, Tom. I will check that out.

WiseMóna said...

All the classics are for free on the Kindle Nuala. Our kids are soaking them up. I am sure your next nevel will be snatched right up. I wonder why you do not consider self-publishing and releasing an eBook for our Kindles?

Rachel Fox said...

Yes, we almost need an agent to do the agent-finding... sure that does exist (for movie stars maybe...).
x

Group 8 said...

Great, Mona - good to know.

Self publsihing would not be a savvy career move at this point. I'm trying to be smarter about my career. Hence the need for a business like agent as opposed to the ones who ignore your emails etc.

Group 8 said...

Rachel - yes, I bet Jennifer Aniston does not have agent issues!

Unknown said...

this is weird, I'm going to look up what the hell a query letter is and how to write one later and have some optimistic idea that it'll get me an agent...

As for rejections about novels, actually, I'll post up a rejection letter in full that I got last year because it's cool.

And finally...a small book of 4 stories that I wrote as a birthday present for my cousin is available on Kindle. Her parents bought her a Kindle for her birthday so I (being the cheapskate I am) thought it'd be cool to write some things especially for her and put it online and then give her the URL in a card....
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006P1KE8G/ref=r_soa_w_d

Group 8 said...

Not cheapskate - very clever and very kind.
I look forward to the book and the letter!

Unknown said...

here you are :) http://bit.ly/AkHB94

Aoife.Troxel said...

I have 105 books on my kindle and I've only spent about ten dollars! They have a lot of stuff for free...a lot of classics, like Mona said. I have found a few good YA titles that were free (for the first in the series) and read one of Amanda Hocking's that way.

Group 8 said...

Thanks for posting the link to the rejection letter on your blog, Jessica. It's interesting to see the kinds of things they say and the comments are worth mulling over.
Send it out again - make it a project for 2012!

Group 8 said...

Aoife - cheers for that. I plan to get some freebies but I also plan to support contemporary writers and small publishers by buying new books. It's a whole world and I've a lot to learn. Fun!

Unknown said...

Nuala, you signed my paperback copy of 'YOU', thanks; but what would I have done if it was on Kindle?

Group 8 said...

You would have to buy both :)

Kar said...

ta'wit'ta'woooo on the new Kindle... it'll be great for all the travelling you'll be doing this year! Alas I can't recommend anything for it as well you know why. But BUT I might change my mind one day, we'll see ;-)

As for the rejection, its their loss! and you've been here before and you got published. It's p*xy that it happens. But there's something much better out there for this book! up Up UP! x

Anonymous said...

I'm starting to tentatively query. It sure is tough out there! I know your Ms Right is just around the corner, Nuala. :)

Group 8 said...

Ah thanks, Kar.
I'm not so worried about it being published as it being published WELL, you know? And in the process, finding an agent who will take care of stuff for me.
Finding a publisher is easier than finding an agent, in my exsperience :(

Group 8 said...

I hope so, Eimear. I am doing my best to be ultra discerning this time.

Tania Hershman said...

Congrats on your Kindle! Am still a little wary yet tempted myself. Torn. Torn. I think an agent wishlist is a really good idea, get it out there into the ether, state what you want and it will come to you. It's a tough and bloody business! Good luck. xx

Unknown said...

Sorry to hear about the rejection Nuala. Fingers crossed that you'll get taken on very, very soon. I too have just bought a Kindle but haven't got it in my hands yet; it's en route to Malaysia this weekend. Very excited!

Group 8 said...

Thanks Tania and Johanna. The Kindle is amazing fun - I can't believe how quickly the books download. It's like, zap! new book! Too easy :)

Words A Day said...

She's out there, hope you find her.

It shouldnt be so tough to publish good literature. quiet my arse. They all seem to want the big hook, book club book - Ethnic Lesbian Mud wrestling team come back from the dead to rescue cat from tree... part one, two and three... (not that I know, never having had an agent! but I do love to rant)

Fingers crossed for you.

shaunag said...

Yay for Kindle. Have one too but not using it as much as I should be...still torn between paper and 'it'!!

It is defo their loss, but your writing is so worth waiting for the right publisher via the right agent. I think you are wise not to underestimate what your writing is worth. It will happen at the right time with the right people. Meanwhile *boo* to those who declined. Shauna

@parridhlantern said...

Hi Nuala, are you aware of
http://www.gutenberg.org/ and
http://www.manybooks.net/

Both offer free E- books in Kindle format, also Kindle do a Daily Deal for 99p, not always great, but if you get used to checking it(I've the page bookmarked on my phone) you find some great reads. Recently I acquired Simon Armitage's Sir Gawain & the green knight, Aravind Adiga's Last man in the tower, Sjon's From the mouth of the whale & David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, all through the Daily Deal

Tanya said...

Hi Nuala,

Steve's novel "On Hikers' Hill" was published as an ebook last year. You can download it here for just £5! I think you'd enjoy it.

http://www.abook2read.com/on-hikers-hill.html

As for the agent, I'm about to embark on the search for one having just completed my first novel. It sounds like a grim affair! I hope you find someone suitable.

Tanya

Claire Hennessy said...

The agent thing is tough. One thing I've noticed over the past few years is a real shift from 'don't EVER submit to more than one agent at a time' as the standard to 'tell us if you're submitting elsewhere'/'we prefer exclusive submissions'/'submit to no more than five at a time'. Depends on what you're comfortable with, but it might be less aaarg-inducing if the manuscript is out with a few different people each time? Good luck with it, anyway. :)

Rachel Fenton said...

I got a rejection just before Christmas too - and it is so time consuming which is why I hardly submit. My fave rejection (in a made me laugh sense) was from an NZ pbsh and basically said there weren't enough intellectual readers in NZ who'd appreciate my writing to make it worth their while publishing me! At least the rejections are lovely ones, ay?

You'll get your agent when your agent "gets you" - sooner rather than later I bet.

P. M. Doolan said...

I wonder how does Kindle impact on author's royalties. Who controls how often a work is downloaded from amazon? What % do the pay the author, especailly when the work os part of the 99p. a week daily special? A reasonably well selling author told me recently that his royalties from kindle have ampounted to zero.

Group 8 said...

Rae - that is insulting to NZers! But kind of nice for you. Hope you're right re. agent, btw :)

Group 8 said...

P.M. - a percentage is worked into your contract for e-publishing rights. Not sure how it works retrospectively though if it wasn't in the contract for an older book. I guess one owns them then. Or something ;)
See - I need an agent!!

Group 8 said...

Niamh
Shauna
Parrish
Claire
I was away when your comments came through. Thanks for all the info and the good wishes.

Parrish - I will defo check out those sites. Cheers!

chillcat said...

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger!

Sorry about the rejection and it seems that good agents are really worth waiting for so I think a wish list, some patience and your sleeves rolled up is what's required no? Hard damned work and yes publishers seem easier to attract than agents. But the time and business savvy involved in surviving on your own - it's monstrous!

Good luck and it looks like you are doing fabulously so far.

Group 8 said...

Thanks Cat. I had an agent, lovely person. But...
Then I got another agent but... incommunicado is that one's modus operandi. Not good enough.
I need a shithot agent!

Annalisa Crawford said...

Hi, I'm new to this blog. I've just put the Kindle app on my laptop, so I'll be downloading YOU soon. I've read very good reviews in the past.

Group 8 said...

Thanks Annalisa - that is lovely to hear!

Unknown said...

I have the same kindle and I am loving it! Now I can read my fav genre which is SUPERNATURAL ROMANCE NOVELS in public thanks to the privacy I get thanks to my kindle! ^_^.