My Epic Quest for a published book: OMG! I Have an Agent!

As you may know, if you have been following the whirlwind last 7 seven days, I have been blogging about my quest for the fabled "Big Break". I can tell you that when it comes, you'll hardly know what to feel or say. I am still in shock after more than four hours have passed since I had "the call" with my new agent.

"Who is he", you ask sheepishly, but with a secret longing for me to divulge the details.

"Um, an agent a a major Literary Agency in New York. One of the top agencies, in fact they have been voted #1 for TEN CONSECUTIVE YEARS! Just someone who understood my work and LOVED reading it. (Yes, he really said that!)"

I'll tell the story by answering my own questions from earlier today:

1. Will he offer representation to sell the 610 page saga - or just the first book?

YES,

THE WHOLE FREAKING "MAGNUM OPUS" - THE ONE I HAVE SPENT THE PAST DECADE WORKING ON (TO BE PERFECTLY HONEST, I STARTED THE THING IN 2004!)

HE SAID, AND I QUOTE: "I LIKE THE MANUSCRIPT 'AS IS'"

MEANING HE DOESN'T SEE THE NEED FOR ANY REWRITES!

LET'S BE CLEAR ABOUT THIS: THIS IS MY FIRST NOVEL.

IT IS 179,000 WORDS, AND HE DOESN'T THINK I NEED ANY REWRITES? ---- AMAZING!!!!!!!

HE ALSO SAID: "I AM INTO BIG SUBMISSIONS" (I ASKED WHAT THAT MEANT IN TERMS OF NUMBERS OF SUBMISSIONS TO EDITORS) - HE SAID:

"ALL THE MAJOR FIVE HOUSES AND THEIR SUBSIDIARIES THAT PRINT FANTASY, AND ALL THE INDIE PUBLISHERS AND SMALL HOUSES THAT PRINT FANTASY AND HE NAMED SOME -- RANDOM HOUSE, PENGUIN, HARCOURT, HOUGHTON-MIFFLIN, ACE, ROC, DELRAY, HYDRA, CROWN, RED HOOK, ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, THOMAS DUNN, JOHN JOSEPH..."

(YOU GET THE PICTURE) WE COULDN'T WRITE IT ALL DOWN FAST ENOUGH TO KEEP PACE! HIS LIST WAS MAYBE 12 OR MORE THAT HE SAID HE WOULD SUBMIT SIMULTANEOUSLY!

AND GET THIS: HE DOES IT ALL ON A "HANDSHAKE OVER THE PHONE" - NO CONTRACT, NO PAPER, NOTHING BUT HIS OLD-FASHIONED NOTION OF A TRUST RELATIONSHIP. WOW!

2. Will we talk about money?

NOPE - NOT AT ANY LENGTH AT ALL. HE JUST QUOTED TO ME THE SAME INFO. THAT IS ON THEIR WEBPAGE. MONEY WAS THE LEAST OF EITHER OF OUR CONCERNS.

3. Will there be any discussion of film rights?

NOT A PEEP ABOUT THIS WAS SAID BY EITHER OF US

4. Will I be able to convince him that it needs illustrations?

NOPE - THAT WAS THE ONLY THING THAT SEEMED NOT ONLY OUT OF HIS HANDS, BUT OUT OF THE QUESTION, AS FAR AS WHAT HE THOUGH I COULD EXPECT FROM A PUBLISHER.

5. What will be his concerns about the text?

NONE! (SEE ABOVE)

6. Will he give editing notes?

NO! (SEE ABOVE)

7. What else will we talk about?

WE DISCUSSED WHAT DREW HIM IN WITH MY QUERY LETTER - BECAUSE I ASKED HIM!

HE SAID THE OVERALL QUALITY OF THE WRITING. IT WASN'T THE QUOTES FROM TWO PUBLISHED AUTHORS - OR THE "HOOK" AT THE BEGINNING? -- NO!

WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT HIS AGENCY A BIT BECAUSE HE ASKED WHAT I KNEW -- A BIT (I HAD "DONE MY HOMEWORK").

HE SAID, AND I QUOTE:

"WE'RE LIKE THE NUMBER ONE AGENCY AND HAVE BEEN RATED #1 BY PUBLISHER'S MARKETPLACE FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS, CONSECUTIVELY AND I THINK THE QUALITY OF YOUR WRITING IS COMMENSURATE WITH THAT KIND OF QUALITY. SO, BASICALLY, YOU'VE ARRIVED!"

8. Will I LIKE him? Trust him?

YES - BOTH -- AND VERY MUCH!

9. Will he LIKE me and trust me?

YES - HE SAID:

"I THINK YOU ARE A REALLY FORWARD THINKING GUY AND I THINK YOUR BOOK IS GOING TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE."