#and when you can pre-order

[colubrina]

How I Got My Agent, Take Two

I’m so ridiculously over the top happy to say I’ve signed with a literary agent to sell my magical bookbinder book.  This has been a long process that started in 2017, and I’m genuinely overjoyed.

It played out thus:

Write book one.

Write book two. Query the book.

Write book three. Query the book.

Write book four. Get into Pitch Wars with the book. (Yay!) Query the book.

Write book five. Get into Author Mentor Match with the book. (Yay!) Query the book.

Write book six.

Write book seven.

Write book eight.

Write book nine.

Get a Revise and Resubmit offer from an agent for book five. Do it.

Start querying book six.

Get an offer from the R&R (Yay!)

Write book ten.

Book five dies on submission.

Start writing book eleven.

My agent and I amicably part ways.

Start writing book twelve.

Finish querying book six.

Query book ten.

Start writing book thirteen.

Go back to book eleven.

Go to a live pitch event. Pitch book eleven to two agents. Neither likes it. One asks what else I’m working on, and when I do the one sentence pitch for book twelve, says, “I could sell that.”

Pivot to finishing that book.

Query book twelve, sending queries first to four agents who only want queries and who are actively requesting off those queries. Get a 75% request rate. Query is fire. Check.  Unfortunately, every agent rejects when they see the opening pages, which turn out not to be fire.

Revise opening

Resume querying book twelve.  In case you’ve lost count, while this is the twelfth book I’ve written, it’s ‘only’ the seventh I’ve queried.

Finish drafting book thirteen in NaNo. Revise. Send to CPs.

Have existential crisis on a Tuesday. Meltdown on Tumblr. Weep in my living room. All my books have failed.  I do not know how to write a better book.  Maybe I should give up. This turns out to be a very well-timed dark night of the soul within the narrative.

Get two full requests for book twelve on Wednesday.

Get an email telling me one of my short stories has been held for consideration on Thursday.

On Friday get an email that the woman who handles submissions for one of those agents from Wednesday loved the book but she doesn’t think it’s a great fit for the agent I queried.  Would I mind if she forwarded it in-house to a different agent?  In shocking news, I would not mind this. 

On Monday, get an email asking for a call.

On Wednesday, which is Valentine’s Day, have a call with the agent.  She’s lovely in every way, her thoughts on the book are so good, every editorial idea she floats is good. Like, really good.  She is super enthusiastic about repping the book and offers to do so.

There is an etiquette requirement at this point that I tell any agent who has the book that I have an offer on the table and give them two weeks to respond, so I go around nudging all the agents with a full (four people) and several agents who only have a query. Three more agents request fulls. The rejections start trickling in.  People are very sweet and complimentary, and I am deeply, deeply relieved that I never waver from how much I adore the original offering agent.

I sign with her on February 29.

Final stats for Book Twelve (THE ARCHIVE OF THE WORLD):

Total Queries Sent:  39 Requests Before Offer: 8 (20.5% request rate) Request Rate Including Post-Offer Requests: 28.2%

Year I Started this Nonsense:  2017 Total Queries Sent across 7 books:  456

Takeaway wisdom:  The query trenches are a soul-mangling machine into which we all keep putting our souls and most of us don’t make it out unmangled.  I am not unmangled. BUT, I am a persistence hunter, and I will walk steadily towards publishing until it lies down in exhaustion and gives up.

Thanks for hanging out with me as I do.

Also, this book is so much fun.  You’re going to love it.

[topicaltropic]

EPISODE 8 OF THE DUNGEONS AND DADDIES GRAPHIC NOVEL IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER !

READ THE SAMPLE NOW HERE

[ninjigma]

Track: ‘Obi-Wan’ - John Williams

“Even your own master stands against the Republic, against peace, against you.”

“Anakin, surely you know otherwise. My allegiance has always been to the Republic, to democracy!”

Anakin himself felt frozen. He had a hand on his lightsaber, prepared to draw it at a moment's notice. The city of Coruscant moved around them unaware of the precipice it hung upon. The balance relying on who Anakin would believe.

Who he could trust.

Obi-Wan already had his saber drawn, the blue bright as nearby citizens began scattering. The Chancellor remained next to Anakin, stance welcoming and unwavering.

“The… the Republic is weak Master. We see it every day.”

Palpatine's even voice joined his. “Together, we can form a new Empire. One of freedom, justice, and security. You would stand against that, Master Jedi?”

Obi-Wan’s stance wavered for but a moment as he looked at Anakin. “Anakin, surely you don’t believe this.”

“Do you not Master?”

Obi-Wan was still staring at him. And Anakin was trying to understand why Obi-Wan couldn’t see what had happened, how the Jedi had been deceived into serving a corrupt senate. The chancellor has seen it, and he can fix it. Together they could save everyone, and finish this war. They could stop fighting, Ahsoka could come back, Padme would be safe, and Obi-Wan could finally be happy.

“What about those who have been strong?”

Anakin shifted slightly in confusion. Palpatine never faltered, but Anakin found his attention drawn to Obi-Wan again. The two never moved, and Anakin tried desperately to both understand what his former Master was saying and convey his own thoughts.

But Obi-Wan knew the words better than him. “Everyone we have fought beside, every being we have seen stand up, why do you think they do it?”

“To stop the separatists. They are destroying their homes, killing them. Why wouldn’t they fight that?”

“Then why do you fight Anakin?”

“To-to stop them. Just like everyone else.”

Obi-Wan looked so sad. Why was he sad? Anakin had to do this, couldn’t Obi-Wan understand?

“I don't.”

Anakin blinked. He expected to be told he was wrong, blind, that he was lost on his path again. He had become too attached or was too weak not to fall to the dark side. But instead, he watched as Obi-Wan lowered his saber, switching his form to Ataru. He simply breathed, meditating as he moved.

He didn’t understand. Did he understand?

Palpatine's patience seemed to be growing thin. He stepped toward Obi-Wan, chin held high. “If he is not with us, then he is the enemy.”

Obi-Wan’s voice turned to steel, fact. “I stand with peace, I stand for hope, I stand here against you for everyone that can not stand here for themselves. But most importantly, I do not fight the things I hate.” His gaze returned to Anakin, softer, but no less true. “I fight to save what I love.”

Anakin’s breath caught. Padme. Ahsoka, Rex, Obi-Wan, everyone. Was Anakin not fighting for them? But surely stopping this war would save them. And Palpatine had the solution. He could be stronger. He can do it.

“I am the chosen one. I have to bring balance.”

For all his conviction, Anakin's voice had wavered. And finally, Obi-Wan smiled. “You are so much more than any of that. And you will never convince me otherwise.”

Anakin's eyes stung. The terrace became blurry, and the hand on his saber fell away.

Palpatine finally began to sneer. “You are throwing aside his purpose. Do the Jedi think so little of their own beliefs? That you would abandon him like you did his mother? Even ignoring his pleas for help now? The Jedi are weakening and destroying this Republic.”

Obi-Wan seemed unfazed, full attention on Anakin. “The Republic should not rely solely on the Jedi for strength. The Jedi do not need allegiance to bring peace. And Padme does not need the chosen one, she only needs you.”

Anakin was so focused on the swell of hope within him that he never saw Palpatine draw the saber.

But as always, Obi-Wan was there.

The exchange was rapid. Anakin was force-shoved across the terrace, sounds of distance speeders mingling with the rapid exchange of lightsabers. Palpatine was practically spitting, and Obi-Wan was moving with more grace than Anakin could even imagine. The lights were brilliant, red and blue clashing in broad purple. But from this new point he could make out clone troopers approaching from the senate building, and could almost feel the presence of other Jedi no doubt alerted the second Obi-Wan had drawn his saber. What would happen when the two groups met? There was more to this plan, the troopers were loyal to the chancellor, and the Jedi would attack the Sith. He saw now how the conflict would occur. He had to protect them. But how? He wasn’t strong enough yet, how could he save everyone?

Obi-wan was relentless and quick, keeping Palpatine constantly changing his footing to keep up. With a frustrated yell, Palpatine withdrew from the exchange and in an instance retaliated with bolts of electricity, the lighting striking true against Obi-Wan's saber. Obi-Wan grunted and fell to a knee, face twisted in determination. Palpatine showed no restraint though, pushing for the advantage.

“They stand no chance without you Anakin. Your own Master does not even trust you to make your own choices, to fulfill your destiny. The Jedi are scared of your potential Anakin. How will you save anyone if you are not even allowed to become strong enough to do so? They think nothing of you!”

Anakin's breathing was ragged, the force humming all around him. It was loud, so loud.

“Anakin.”

Obi-Wan.

“You are my brother Anakin.”

Anakin looked up, watching as Obi-Wan managed to force the bolts away for a moment just long enough to give Anakin his full attention.

“I love you.”

Protect what you love.

It was a blink. Palpatine saw the opportunity with Obi-Wan’s lowered guard and leapt forward. Obi-Wan did not even attempt to protect himself; he knew his path, knew it was too tempting a distraction for the Sith Lord. And Anakin finally understood the why to it all as his lightsaber ignited right through Palpatine's heart.

And there was Obi-Wan, smiling at Anakin as his own lightsaber winked out.

“You are my brother Anakin. I love you.”

Just like that, it was all over.

Everything stopped.

It was silent. Silent like the heartbeat of fallen brothers, like the room Ahsoka had moved out of, like that time of blank memory when Anakin lost himself at the hands of a force wielder he could never understand.

Anakin stood here, in the heart of Coruscant with thousands of people living their lives, bracketed by dozens of clones halted by what had just played out, and surrounded by Jedi frozen as the force shuddered in a horrible type of relief. Yet Anakin stood alone, saber to his right and the chancellor dead to his left.

And Obi-Wan laying crumbled before him.

It was only two steps. One to think of how Obi-Wan had defended Anakin through it all, and another to recall how he had finally been able to hear everything Obi-Wan had been trying to teach him. Finally, he understood. Now one sharp drop to the ground to recall that no one had been right, and one shaky inhale to recognize that Obi-Wan stayed true despite it. 

Anakin finally understood that Obi-Wan had been teaching him the same lesson over and over from the start. How every chiding remark had been guidance, how every punishment had been a moment to grow, how becoming brothers was more than just a title. Every fight started with hope, every battle ended amongst family, and every quiet moment was shared in peace. No, brother was no formality, ask any clone. And Jedi was no mystical label for some elite being. Even the name Sith was no more than the power they gave it. Not one step of this war or leg of this journey together had it ever been about being the perfect Jedi, the chosen one.

Obi-Wan had trusted that Anakin was enough just as he was. How he cared was a strength. How Anakin’s past didn’t matter, only his future choices. How his Master would always be the family he needed, even when Anakin had been too caught up in his feelings to recognize it. Obi-Wan had always believed in him, even without Obi-Wan believing in himself.

So now, as his hand slowly covered Obi-Wan's lifeless eyes, he understood. The lesson was to love fairly, love truly, and let that love guide you forward just as the force does, always. For what is the force, if not simply the feelings found in all living things? Without acknowledging that, then it is no more than blood in your veins. Something meaningless to the child asking you to check for monsters under the bed.

Because the monsters are not out there, they are within you.

“I a-am one with the force…”

“And the force is with me.”

Blue and white montrals, a smaller but steadier hand over Anakin's own. He need never look up to know Ahsoka was with him, and yet how blind had he been to not recognize that sooner? Forced into a war when being trained to “keep the peace”, framed by the people she was to protect and cast out of the only family she had ever known. She had been so right to leave. How could he have let his own feelings cloud the love he had for his padawan, for his little sister?

Anakin never said a word, but he felt Ahsoka gently squeeze his hand anyhow.

“It was the only way Anakin.”

“Always has t-to be right doesn’t he?”

“Was he ever really wrong.” Rex, because of course it was. Where there is Ahsoka there was bound to be Rex. Bound to be all of them, together. As long as they stayed together.

Saving what we love.

Though the sun had set, the force remained steady on the precipice of something important, something Anakin could feel stinging at his heart. And in the darkness he reached out slowly, using the force to try and call Obi-Wan’s fallen saber to him. It rattled gently, then rolled in the opposite direction and Anakin attempted not to choke as he couldn’t bring himself to try again to retrieve it.

But the saber always knew how to get back to Obi-Wan on its own anyhow.

“Gen-Ah… An-Anakin.”

Cody. Anakin looked up through watery eyes to meet the gaze of the helmetless commander. The one Palpatine had threatened to turn against Obi-Wan and every other Jedi. Cody, who had laughed with them, bled with them, and loved with them. Who Obi-Wan loved. And with a new breath, Anakin was carefully taking one of Obi-Wans cooling hands as Ahsoka took the other; and, despite not a lick of force sensitivity to know what to do, Cody dropped to his knees with them, and gently placed the saber on Obi-Wan’s chest for Anakin and Ahsoka to place his hands over.

And then there was a sound. A lightsaber igniting. Anakin looked up in a bit of shock to find Quinlan Vos with his lightsaber on and raised toward the sky. The gentle green on Obi-Wans skin looked so right compared to the shadows trying to engulf them all. And everyone else seemed to realize it too, as more Jedi began raising their sabers. In a few otherwise silent moments, dozens of lightsabers were raised to light the platform, and dozens of helmets were dropped to the ground. Blue, green, yellow, white, purple. There was no more darkness here. Only light, only love.

And Anakin reached out again, his own saber snapping to his outstretched palm in a blink. And with a breath, he raised it to the sky and let go, so that it may float above them all. Piece by piece the saber came apart under his guidance, to reveal the kyber within. It shone less than the saber but was purer than any Jedi. And with all eyes watching, Anakin took his first steady breath and flicked his wrist.

The kyber shattered into fine dust, bright and singing as it slowly drifted back down to mist them all in light.

And when Anakin's now reformed lightsaber reached his hand again, he promptly tucked it next to Obi-Wan’s and made his peace.

“Trust only in love.”

(This was some sort of fan service for myself, but I am pretty unhinged and happy with how it turned out. Wanna keep up with my progress on pieces like this, or see them early? Check out my Patron!)

[sendmyresignation]

one of the things about where are your boys tonight i really appreciated and, to me, seemed like the most significant thrust of the book (but never garnered much attention, imo), was the focus on the business side of things and particularly the way the many bands never saw long term success or stability or the way a lot of very young people were taken advantage of even after making their labels and handlers metric butt-tones of money and this really culminated with the discussion about paramores record deal and the inherently coercive nature of making a 14 year old sign a record deal (not even really mentioning that record deal was 20 fucking years lmao) and yet i still see people argue she was an industry plant or whatever. sorry ig one of my fatal flaws is i give child stars the benefit of the doubt considering the fundamental exploitation necessary for that position to exist or whatever

[halflingkima]

is it just me. who is so angry when libraries have books in series but not the first one. like tbh i don't care if you've got the first one and not the rest, but you've got book two?? and not one?? you've got book 12?? but not one?????

i understand things happen to library books but i would THINK. that'd be an item of priority. to replace the first book in a series. if something were to happen.

[uncanny-tranny]

The whole "sex is gender" crowd really gets to me because there is a fundamental lack of understanding what sex is in people.

Sex is not just primary sex characteristics, and I question why it is seen as such. Do you really demand to see if somebody has the primary sex which you deem "appropriate" every time you need to gender somebody? No, most often you will look for markers in a person's secondary sex characteristics (that is if you assume people's gender, or don't ask).

If sex is gender, then I can tick off the boxes where I fit the "male" marker (which will almost completely male). But, at the end of the day, it isn't about the idea that sex matters (well, primary sex characteristics, anyway). This argument is using scientific wordage in order to weasel out of respecting trans people.

[unpretty]

aksjdhad prince kiem

[candied-cae]

The way that Stede treated Izzy during episode 3 were some of the ONLY times I could stand seeing Izzy on screen so far this season because it finally felt like someone who recognized him and was treating him rationally tbh

I adore this show and the people who worked on it, but ffs, it feels like they all enjoyed Con too much and the Izzy-Enjoyers Fanon of his character last season and jumped the gun on his redemption arc.

I'm going to go through and explain this more, but I just wanted to put that out there first while I lay out why Stede's expressions and reactions make so much more sense coming out of season 1's events.

[leatherbookmark]

aw, when i was ordering the albums they said "usually ships out by the release date", so i was excited about that, but then the release is SOON and they still haven't shipped it so i guess something happened or maybe they had a whole lot or orders, and now i see that they changed it to "usually ships in 3-7 days". a lot of orders then, i guess! u_u

[i-bring-crack]

I did not asked to receive emotional damage from s

Solo Leveling Ragnarok thank you very much.

Spoilers in the tags.

[todayisafridaynight]

grabbing the ichi plush by the neck and death gripping it like 'good things are to come its all going to be ok good things are to come' like its a lucky amulet

[stairset]

I had Spider-Man 2 mailed to my house when I pre-ordered it and it hasn't arrived yet so I've just been spending my entire day dodging spoilery Youtube thumbnails like Tobey Maguire dodging Green Goblin's razor bats in slo-mo in that one scene.

[lemonstealinglibrarian]

another tgcf book comes out soon so it's once again time to send in a suggestion to the collection development department, who work in my building and know me, like hiiiii time for you to order gay chinese smut for me again thanks :)

[poptartmochi]

unfathomable emotions after showering

also.. i hit tag limit on this, so watch out for a very long post if you hit read more on the tags! 😨

[caimitos]

my most self indulgent hc that is closest to my heart and haven't talked about in years is vespa ilkay filipino (her eyes have a rage you only see in 3rd world med students)

[rose--hathaways]

idk if everyone knows yet but i was doing orders at work today and saw that penguin teen australia are definitely releasing a tv tie-in cover for vampire academy (due out sept. 16 to coincide with the show) so i assume they’ll become available globally as well ???

it does have an ugly “now a stan series” sticker printed on it unfortunately :(