Monday, January 08, 2007

Writing, Writing, Thinking about Literary Agents

I'm starting to make some real progress on my fiction novel now that the family emergencies and holidays are fading and my deadline work hasn't hit crunch time. I'm posting this to document to myself that I need to keep moving. Perhaps because of my perfectionistic tendencies, I find myself going back through and editing, instead of pushing through to the end and editing later. So there. I've said it. Now it must be done. ;)

Also at this point I probably should start the process of looking for a literary agent. That will be interesting, considering I know nothing about the process. It also will be somewhat of a challenge to find someone who can handle all the different types of work I plan to produce over my lifetime (I sound mighty sure of myself, don't I?) It's true, though. I have plans for these:
1.) Fiction, of the women's literature/chick lit, mystery variety.
2.) Non-fiction in the realm of the kinds of stories I already publish - kids issues, etc.
3.) I have a fascinating narrative my great-grandfather wrote about his trip to Tahiti, and I'd like to do something with it. (We found it after the recent deaths. He wrote it in 1916; it's 240 pages worth of his experiences.)
That's just what I'm thinking about at the moment so who knows where else I'll end up?! I started my master's degree in children's literature thinking I'd write children's books so that might be something I'd like to do, too. Essentially, I'd need someone who was willing to evolve with me over the next few decades.
On the positive side:
I've proven myself as a non-fiction writer.
I'm congenial and not afraid to market myself.
I potentially will be prolific.
On the negative side:
I have yet to prove myself as a fiction writer.
I need guidance.
I have to support myself in the meantime.

Hmmm ... Well, that's a start!

1 comment:

El Jefe Maximo said...

How cool to find your great grandfather's Tahiti journal. Half the reason I keep a journal (not the blog) is so that somebody long after I'm gone might read it. I've been keeping it since the early 90's...bout a thousand pages now on the computer. Probably boring, but who knows: if I have great-grandchildren, maybe they'll be curious.

I had an ancestor who published a book -- small time, mind you. The book is somewhat interesting, but far more interesting is the letter he wrote his fiance (he was 20) just after the Battle of Shiloh. He was in a Confederate infantry regiment there that, based on his letter, saw serious fighting, and thankfully managed to avoid getting killed, as he had not yet reproduced. . .Had he been somewhat unlucky, that could have been mildly unpleasant from my own point of view.

I've always wanted to go to Tahiti: can't think of a more exotic destination. If you want to edit great-grandfather's book and publish, you probably need to go there and do background research !