Monday, September 21, 2009

I Have an Agent!

Cooler words have ne'er been spoken. Or writ, or typed, as it may be.

What does that mean?

Why revisions, of course. And more writing. The manuscript is not quite ready to submit to publishers, but it will be.

The work in question is RUDY TOOT-TOOT. My other two works-in-progress will have a shift to the back burner while I expand Rudy's story. It was 500-words at first, now it's 4,000, and will grow significantly in the very near future. My agent (wow it's awesome to type that) has an excellent background for editorial advice, having worked as a children's book editor for many years. I'm looking forward to working with her and introducing Rudy Toot-Toot to the world at large.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

I'll find success if it doesn't find me first.

47 comments:

WeaselMomma said...

Congrats and best of Luck!

Rick Daley said...

Thanks WeaselMomma!

(It was fun typing that just now ;-)

Annie Louden said...

Cool. Congrats!

Unknown said...

Hey! Awesome..you're on your way

Peace - Rene

Davin Malasarn said...

Rick, I remember you talking about this book and thought it was a great idea. Congratulations!

J.B. Chicoine said...

Yay! I wish you could see what a great big smile you put on my face! I hope you'll give us updates on the whole publishing process. I want to know every blissful step on your way.

scott g.f.bailey said...

Wow, go Rick! You are supercool.

Good luck with revisions!

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Woo-hoo! Congratulations and best wishes for the work ahead. Rudy will blow them away. :)

Charlie Rice said...

EXCELLENT! What more can an envious guy say? Good luck Rick!

Mame said...

Congratulations!!!

Ann Imig said...

Yeay!! That is so encouraging. Best of luck!

Toot toot!

Vodka Mom said...

you ROCK!!!

I am so proud.....

Vodka Mom said...

now, if you can have it translated to Chinese, I could use it right about now.

Rick Daley said...

Thanks everyone!

I first submitted to this agent in July, one her second day at the agency (I read on another agent's blog that the longtime children's book editor was about to make the move). I'm not going to name any names at this stage, but the agency represents a very well known author who had a major release this month, i.e. they are reputable and successful.

I emailed her and asked if she was open to queries, that I had a picture book. She said for picture books she prefers the whole manuscript, but recommended I wait until her official start date about 3 weeks later.

I had the patience to wait until her second day at the agency, mostly to make sure her email account would be set up. It took a couple weeks before she responded with very good feedback, but ultimately saying it wasn't enough and encouraging more from the story. She ended with "please stay in touch."

After another three weeks the 500-word picture book grew into a 4,000 word chapter book, and a quick sit-down at dinner grew to a full day of doing chores at the family Bean Market.

I re-queried (replied to her last email with the new query and manuscript). Got an out of office reply that said she would still check messages when possible.

One impatient month passed, and then I decided to follow up. I very politely mentioned that I re-queried with a new MS a month ago and got an out of office reply, so I just wanted to make sure it didn't fall through the cracks. I did this by forwarding the prior query (which had the entire originating thread) and I re-attached the manuscript.

She replied within minutes saying that it must have slipped through the cracks before and she was going to start reading right away! Thanks to the brevity of a 4,000 word manuscript, she replied again about 40 minutes later with feedback, and saying she would like to work with me to get it ready to submit to a publisher! A couple more emails went back and forth with suggestions on what to add to strengthen the story.

And the rest is history (in the making)...

Sharon said...

wooooohooooooo!!!
or should that be ruudddyyyy toooot toooot~~!!!
sounds like awesome news!!
Congrats!

Stephanie Damore said...

Fantastic! That's more than awesome - that's spectacular. Go you!

Andrew Rosenberg said...

Awesome!
Hope our query editing helped.

Mira said...

Rick - that is fantastic!! I'm thrilled for you.

Boy, they snapped you up fast. :) You just started blogging less than 6 months ago, right? Way to go, Mr. Daley!

That is massively cool - congratulations!!

Rick Daley said...

@lapetus- I take all feedback to heart, and you had some good points. It all goes toward getting the query to the point where it attracts an agent, and then getting the manuscript to the point where it attracts an editor.

@Mira- I started this blog over a year ago. The Slushpile started in March. I've been working on Fate's Guardian for a long freaking time.

Rudy Toot-Toot started as a joke with my older son when he was 2-3 (he's 8 now). I wrote it down as a picture book about a year and a half ago, then forgot about it for a long time. Dusted it off this summer, once I had a much better understanding of the industry, and started fishing...

LeSan said...

It is really too bad that I don't have video cam on my computer. If I did you would be able to see me doing the Happy Dance for you!!
Congratulations you. :-)

Renee said...

That is really awesome! I will buy it for sure when it comes out! Hurrah for you!

Laura Martone said...

Oh, Rick, that's wonderful! I'm so happy for you - I'm wearing a BIG CHEESY GRIN right now just for you!

P.S. Are you doing the illustrations yourself? How does that work? I only deal with words, so the image process is waaayyyy over my head.

Unknown said...

Yay! Congratulations! I can't wait to buy your book!!

~Tara

jjdebenedictis said...

Congratulations! I hope we're soon hearing about a sale!

Rick Daley said...

@Laura- I won't be doing illustrations, a publisher would assign a professional artist for that.

I'll let you know when it's submitted, but for now there's some additional writing to do!

Martha W said...

That is so flippin' awesome! Congrats, Rick! Best of luck with the revisions... :) Yea!

Anita said...

Please celebrate this great step forward...I think people are getting too cautious along the way and losing out on the big-ass happiness at each step...not that I think you're doing that, I'm just rambling.

Anyway...Congratulations!!! I am so happy for you!!!

Anonymous said...

Yeah!!!! Congratulations! You are proof that persistence and a positive attitude pays off:)

Unknown said...

Rick - that's so awesome!! I'm so happy for you. Your agent is on my query list(if I'm guessing the right person), but I'm not quite at that point yet.

Next I want to hear your good news that the book has sold! :)

CKHB said...

CONGRATULATIONS! (I'm curious as to who your agent is...)

Laurel said...

GO RICK!!!

I am so excited for you. That is fantastic, fantastic news. My stomach did a flip flop when I saw your blog title pop up in my reader.

Formerly known as Frau said...

Congrats its nice that all your hard work is close to paying off and dreams to come true. Good luck and yeah!!

L. T. Host said...

YAY!!!!!

WOO HOOOO!!!!

Congrats!

Elana Johnson said...

WOOT! I can't type that big enough for you, Rick. Way to go!

Nathan Bransford said...

Congratulations!!

Marilyn Peake said...

Congratulations, Rick!! Way to go!! Have you announced the name of your agent yet? I found out your great news from someone else mentioning it online, and am very happy for you!!

Marilyn Peake said...

Rick -

Oooooops, I was so excited about your news, I hadn't taken time to read all your comments about it. Just now caught up reading the comments. Great story about how you got an agent. Congratulations again!! I'm so happy when good things happen to good people. You've been so generous with your time, helping writers on your query site and all, I'm absolutely thrilled for you!!

Rick Daley said...

Hi Marilyn,

Thanks for the kind words. It's certainly exciting. I have a lot of work to do now, but I am ready for it!

Teri said...

Congratulations!
This couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!

Rich said...

Just returned from San Diego and read the great news! Are you sure the lesson wasn't started in '73 when I taught you how to pull my finger?!

Rick Daley said...

Having a two year old pull your finger is only half as fun as having your three year old ask you to pull his finger!

Max has always been shy about this kind of talent, but Vic revels in it. He has the finger pulling trick down pat, his timing is impeccable.

Must run in the family!

Anonymous said...

http://moezmasoud.com/en/articles/articles50.html

About Me said...

Rick! Congrats a thousand times over. I'm very happy to see so many writers I know online are finding success. Please keep us in the loop as things progress.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations and good luck!

Michelle D. Argyle said...

CONGRATS RICK! This is pretty awesome. :)

Twenty Four At Heart said...

I'm a little behind in my blog reading so sorry this is late ... but ... CONGRATULATIONS! That is so awesome!

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