Tag: agent
When I was young, my mother told me I’d gotten a phone call. I was whining about what terrible news it was certain to be, and she said, “How can it be good news if you don’t leave room for it to be good?”
I think of this every time I’m about to open a SASE. You know, the letter that, incredibly, some very high-end...
As It Is Written
Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on . Posted in General. 8 Comments
I have failed, utterly and totally. Yet I feel irrationally exhilarated.
The agent I’ve been trying to please with a rewrite for the last year and a half (!), just sent me a final rejection, door shut, not even opened a crack. Instead of feeling stomped on, I feel relief.
This is so strange.
As a result of the revision process she triggered,...
Editing on the Moon
Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on . Posted in General. 4 Comments
I gave the words a last once-over, focusing on the new scenes designed to make the novel vibrate. Scrolling, I called it finished and exported the Apple Pages document to a Word document. Hitting “Send,” I sailed Train Trip: Lucinda Mae’s Quest for Love, Honor and the Chickens to the editor.
The editor, who lives in the Pacific...
A Novel I Love More than Christmas
Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on . Posted in General. 2 Comments
At Beth’s Bookstore, I slipped a paperback from the shelf. I read the first line. That’s how I chose a book: the first line, then the first paragraph. Sometimes if I’m unsure, I continue further down the page. Then I either buy the book or I put it back.
I’ve been burned using this method—occasionally, a book doesn’t live up to the opening—but...
Why I Have Decided to Podcast My Short Stories
Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on . Posted in General. Leave a Comment
In filing new query letters for my short story collection, I came across an old document. The year was 2007. The list identified agents who asked for stories or the entire manuscript. There were many. I chose one.
The agent I picked was not good for me.
I piddled around with him for four years, only to ultimately part ways, my fiction unsold.
I’m...
Don Chickote: Or the Strange Adventures of Lucinda Mae Watkins on the Train
Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on . Posted in General. 2 Comments
As irrefutable proof of my ingrained belief that the problem must be mine, I retained the title, description, and target audience given to me by a former agent whom an editor said was not marketing my novel correctly. That period is over.
Old Title: Trouble at Big Daddy’s Chicken Palace Emporium
New title: Don Chickote: Or the Strange Adventures...