The Call

Anybody know Jeff Foxworthy?  If you like comedy and you haven’t heard of Jeff…look him up.  If your familiar with Jeff’s work, then you probably know his You might be a redneck if -- routine.  Well, here’s a literary version of that.  You might be a writer if…you know what the title of this post means.

That’s right…as of now I am represented by Sarah Negovetich of the Corvisiero Literary Agency. You heard me correctly…I have an agent!

Those that have known me for a while understand how long I have waited to post something like this.  I’ve congratulated more than a few writers in this blogosphere that have achieved this dream and read their stories of what it was like to finally get the “Call”, all the while putting myself in their shoes and imagining what it would be like to experience such a thing. Well…they’re my shoes now – and it feels GREAT! No more query letters...no more pitch wars...no more twitter contest.  YES!

The book I pitched that won Sarah over is titled MOVING FEAR.  It’s a YA Horror (although Sarah may reclassify it as YA Paranormal/Mystery). I'm savvy enough to realize that signing with Sarah is just another hurdle and seeing my manuscript in print isn't a sure thing yet -- but this is a validation that was sorely needed.  For the longest time I’ve felt like an unlicensed doctor, running around handing out medical advice to anyone who will listen. Now, by signing an agent it effectively slaps MD behind my name (albeit in small letters) and gives me a tiny bit of credibility. Not that obtaining an agent is the only way to earn standing -- if you sell a bunch of books, agent or not, that's good enough for me -- but you guys know what I'm talking about.

I’ve already thanked my CP’s, beta readers, query specialist, ego caressers, and morale boosters!  I even thanked the blogger whose innocuous Facebook post was the inspiration for the story.  A piece of each of them is in MOVING FEAR and my good news belongs to them well. But who I haven’t thanked yet is YOU. I’ll eventually detail my cringe-worthy path to where I am now, but for now let’s just say that in the beginning I was clueless – until I found the blogosphere.  The wealth of knowledge, experience, expertise, pointers, sage advice, industry norms, and morale support is endless. And more importantly, it is all offered with a smile and a pat on the back. I can honestly say that the writer I am today is in-part because of YOU…because the blogosphere is YOU. So thank you for everything you’ve done for me!

And one of the reasons for choosing Sarah as my agent – she writes a blog.

There are two people I feel compelled to single out with my gratitude today. Chris Fries and Julie Dao. I’ve known Chris since before I had a blog (on the writing forums) and Julie was one of my earliest CP’s. They both have been my most steadfast supporters…unwavering in their belief that today would come. They are two of my closest friends…and I’ve never met them. Thank you both so much!

In the weeks to come I’ll reveal the details of “the call” and the events that led up to it. At the same time I’ll be figuring out how things will need to be tweaked around here now that the trajectory of my writing career has been altered. Don’t worry…nothing major. If I do get a publishing deal I’ll resist any changes that might turn this into something more marketing-centric and focused on just selling books.

For those of you who are following this same dream…hang in there. My shoes will be yours one day! :)