Wednesday, January 13, 2010

How I Got My Agent 11

How I Got My Agent
by Sandy Schoen


My book had everything!! It had characters the audience already loved, because of the show, but I made them even better. The main character was so wonderful that all the audience, even the guys, couldn't help but identify with her, even though she wasn't part of the original show. Unwanted teen pregnancy, nuclear explosions, losing family, orphans, long-lost relatives coming out of hiding, aliens, angst, drama, humour. Everything was jam-packed into 100,000 words. Everything, that is, but a second half.


It sat on a fanfiction website for a few years. Every now and then someone emailed me, begging me to finish it. I always responded politely and said real life was interfering, but I hoped to get it finished soon. That's the polite thing to do.


Then I got a letter that was from a real agent. Us serious writers can tell. He found my story when he was desparate for something to read, and was so hooked he just had to know how it ended. Because this was a real agent, not some internet fanboy, I wrote him a nice long reply explaining how, now I was out on parole, I didn't have time to write. The parole officer insisted I go to work every day, and the welfare lady kept bugging me to feed the kids and clean the bathrooms. They won't even let me have internet at home after the last visit, so I had to go to the library to work.


Now I pack up the six kids and go to work every day in the agent's house. That keeps the welfare lady happy. He keeps telling me he's got an editor all lined up, but this one wants even more chapters than the last one. I might dump this agent, though. He got upset when I experimented with headers and put my name on the top of each page.


That's how I got my agent.

4 comments:

  1. Very nice blog you have here. I like reading political blogs for some reason. Anyway, I have a site myself where people from around the world come and debate on popular issues. I feel as if this will give citizens some form of power, letting their voices be heard.

    I'd like to exchange links with you to help spread some traffic around between each other. If you'd like to, please leave a comment under our "Compadres" page when you've added our link and we'll return the favor.

    Until then, keep up the good work.

    Jason
    DEBATEitOUT.com

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  2. Marva, have you been smoking that wacky tobaccy?

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  3. Hi Jason: I keep my blogs apolitical (if I can contain myself). I link to TomCat because he's not only a personal friend, but has the best political commentary blog on the face of the earth, possibly the universe.

    TC: Not for a long, long time. I sure as heck don't need the munchies!

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  4. LOL, Marva. That makes two of us. I gave it up over 30 years ago.

    ReplyDelete