Worth the Wait
The saying goes, "good things come to those who wait," but we all know (and the song tells us) "the wai-aiting is the hardest part."
So here's the scoop with me... I wrote a couple of books and started looking for a publisher, an agent, anyone who could help on the road to seeing those books published. I queried. I waited. I sent in partials or fulls. I waited some more. I got some "really nice rejections," complete with handwritten notes, but no takers.
Meanwhile, I kept writing, working on other projects. I truly believe this is a key element in the waiting game. For one thing, it kept me busy (which is not to say that I didn't obsess about the queries still "out there," I did. I just didn't completely obsess.) More importantly, it kept me ready when the Big Opportunity popped up. Which was...
Marsha heard through a colleague that Speak was accepting proposals for a series called Students Across the Seven Seas (SASS) about American girls and their adventures as they travel abroad. An agent was gathering proposals for consideration for this series and if I'd like, she could put me in contact with him. Well, that was a no brainer. Here I was living in Japan and (this is where the keep writing part came in handy) had just been playing with a story with a total teen chicklit tone, so I was up for the challenge. I set aside my other projects and wrote up a proposal and some sample chapters for the SASS series book.
More waiting.
This time, the waiting paid off. I was thrilled to receive an offer from Puffin. That agent is now my agent. The book, NOW AND ZEN, will hit the shelves in September.
Since that first sale, I have since sold another SASS book set in Finland and received a three-book deal on another manuscript... a book I had been working on while waiting for answers on the others.
So, yes, I know waiting. Yes, I know that waiting is one of the hardest things to do. But I also know now that in the end, if you never give up, all that waiting is like, totally worth it.
Gerb
