Thursday, March 1, 2012

A PENNYWISE FOR YOUR THOUGHTS


Well…
The queries are still going out…
And I was feeling mighty confident until…
I stumbled upon the agent…
Who represents Stephen King.
(I love Stephen King)
As I stared at his book, 11/22/63 on their website…
I felt humbled…
And then…
From the recesses of my brain…
I could almost hear Pennywise…
The wisecracking clown from It
Taunting me from his sewer grate...
”So you think you’re worthy?
This agent represents the “King”…
Do you really think...
your humorous women’s fiction…
Is worthy of being on a bookshelf with him?”
“Well, I think….I mean…uh…well…
And before I could analyze any further…
My computer hit the ‘send’ button and off it went.
“Huh?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!" My computer glowered...
"you don’t need to analyze this.”
“But I wasn’t ready!”
“Yes, yes you are. You’ve been ready... 
Quit being such a wuss. And quit comparing.
No, you're not King, but you're You...
And You is good."
So?
When you submit/submitted…
Are there some agents…
That intimidate you more?
Or are they all intimidating no matter what?”

Always, Em-Musing

7 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Good for you! Hey, even Stephen King was once an unpublished writer.

farawayeyes said...

All intimidating. All have the power of 'NO'. A great equalizer.

Still on the island, just a little further on down the road.

Julie Flanders said...

All intimidating to me, I can totally relate to Pennywise talking in your head like that. But you are so right, you're YOU and that is just as good. Kudos to you for hitting send, and best of luck. I will be keeping my fingers crossed that you get a "yes" back in return. :)

Sarah Nicolas said...

I got super nervous when I sent a query to Cassandra Clare's agent. I'm not sure why, because I had sent several queries by then, but some kind of creature was definitely fluttering its wings inside my belly!

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Those agents need other sources of income too. Sure they're sitting fat with their clients like King, George R.R. Martin, and the guy that wrote Flash Forward. But that doesn't mean they aren't looking for another meal ticket. Same goes with the agent that represents Stephanie Meyer at Writer's House. She represents a bunch of big authors...I forget her name. She's Tahereh Mafi's agent. Some big wheel that can sell snow to an eskimo and a lawyer to boot. She's always looking for more clients. Living on $500,000 a year is hard for some people!

Denise Covey said...

You've written very amusingly on a very unamusing topic. Agents. EEk. How harum scarum. I wish you every success in finding one who loves your work!

Denise

Anonymous said...

Pennywise... shiver

And King's agent might very well be in the market for humorous women's fiction, and you might be exactly the right girl to give it to him. Good for you for hitting send!