The first Wednesday of every month, an optional question is announced that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or even a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post. Remember, the question optional.
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May 6 posting of the IWSG are Jenni Enzor, Jemima Pett, Jamie of Uniquely Maladjusted but Fun, and Kim Lajevardi!
May 6 question - What was the most inspiring feedback you received from readers, including agents, editors, and beta readers.
It seems like a lifetime ago...
That I went to a writer’s seminar in Pasadena...
And had a one-on-one with a prominent agent...
Who represented John Updike - The Witches of Eastwick
And—woo hoo—my story had witches.
I had sent a partial a few weeks before my meeting...
And when I met him, he told me, he liked the premise of the story…
And said to send the whole manuscript...
And I did...
And this is what he sent back
At my next writer group meeting...
I was starry-eyed and flying high...
And showed the women what the agent had sent back ...
But all the writers in the group...
Were romance writers with RWA...
And didn’t have an agent...
They were contracted directly with a publisher who did the editing .
My story, however, was not in the romance category...
It was religious horror.
(yes, I know…but these women took me under their wing)
I then queried publishers who handled horror...
But no nibbles.
**sigh**
I was too naïve and insecure to contact the agent again...
And eventually I let the ball drop on this manuscript.
**sigh**
Years later...
I self-pub’d.
I really don’t ever want to self-pub again...
I did not enjoy the process...
It was painstaking.
But now...
I’m querying to agents for Love in the Time of Wrinkles...
A humorous work of Upmarket Women’s Fiction—
That and has been read by several professional betas and they loved the story...
(and no, the betas were neither family members or friends)
It has also been fully edited by a paid editor...
But after many, many many queries...
This one too is getting declined.
**sigh**
WHY?
So?
Is this my destiny?
I’m a good writer...
But getting an agent and seeing my book in a bookstore is never going to happen?
But ya know what?
If I have to self-pub again (damn it), I will.
So?
What’s your story?
May it make me smile.
Always,
Em-Musing
10 comments:
Sorry your writer's group wasn't more helpful. Keep trying. Find some big publishers to send it to as well.
It is hard getting an agent. I've gotten a lot of good rejections along the way. And the fact that you got personal feedback from this one is huge. Another option if you don't want to self-publish is to look at smaller presses. You don't usually need an agent for those, and I've had some friends who've been published that way.
Look for smaller presses that accept direct submissions. They are more willing to take a chance on something unique.
Don't give up. Most of the authors I interview have written and queried multiple manuscripts before getting an agent. Many of the agents I interview accept adult fiction. You might want to check them out and enter my query critique giveaways. Also, what about being a hybrid author? You have options.
Thank you for your input. I appreciate.
Thank you for your advice.
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This is such a compelling and nostalgic reflection ✍️🙂 I really like how you’ve captured that mix of excitement and distance in time—those moments with agents can feel both vivid and surreal when you look back on them. Meeting someone who represented major literary names like John Updike and getting positive feedback on your premise must have been incredibly encouraging at the time. There’s also a quiet emotional weight in the way you describe sending the manuscript and waiting for what came next—those turning points in a writer’s journey stay with you for a long time.
That reads like one of those defining writer moments you never really forget ✍️🙂 The kind where everything feels full of possibility—meeting an agent, hearing genuine interest in your premise, and being invited to send the full manuscript. There’s a lot of momentum and hope in that kind of exchange, even when the outcome later takes a different turn. It really highlights how much persistence and exposure to feedback shape a writer’s path over time.
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