May officially kicked my a$$

A recap of a (brutal) month-in-the-life

Hiii!

Burnout. I don’t have it.

AND.

I’m aware that, for authors and agents and people in the arts (as well as, erm, humans in general!), burnout is a risk—something to be aware of, to keep a firm eye on like you’d keep an eye on a hungry tiger circling. But there was a moment in mid May when I kind of melted down and realized… I maybe need to take a break???

Today, I thought I’d give a little snapshot of what an entire month looked like. Kind of like a “day in the life” except on the scale of a month.

Atlanta Writer’s Conference

The month kicked off with travel to Atlanta for an incredible conference. There was a lot of prep work involved for the 10 manuscript critiques I had to do—15-20 hours of work, I’d say—so it was an intense lead-up, and an intense experience as well once I was there, with lots of meeting with authors, late hours, and beaucoup socializing (fun but exhausting). The summary statement is: I absolutely loved it! There were some fun added bonuses to this conference in particular: I got to see my agent (and be there as her colleague as well as author ❤️) AND meet my client Chuck Storla, whose debut Murder Two Doors Down is releasing this October. SO FUN!!!!

However, I did make a slight miscalculation…

If you’ve been a subscriber here for a while, you’ll know that in addition to agenting full time and authoring on the side, I also have a full time day job. If I could go back and have a redo, I would NOT work on Thursday, rush home with the kids after school, and leave for the airport five minutes later, sweaty and harried. I would take the day off from my day job like a sane person. I’d also take Monday off, because in effect I worked through the weekend and then didn’t stop. In retrospect, it was too much. Next time, I need to pad my travel with days off on either side!!

Funny story from Atlanta that also gets at the intensity of the experience—I read a full request on the plane ride there (I was already maybe 20% in, but knocked out the remaining 80%). The book was freaking incredible. I messaged the author immediately, got to the hotel a little after 10pm, and due to their fortuitous availability (and time difference ;), offered that night! I was up past midnight on the offer call (and dressed in pajamas haha), and it was 1) a total thrill to offer on something when I was so fresh off reading it, and 2) a very intense way to kick off an already-intense conference. But that’s agenting, heh heh—there’s just no space to do things half-heartedly!

Offered rep to two authors…

…the one I mentioned above whose book I read on the plane ride to Atlanta, and one whose book I read on the plane ride back. The amazing news is, I got that first author (IT’S WREN!!!!!)! This was a huge moment, as not only did I absolutely adore their monstrous book, but I was on a terrible streak with my offers of rep (I’d lost 7 of the last 7 authors I offered on 😱). I’d started to refer to this phase as ‘the curse,’ so it was such a relief to break the damn curse.

The sad news, however, is that I did not get that second author—so the curse may be back (UGH). (Have I mentioned recently how brutal this job is????????)

Got to be a conversation partner at a book launch

The incredible Allison Buccola launched her new book this month—The Ascent. So good. So propulsive. So culty. Loved it. I had the privilege of being her conversational partner for the book launch at Anderson’s in Downers Grove on Monday the 19th.

(I’m left, center is Sheila our amazing bookseller, Allison is right)

I was definitely nervous—I’ve been a part of tons of bookish conversations, both in-person and on podcasts, but never as the moderator / question-asker. I came equipped with questions and themes and various and sundry indecipherable notes scrawled on a piece of paper so I wouldn’t blank out. But once I got past the stomach flutters, it was super fun!! (also y’all should order her book!!) (yes there’s a theme here😂) (maybe this whole Substack is actually an excuse to get y’all to order books and what then i ask u WHAT THEN 😂😂😂)

Pass pages for The New Year’s Party

Pass pages landed on May 7th for my next book out with Mira, The New Year’s Party (up for preorder now!). This my 100% least favorite part of the entire publishing experience. It’s an author’s last chance to go through the entire manuscript with a fine-toothed comb and catch any final typos or mistakes. And there are always things to catch.

The deadline was May 20th, which gave me 13 days, but by the time the mailed version I had requested arrived (I always do my pass pages on physical print-outs) and I wrapped up another item on an equally-urgent deadline, I had about a week to churn these out. Pass pages always feel like a sinkhole for my entire life, and this time was no different. 😂 But we survived!!!

I tried to calculate once how quickly I go, and if I remember correctly, it’s something like 25 pages per hour. So for a 350 page book, that’s about 14 hours of work. However, I’m not someone who’s able to do this all in a few sittings—it requires an extra degree of attention and focus, and if I go for any longer than 2 hours, my eyes start to cross in my head.

Proposal due for next Sienna book

I also head a deadline of May 14th from my editor at Transworld/PRH UK to turn in a synopsis and sample chapters of what I hope will become my next Sienna Sharpe book—i.e. another thriller romance (yippeeee!). This was a whole process, with some false directions taken, and some back-and-forth with my editor about not taking the book in too dark of a direction (whoops), but I’m really happy with how it came together in the end!

I hope to have news to share on this front soon, but the important thing to know for this post is that, like with any project, there are just no guarantees it will ever see the light of day—and sometimes it can be tough to churn out creative work with that cloud of uncertainty hanging over it.

Weathered option book rejection

Basically, the publisher for my first book deal turned down my next book, which they contractually got the first look at.

In addition to adding a very specific flavor to the month at large, this rejection really was something I had to spend about 24 hours dealing with (and you can read the context and deets for this one at the link). When a big rejection hits, I just can’t be as productive, ya know? It really does knock the wind out of one’s sails. I’ve written about it here before, but I have definitely come to value wallowing as a mental health strategy.

If I don’t give my feelings space to stretch out their backs and breathe, they become cramped little goblins in my soul-closet, and, well… that doesn’t end well (for me or the goblins). So in this case, I followed my own advice and just let myself feel low for the evening.

The next day, I was back at it.

Read and blurbed a book

On the author side of my life, I had the privilege of reading and blurbing Ally Zetterberg’s next book, The Second Chance Bus Stop.

Due to various factors, such as the author not having my correct email and delays in getting the Netgalley widget over to me that were out of her control, I got this book May 16th, and the blurb was due at the end of May, which gave me 2 weeks to read. In a month rife with deadlines, this was no joke—but I have yet to say ‘no’ to a blurb request, and I wasn’t about to start now—so no regrets!! (That day may very well come, I’m aware … but ‘tis not today!)

Also, for funsies, here’s my blurb!

Tender and wise, Zetterberg's sophomore novel is a triumph, gently peeling apart the layers of grief and joy that make up our lived human experience. With a multigenerational cast, past and present collide in a beautiful and surprising twist that will bring tears even to the most tear-resistant eyes. Perfect for fans of Fredrik Backman.

Keep this one on your radar!!

All quiet on the deal front

I want to write more extensively about this some time soon—but agenting does not move at a steady, predictable rhythm.

Cookbook agent superstar Sally Ekus recently made a video about this on her Substack that I really appreciated (and highly recommend), and talked about going from no new deals for months to getting 5 deals in 3 weeks.

This was especially timely for me to hear because, though there are lots of potentially good things happening for my authors (a deal-in-progress that’s inching forward, various R&R’s out with editors, promising IP auditions, emails from editors along the lines of ‘loving so far, keep me posted with movement,’ etc.), the last deal I actually closed was in February.

Yes. Though during January and February I was lucky to get 3 new deals for my authors, March, April and May have brought nothing firm … and it feels like a friggin’ drought!!

It hasn’t been fun, but don’t worry, we are not panicking. This is to be expected (*she told herself and her authors in a firm but loving voice*).

So much of the work of agenting goes into sowing the seeds—signing authors, editing their books, writing pitches, creating sub lists, sending out said books, waiting for editors to read—and most often, the fruits are simply not immediate… or even quick, in most cases. But, with continued hard work and a boat load of patience (or two), I know the fruits will eventually spring forth. (& also, c’mon, June, it’s your time to shine, babe)

But in terms of how it made the month of May feel, let’s just say that I’ve been in a perpetual state of I could use some good news today.

Also, fun tidbit—agent friends of mine, this year, have sold projects that have been on sub for 2 years. Two years, people.

I’ll leave you with that to chew on.

And all the other normal things

Of course, the above are just the highlights (and lowlights). The month has also been full to the brim of normal things: Going through the query inbox. Reading client manuscripts. Writing edit letters. Editing my new client’s book and getting it out on sub. Dealing with emails, next rounds of contract negotiations, inching forward on the deal I mentioned above (👀), Zooming with editors, connecting another of my authors with a film coagent (yay!), reading manuscripts with offers from the query inbox, writing a talk for an upcoming conference, doing various administrative-y things for my summer book release, etc etc—not to mention life stuff, like hanging out with extended family when they were in town toward the beginning of the month (loved that so much!!), traveling to see my parents for Memorial Day, where I celebrated my 42nd birthday (wheeeee, we love the 40s!), going to see my kids’ end of year school performances, hanging with friends, etc etc. In other words, it’s been a lot.

Will it ever slow down???

As I look forward to this summer, I wish I could say things are going to slow down… but I know better than that. Pending Sienna news, I’ll be writing on deadline, and that deadline will potentially be tight. I’ll be launching my first Sienna book in the US on August 12th (A Killer Getaway) (why yes, you can preorder that too, what a coincidence 😂) with the fabulous team at Sourcebooks. And of course doing summer travel, pool time with the kids (can’t skip that!), and agenting my ass off, as per usual.

To be honest, I don’t want it to slow down too much—traction just feels too damn good, and especially on the agenting side, I’m an ambitious gal (whereas the author side is more like a cherry on top). I want those deals! Come to me! Overwhelm me with yesses and offers and auctions and contracts! LET’S GO!

…and also, I’m gonna have to schedule some days off where I don’t do anything publishing related.

Your turn! How do you all build that rest time into your schedules when things get nuts… and stay nuts? I’d love to hear all your tips and tricks and strategies!

Also, if you have a mind to, please send up your wishes, intentions, prayers and/or manifestations that June will, erm, not kick my ass.