In Wait
Job 6:11~ "What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?"
When the Lord wants to teach me patience, he makes me wait. My response reveals how patient I am, or perhaps how patient I am not. And I have nothing like Job's excuse.
The FWA conference is over, and it was such an affirming and refreshing time, as always. This is my third year attending, and the sessions were wonderful and helpful. I was able to pitch Sprinter to two agents and a publisher. The first agent, it turns out, doesn't take Christian fiction, but I got to practice my pitch and move on. The Christian publisher was interested in my story and took some of my chapters. The Christian agent forwarded my chapters to her new agent who wasn't at the conference, and she emailed me to confirm that she would be reading soon.
I'm extremely excited that two people are considering Sprinter. In the meantime, I am waiting.
Part of me wants to send out ten more queries to agents and publishers. I did catch the tail end of the Penguin open submission period. The well-known publisher accepted unsolicited queries from August until the end of October. Granted, I may never hear anything from them.
Another part of me wants to wait and see what the two women will say. If they reject my story, I'm hopeful they will tell me why, in which case I can take their advice, edit and then submit elsewhere.
I'm not sure if rushing to send out more queries would imply impatience or perseverance. I think I prefer active patience--doing while waiting--as opposed to inactive. Whatever I do, I can be active in prayer, and I can keep writing.
When the Lord wants to teach me patience, he makes me wait. My response reveals how patient I am, or perhaps how patient I am not. And I have nothing like Job's excuse.
The FWA conference is over, and it was such an affirming and refreshing time, as always. This is my third year attending, and the sessions were wonderful and helpful. I was able to pitch Sprinter to two agents and a publisher. The first agent, it turns out, doesn't take Christian fiction, but I got to practice my pitch and move on. The Christian publisher was interested in my story and took some of my chapters. The Christian agent forwarded my chapters to her new agent who wasn't at the conference, and she emailed me to confirm that she would be reading soon.
I'm extremely excited that two people are considering Sprinter. In the meantime, I am waiting.
Part of me wants to send out ten more queries to agents and publishers. I did catch the tail end of the Penguin open submission period. The well-known publisher accepted unsolicited queries from August until the end of October. Granted, I may never hear anything from them.
Another part of me wants to wait and see what the two women will say. If they reject my story, I'm hopeful they will tell me why, in which case I can take their advice, edit and then submit elsewhere.
I'm not sure if rushing to send out more queries would imply impatience or perseverance. I think I prefer active patience--doing while waiting--as opposed to inactive. Whatever I do, I can be active in prayer, and I can keep writing.
Good luck with everything, he makes all things beautiful in his time.
ReplyDeleteHi Bria,
ReplyDeleteHope you are having a good day;I just want to thank you for visiting my blog and your gracious comment. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Bria,
ReplyDeleteGreat hopes for your novel. I've just started revision 3 of mine - so I'm not close to an agent query yet. (Is that a disease?) I'd say what's critical is that you're querying people who fit the profile of your novel. Then I'd say limit the number, but whether that's 2 or 5, that's up to you.
John
Hi Bria,
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining my blog!!
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with your dear family and beloved ones!!
God bless you, and All the Best!!
Starry Dawn.
Your last comments were right on - patience, prayer, and keep writing! Good post.
ReplyDelete