JOURNEY OUT OF LIMBO
Poets & Writers Magazine|July - August 2022
THE EPIC STORY OF HOW AN AGENT SELLS YOUR BOOK
Courtney Maum
JOURNEY OUT OF LIMBO

ON THE legendary trek to Contractua, the fabled land of book deals, most writers pass through Publishing's Middle Earth: a swampy realm in which one has secured a literary agent but yet not the Triforce Gift of Clarity that will advance them on their quest. Hark! Clarity is obtainable if our heroes are valiant and don't spend too much time refreshing their e-mail inboxes, which exhausts the writerly life force. Grab a rucksack, valiant writer! The paths toward Contractua are many, and the sun is rising: Let us begin our quest.

The Prophesized Signature

Atlast you have come to an opening in the maze of agent querying. After hearing that agents one through thirty-seven aren't "the right fit" for your book, you have finally found someone who wants to represent your project. By way of contracts, you sign an e-document, or you work on good faith. Either way, congratulations! You have a Sam to your Frodo as you march toward publication.

The Vista...With No View

You walk to a scenic overlook to see what the world looks like now that you have an agent, then There is no view. A gray gasp: mist covers everything in sight, including your agent. Grasping the metaphor, you call into the mist for answers. The mist responds with questions, which is annoying.

"Does your agent do developmental edits?"

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July - August 2022-Ausgabe von Poets & Writers Magazine.

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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July - August 2022-Ausgabe von Poets & Writers Magazine.

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