Manuscript Request, New Newsletter, & Nuance

Hi again, from me & my Romeo.

So a lot has been happening this last month-ish. Last time I posted was at the beginning of January, and thus far, my main efforts have been digging into this second book of mine (coined the Jezra Story for now), and selecting a platform for a monthly newsletter combining three seemingly un-related topics across fiction (duh), faith (double duh), and fitness (triple duh).

(Check out my Substack here; second installment forthcoming.)

But! Also, in addition to all of this mess, I've been *trying* to consistently post on social media (which is actually harder than you'd think, though, in theory, all I should need do is just share what I'm already doing), AND an agent REQUESTED A FULL COPY OF MY MANUSCRIPT.

Now.

This is a big deal.

BUT. It still by no means means (lol, means means... English is funny) that I'll be offered a letter of representation, and now I'm in a waiting game for a couple months to learn whether or not they like enough TO offer a letter of representation. Going with the current stats of success in this industry (1% chance), I'm going to bet they won't offer me representation, wherein my next steps are NOT YET self publication BECAUSE the agent who requested the full manuscript is not the agent I've already been speaking with. This is a different one. The first agent (just to avoid throwing out names) has shown interest in Conduit of Fire, but because she wanted me to chop 50k words and I was only able to chop 11k (though she applauded me and agreed that was still a hefty amount cut), I told her that I'd be moving forward with professional editing. In light of that, she has said that she'd be interested in seeing my full manuscript *after* professional editing.

(I believe her hope is that the editor can help me whittle down my word count even more. Which they just might be able to, but I DID think of a way I can tweak the beginning of COF, which I will do before hiring the editor, and which will automatically cut even more words before the professional can even get their eyes on it.)

All this to say, I'm not sure what the best course of action would be to address this situation. Usually, you never assume in such an industry, because these folks get HUNDREDS and THOUSANDS of manuscripts all the time, so the last thing you want to do is put a bad taste in their mouth by assuming. However, she DID say she was interested AFTER the professional edit. So. I did let her know another agent requested my full manuscript. I let her know that if nothing happens with that agent, I'd move forward as stated above and would let her know when the professional edit was done. I'm ASSUMING she got the message, but did not reply, but I also did not expect her to reply, because again, she has way more on her plate to worry about than to simply reply and say, "Okay."

Alright. That was a lot. Deep breath.

Another thing that's gone on these last several weeks is I've reminded myself how much I get in my own way. I want this new newsletter to serve those I'm sending it to so much that it's jacking up my ability to share what I normally would on social media (thinking I have to "save" my thoughts for the newsletter), and then getting confused as to what exactly I should share (because it certainly wouldn't be this rambly of a mess). But as always, when I pull my head out of my own butt, stop navel-gazing (as some in a previous church used to say), and look back up to the Lord I serve and remember why I'm doing what I'm doing and why I have this newsletter in the first place--the chaos stills. The chaos ALWAYS stills when I remember to look up, leave my worries in God's hands, and keep my meditiations on His Word and not my own capabilities or concerns. With His blessing, He leads and guides by His Holy Spirit and I obey. I just gotta remember to stop trying to get too far ahead of myself. Lord knows that's the best way to HALT progress when it comes to writing a book, when you let the scope of what you're actually doing overshadow the one scene or nuance you're currently working on, and the same thing happens in life, when you're trying to simultaneously obey your Lord while chasing your goals and praying they align and don't contradict one another.

Okay.

So in short:

1. An agent requested a copy of my manuscript!

2. I have a newsletter now. Please check it out and subscribe.

3. Please check out my Instagram and follow me if you like what you see. (I really gotta change my handle to something all-encompassing with what I'm doing... I'm open to suggestions...)

4. I also have a Facebook, but I use my personal account for now, and am not sure if I'll make a professional one (read: USE the professional one I already created), so for now, if you know me, friend me. If you don't, hang tight on the Facebook bit. I still gotta figure that out. BUT! If you friend me because you want to follow me and you don't know me, please make sure you send me a message on why and who you are and I'll accept the friend request (you know; avoiding all those pesky scammers).

5.  Jezra Story is coming along quite nicely, though MAN do I let the scope of my project get in my own way sometimes. Eyes up, Jessica!

6. COF will be experiencing a small revamp of the beginning if the agent doesn't offer a letter of representation; it will likely be doing so anyway, but I will wait the alotted time before doing that work and instead keep my creative efforts on the Jezra Story until it's time to shift.

7. Oh, oh! Forgot! This upcoming weekend, thanks to my amazing husband, I am also going to meet with someone who spends her time reviewing books, helping to improve them, AND helps folks build an audience/platform. I know nothing else about it, but fingers crossed it's what I think and hope it'll be and that, if God will it, we'll mesh and be able and willing to work together.

Alright. I think that's it for now.

Until next time!

God bless,

Jess