Two Ends in Sight

The first deadline I set for myself was for the end of January. Based on the averages I've noticed in querying, it seems between two to three weeks and two to three months is enough to have gotten an answer. Some agents are faster, some agents slower, anywhere from two to three days all the way up to six months, but again, the average. So I figured the end of January was more than enough for my first run. Funny enough, the very last response was actually positive and personalized, and spurred me to try a second run with a second deadline, which was the end of May.

Here I am now, at the end of another deadline. I had started to come to peace with the idea that my work is not meant for traditional publishing. Perhaps too controversial, too unconventional. So I made a plan to self-publish: do a crowdfunding campaign, do online targeted ads, find a company for cover design and interior formatting, find an editor. I reached out to an editor, who's formerly worked as an agent and with some big names, and they immediately fell in love with the story and concept, think it's "sellable," and offered to help me through the process of getting an agent.

You gotta go where the road leads you, right? And so, this will be my third and final run, over a year in. We'll see if this novel is meant to be at a publishing house, meant to have a publishing deal, meant to be on bookshelves in bookstores. If this doesn't take after all the time and effort, I'm proud I was thorough and that I learned and grew, that I went all the way, and I will gladly do it myself. I do believe I can succeed, whether I am traditionally or self-published. More than anything, it just feels nice knowing that, one way or another, there is going to be a book in my hands.

tjg3

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