Sunday, May 22, 2005

Patience.

I've been grappling with something huge lately...whether to push to get the book submitted while my agent is out on maternity leave or to just resign myself to the idea of waiting until she's back after Labor Day. While her assistant has been helpful - offering some very good comments (as well as some not-so-good ones) - I feel like she (and my agent's partner) don't really have any real vested interest in my future, or the future of this book. Christy, on the other hand, has always been a tremendous champion and fan. She's also a terrific critic, and I haven't even gotten her feedback (other than her general sense of how the book is working) yet. I have had to ask myself why I feel this intense need to get it done NOW ("Right Now!" as Kicky would say). I think it boils down to finances. It sure would be marvelous to sell the book NOW, but at what real cost? Argh.

A lot of what got me thinking about this is the book/signing event I went to at Politics and Prose the other night. Nicole Krauss ("The History of Love") seems to be enjoying the antithesis of what I have experienced with the publishing industry. She's on a huge book tour. Barnes and Noble just named her book one of the Discover New Writers books. THOL is the #1 Booksense pick for May, and The Today Show picked her book for this month's Book Club selection. Though she was articulate, bright, and (goddamnit) nice, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy. How much of my slumpy bumpy career is simply due to bad luck and bad business?

SO...I plan to revise like mad all summer so that the book will be waiting for Christy when she comes back. Patience. Patience.

In the meantime, we're enjoying this amazing spring. Today we're going to have a picnic at the Mall. The caterpillar should be emerging any day now from it's cocoon. Roses, irises, and peonies are in bloom. Patience.

1 comment:

T. Greenwood said...

Funny, I know I've got a small audience for my books, but I certainly didn't think my little blog had any readers (other than friends I've neglected trying to catch up with what's going on with me). Thank you for the advice/encouragement, nods, etc... I actually maintain the website myself, hence the cessation of time on the timeline following my eldest's first birthday. I've been thinking of revamping when/if the new book comes out.

I am simultaneously attracted to and repulsed by the business aspect of writing. (I think a character in a Woody Allen movie said something to that effect about her response to male genitalia.) While I know that grass roots advertising is both integral and effective for smaller writers, I often feel resentful of having to take care of everything myself. I wrote the book, damn-it! What more do you want from me?? It also drains me...and makes me less inclined to write. I know, though, it's sometimes the only way.

Thank you again, though. I think that a fan newsletter would be a terrific idea. Not sure how many "fans" I've got, but hey!