100 Rejections to get an agent!? my debut novel journey

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Video on traditional vs. self-publishing:
• My experiences in trad...

[@cheena3836]

Bummed because I got sent home from work early only to be blessed by this notification! Listening on my drive home🎉❤

[@ahnonamos]

This was great. I have no creative career but live your channel. Lots of applicable advice for any of life’s avenues

[@teresachaotic.corner]

I remember the absolute high of getting your first partial/full request and the crushing blow of the rejection. I was querying around 2012-2013 and I recall my first ever full request was from my dream agent. She did get back to me with some nice words and a request to resubmit, but oh man, I was in the depths of despair when that rejection came in. All summer I was revising with only her three sentences of critique to go on. Agents have so much power over newbie writers. Like imagine if you dashed off three sentences of encouragement and some starry-eyed writer hinges her entire hopes and dreams on three sentences. I was so certain she was going to love the revision. But when the final rejection happened, I was at work and literally ran to the restroom and crumpled into a pathetic sobbing ball. I got through it... only to get rejected again and again. Sometimes being a writer is like going through a gauntlet where you're beaten into a pulp and if you can stand up after that, you can survive anything.

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

Yep. Ohmigod, so after I made this video I was digging through old Livejournal entries more and remembered the first "good response" that kept me going and that it was from Laura Dail's ASSISTANT. Not even the agent herself! Like three sentences from some assistant! For ages I was clinging to that potential.

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

(And yes, the agent who gave me my first ever revise and resubmit, yes, I sobbed for ages when she rejected it. And then later when her career collapsed, it was like oh, so the universe was actually just sparing me an agonizing experience...)

[@azuraskye88]

Waw that's so tough. You did well to keep trying. I think from what I've gathered a lot of it is personal taste of the individuals reading it and not really a reflection of your idea or work. I wish you all the best 🙏

[@briellewrites]

Loved this! Your personality is so fun to watch too

[@CorvusCloudburst]

Thanks so much for sharing your story! It's inspiring and interesting :)

[@billyalarie929]

You are so delightful because of how informative and detailed you are. Plus I don’t hate listening to your very calming voice!

[@Ice--Scream]

Another banger video m8! ❤.

[@RockyXu]

Start writing short stories in videos format and have someone editing the videos . With your storytelling skill, the videos will kill it!! 🎉

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

I am terrible at short stories though. Ohmigosh, I have only ever written two for anthologies and novels are easier!!

[@azuraskye88]

Keep being you just as you are 🙏

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

Thank you so so much!!!

[@victoriameyer9709]

I would love to hear more about how you felt writing the book(s) after your first couple manuscripts failed to get an agent, and how you motivated yourself to keep sending stuff out (a burning sense of jealousy? pure masochism??). I'm currently at that point and feel very stuck.

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

Uh yes, pretty much both of those things, haha. Plus pure compulsion to keep writing, and the tantalizing idea that I had learned something from the failures and the NEXT one, yeah, that was gonna be the one. EVENTUALLY, it was true.

[@BooksForever]

This summary brought us along on an educational journey - thank you!

[@David.M.]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

[@azuraskye88]

You're a natural story teller! Great video. I'm so impressed by your strength to keep going with writing. I wrote a non-fiction book proposal and i did my research well and found an agency that i could see that my book type was missing from their catalogue and thst they'd probably like it. And they did and i signed on with them and got working on the next book proposal... then out of the blue they email me to say that they were cancelling my contract as it wasn't marketable and i had too low a number of followers on social media. I was crushed. Even though they didn't say it, my great fear was (and is) that my writing was just really bad. I am still sorta shaken by that and doubt my writing very much to this day whereas before I had a natural confidence in jt because i enjoyed it. Also...as they had wanted me to grow a social media following i tried many things to try and achieve that and it basically took over my life at that point. I was making all the trendy short form video content and none of it was true to me and actually it was embarrassing because i felt pushed to do it. So i guess my lesson was that i should stick with things i enjoy and find people who like what i like rather than trying to appeal to mass market. I'm now attempting to write another book and doing so under a pen name as that is giving me back some confidence. My alter ego is far more confident than me so that's good 😅 I guess I'm going to have to have a thicker skin. But when do you heed advice and when do you believe what you've got going is good!?

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

I doubt they dropped you because you were bad, if they had already signed you! Chances are either they changed direction and wanted people with more social media followers, as they say, or my hunch is that there is some behind the scenes trouble within the agency. It's also possible that you just chose a shady agency (I can't know this for sure from what you described, but there are plenty out there and it's not always easy to know how to tell). If you're a nonfiction writer and you don't really enjoy short form content, is it something you could start a Substack for? Then you could focus on that and only use social media mainly to tease longer form content... As for the insecurities, you can try to find some fellow writers to exchange critique. You can sense the vibe (if you share your work with people who are interested in the subject, especially people who are not family or close friends, do they ever engage with it?). But there is also a certain point where you just have to believe in what you're doing because someone will always be there to poke at your insecurities.

[@azuraskye88]

@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor thank you so much for such a thoughtful reply. That's so kind of you 😮 Substack is a great idea and I should definitely seriously consider it! They were a reputable agency but I think if they'd taken me that far they might have critiqued my writing and they didn't, so I'm hoping they means I wasn't awful. I think you're right and I need more people to read my work 🙏 really appreciate your insights, thank you x

[@21cormorants]

Yes yes yes to the blurb and query letter writing videos! Always love to hear others’ advice and experiences!

[@trying2write69]

For someone who lives in Europe, how can I find agents online? Where should I look?

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

Agents are usually pretty international. I have queried some UK agents before! So really any agent should still work. www.agentquery.com/ is a good place to begin.

[@trying2write69]

@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor thank you so much! you are the sweetest!

[@whimsylore]

I'm one of the people who read Magic Under Glass but then lost track of you (due to health challenges) but found you again via KZbin! Hello! Nice to read your work again and hear your story :) :)

[@Corruptskull]

Love listening to you talk! It’s so inspiring, and refreshing to see someone with your honesty and to just get your point of view. Thanks for sharing!

[@elementeight8]

You’re wonderful.

[@lidiyafoxgloveauthor]

Aw thank you SO so much!!