Be Kind, Be Happy and Agent Emails!

WARNING: Today’s post is long. Feel free to skip around if you need to.

Update:

This week, I’ve been making progress with my novel and my narration project.

Since the pitch event (mentioned in a previous post), I’ve heard from 5 of the 7 agents who wanted to read more of my novel.

Here are the replies I received: (For a shorter read, skip the numbered list and go directly to the summary below.)

For those interested in the exact emails I received from the agents, they’re listed next with my reactions.

Agent email responses:

1.     Hi Melissa, Thanks so much for sending THE FALSE FLAT! I enjoyed my read but I didn't fall in love (totally subjective, the tone just wasn't quite my thing) - and I know you're getting a lot of interest here so I wanted to clear the way for another agent to snap it up! I'm looking forward to see where it lands.

a.      This was the first one I received. I was bummed, but she seemed confident that I’d get an agent. A boost within a rejection!

2.     Dear Melissa, Thank you so much for sending me The False Flat, which I enjoyed reading. While I really loved this concept, I'm afraid some pacing issues took me out of the narrative. While this isn't the right fit for my list at this time, I urge you to query others. This is a completely subjective business and others will no doubt feel differently. I wish you all the best in your writing and publishing journey, and hope you find the passionate representation this book deserves elsewhere. 

a.      Pacing issues??? I have no idea what this means. The agent urges me to query others, which seems promising, but I really wonder what pacing issues she’s concerned about. Since she didn’t elaborate, I can’t fix it!

3.     Hi Melissa. Thanks for sending your revised- I thought the opening was much stronger, but unfortunately, I did still have reservations so I am going to step aside.  Good luck and hope you find a great home for this.

a.      This agent requested my novel before the pitch event and rejected it in July. She re-requested it during the pitch event, so I informed her of my minor revisions and sent it back to her (as requested). She has now rejected me twice. I anticipated this, so it’s not a big surprise or disappointment.

4.     Hi Melissa, Thanks so much for sending along The False Flat and for your patience as I read and reviewed. There’s so much to love about this story – you’ve got such a charming lead in Pen, and I adore the world you’ve created around her. Unfortunately, after closer consideration, I’m not sure I think this concept is quite hooky enough to stand out in such a crowded market which, ultimately, means that I’m probably not the right person to champion your book. Thank you so much for the opportunity to consider your work and I wish you the very best of luck on as you move forward in finding the right partner for this. I have no doubt you will!

a.      I kinda like this one. She rejected me, but she did it in such a way I hardly felt the rejection. I’m a little concerned that she thinks it’s not hooky enough, but she only had the first 3 chapters to go by. Maybe that wasn’t enough? Or maybe this book won’t make it out there. Who knows? Nothing concrete to take from this unfortunately. But I’m hanging on her last line. She thinks I’m going to snag an agent. It’s a little inconsistent, but I’m hoping she’s at least half right!

5.     Dear Melissa, Thank you for giving me the opportunity to consider THE FALSE FLAT. I really enjoyed these opening pages and would love to read more. Please follow the instructions below to upload your full manuscript. I'm looking forward to reading.

a.      This one is my favorite. This agent read the first 3 chapters and liked them enough to want to read more! Once my revisions are complete, I’ll send it on to her. Maybe she’ll find it hooky enough!

Summary:

4 agents weren’t interested in my manuscript. 1 agent wants to read my whole book (yay!). I haven’t heard from the last 2 agents.

More news:

Since the pitch event, I’ve heard back from an agent who had already been reading the whole novel. She said “I admit I stayed up way too late finishing the ms and sobbed at the end. Pen is a great character. She's both incredibly frustrating but also relatable and well-written. I found myself rooting for her even among her fumbles and mistakes.”

This agent went on to give me a list of items she’d like to see changed in the book. Essentially, she asked me to make revisions and return the book to her for a re-read. In the writing world, that’s called a “Revise and Resubmit (R&R).”

That’s a promising step forward!

If you read the above list of agent feedback, those are the typical rejection letters you get when you “query.” Agents don’t have time to give every writer/manuscript detailed feedback on what they did right or wrong. THIS agent took time to read my whole novel and took more time to give a whole page of notes. She sees potential. NO GUARANTEE, but it’s further than I’ve ever been before.

 If you’re interested in reading about exactly what an R&R means, here’s a great resource.

I agree with her feedback and have been feverishly working to make her suggested changes. I’m close to finishing my book…again!

I also want to implement these changes before I send anything to the one agent who requested the full.

I’ll let you know how things pan out!

In the upcoming 2 weeks, I’ll also update you on my narration project. Phew! It’s a doozy.

Motivate:

My “update” has nothing to do with my “motivate” today, but at this time of year (Christmas time), my mind is on kindness and increasing happiness. Christmas is a magical time of year, but it can also be a stressful, depressing time too. We can easily get obsessed with gifts and commercialism.

One of the best ways to improve your happiness is to do something for someone else.

Kindness is one of the best gifts you can give.

I love doing things for people, and I tend to go overboard. (Sometimes that opens me up to being completely abused. I had to sever a relationship recently because of this, which is a story for another time.) And while I love giving and doing, I don’t like talking about what I’ve done, and I’m also not a great receiver (again, another topic).

Several months back, I had an experience that I normally would never share, but I’m going to today because while I did some good for someone else, I received a whole lot more. Sometimes giving IS receiving.

If you’re looking for the shorter version of this blog, skip my story below to get to the take-away.  

Dollar Tree Butterflies - a story of kindness

One evening, Stephen, Aerie, Amorette, and I decided to take a trip to The Dollar Tree. It was later in the evening, already dark outside, and we packed into the car and headed to find some party supplies.

As we perused the aisles, two women and a small child caught my eye. The woman who carried the baby was haggard, and frustration radiated off her body. She wasn’t smiling, and the way she shifted the child was a little on the rough side. She wasn’t hurting the kid, but the little one was definitely getting the brunt of her day. She’d had enough, and it showed. (At least to me.) The other woman was busy putting items in the cart, and while her mood wasn’t quite as downtrodden, she didn’t smile back at me when we made eye contact and I smiled at her. People probably see me as a psycho, smiling at them all the time, but you can tell a bad mood when you see one, smile or not.

I felt sorry the baby, but I went on with my shopping. Nothing I could do there. And my family and I eventually got in the checkout line.

The two women and the baby ended up in line behind us. They were getting groceries and toiletries, and I had this overwhelming feeling that they were frustrated because they were trying to stretch funds they didn’t really have.  They were speaking another language, so I didn’t understand what they were saying to each other, but again, I had that feeling…it just hadn’t been a good day for them. I softened because I could definitely sympathize with a bad day.

One after another, our items were scanned and bagged, and I got an urge, a scary one. My stomach flipped, and my heart rate increased. I’m getting a little fluttery just typing this.

I was nervous. Because I wanted to pay for their order. But I had no way of knowing how they’d react. Would I be doing them a kindness? Would I be offending them because I’d suggested they couldn’t afford something? Would they even understand me if I tried to ask if I could pay?

But I knew what it was like to be on that end, to need and not have. And that baby…

After I’d swiped my credit card, I didn’t do anything. I took my receipt, I picked up my bags, my heart still racing with indecision, and my family and I walked out of the store. As soon as we were on the sidewalk, I looked through the window. Their items were being scanned, little beeps signaling an increasing total. I stopped Stephen and my girls.

“Did you see the two women behind us?” I didn’t wait for him to respond. I didn’t have time. “I wanna pay for their order.”

“Then do it!”

He didn’t hesitate. So I stopped hesitating.

I took a deep breath and went back inside the store. I was doing this. I was still nervous. Other people might not have been; I was. I walked up to the woman with the baby. “Your baby is so cute. Can I pay for your order?”

She smiled. She smiled. It was a beautiful smile.

And relief flooded me. I made sure she knew I’d done this because of her baby. I made some gooey noises at the child, and I stood beside them, waiting for their order total.

Was it awkward standing there? You betcha. I’d stepped out of my comfort zone. But their demeanor was totally changed. She bounced the baby happily and thanked me. I knew I’d done a good thing, the right thing. They left happy because I saw a need for good and opened myself up to potential backlash.

I felt really good too, a little jittery from actually doing the thing, but mostly, it just felt nice. Their reaction to my action was a gift for me. We helped each other that night, those two women, that sweet baby, and me. And I got to talk to my kids about spreading kindness.

I don’t know if God placed us together on purpose or if this was just a moment of many potentials, but I’ll treasure the thought and the feeling. And I’ll do it again if the situation presents itself. I also know that the kindness I extended caused a ripple effect. They had a better evening, so someone else had a better evening. I know this happened because, like I said, I’ve been there. I’ve been extended kindness when I was in need, and it made me kinder. I passed along the help.

I tell this story because I’m asking you to do the same thing, for yourself and for someone else.

Welcome if you’ve skipped ahead.

My story ends with a call to action:

Look for an opportunity to extend kindness. It doesn’t have to be financial. It can be as simple as a smile, a genuine compliment, holding the elevator, taking your friend that Starbucks you know they love (that costs), or better, letting someone know you’ve been thinking about them (a text, a call, an email, a visit, etc.). It’s a huge gift to feel like we matter. Let someone know they matter to you.

It’s Monday. It’s a holiday week. There’s so much going on. There’s excitement and planning and long to-do lists. Take some time, step out of your comfort zone (potentially), and do some small act of kindness to show someone you care, that you’re paying attention, that another person means something to you.

Whether it’s a stranger or someone you know, your kindness might be just what someone needs. And you’ll feel better that you made a difference.

Enjoy that post-giving high.

Here, have a Shortbread recipe:

I LOVE shortbread. And I’ve had me some gluten recently. These babies are holiday delights, and I just needed to share because they made me happy this week.

This recipe is adapted from Preppy Kitchen.

Cranberry Orange Shortbread:

Ingredients:

• 10 tbsp unsalted butter unsalted butter, at room temperature 142g

• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (add 1/4 tsp orange extract if you have it. I didn’t.)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 180g

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt optional

• Zest of one (preferably organic) navel orange

• 2-3 oz dried cranberries (Craisins)

Instructions

• Beat butter and vanilla extract until creamed.

• Add orange zest, confectioners sugar and salt; mix until combined.

• Scrape bowl down and add flour and cranberries while beating on low.

• Scrape bowl once more and mix until combined.

• Shape the dough into a log, wrap in parchment or plastic wrap and chill until firm. (At least an hour.) You can also leave in the fridge overnight, for prep-ahead baking.

• Preheat oven to 350F (177C). Use a sharp knife to cut cooled 1/2 inch thick slices.

• Place slices, spaced at least an inch apart onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

• Bake for about 10 minutes, rotating baking sheet in the oven halfway through. (I didn’t rotate. Ain’t nobody got time for that.)

• Transfer to a wire sheet to cool.

ENJOY!

Happy holidays, friends!

And just so you know, you’ve already shown me a kindness today. By reading my blog, you’ve told me that my words matter to you, and that’s huge to me. So thank you!

Stay safe, and I’ll see you on the other side of this holiday!

Much glitter,

Melissa

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