The waiting game

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have the patience of an ADD toddler.  That's especially true when I'm waiting on revisions, or proposal acceptance or decline, or shopping at the grocery store.  Walmart is my version of Hell.

But here I sit at 2:37 AM wondering if my agent has sent the proposal (she's off at a conference); wondering whether my editor liked my last book; and knowing I have to go to Walmart today for a few things. 

You'd think after so many books I'd have this waiting game down to a science.  Well, you'd be wrong.  I angst over everything.  Except Walmart, of course.  I know I'm going to have to tough that one out.

So why all the waiting?  Well, when it comes to the manuscript I just delivered, I'm always afraid my editor will come back with "Very funny, no where's the real book?"  I know in my heart that I can be pleased with the final outcome but that doesn't mean my editor won't find the glaring errors I didn't catch. I already know one of the things she'll tag me on.  I do not use spell check - sorry the squiggly lines are a distraction.  So all through the manuscript the heroine is eating moo-shu.  Only I spelled it moo-shoo.  In my defense, that's how it's spelled in the take out menu of my local Chinese place that just happens to be run by Koreans. Obviously not a good research tool.  When I order take out, I do dumplings, so I never think about the other offerings.  Creature of habit.

I have an excellent editor (shout out to Abby Zidle) and she is really good at picking up threads I may have dropped along the way.  She also knows the character so she can point out when Finley isn't acting like Finley.But for you newbies out there, I deliver the manuscript, then my editor sends revisions (via track changes) and then there's the line edit and the galley proofs.  And cover conferences.  And marketing meetings. And a whole bunch of other stuff.Many, many steps before the book becomes a book.

I also have a great agent (Shout out to Donna Bagdasarian).  First and foremost, she keeps me from getting facial ticks during the waiting period.  She is very good about giving me updates.  Maybe my editor loves it but she has to take it to the publisher for an okay.  Or my editor is swamped with things to get done so the revisions will be late and tight.  It's nice to be kept in the loop.  And for all you newbies out there . . . agents are different.  Some read your work, then submit it.  Others read your work and make revision suggestions, then submit your work, and finally, some agents do a complete line edit. So when you're agent shopping, look for the kind of agent you want to work with.  Personally I like the hands on approach.  I'd rather fix a problem before the manuscript gets submitted than look like an ass in front of my editor.

Want the full scoop on how an idea turns into a book?  Join Donna, Abby and me at RWA in July.  We're doing a panel on from idea to edit, covering all of the 'who does what' aspects of publishing.