Saturday, August 22, 2009

The Call!

Okay, so Friday, March the 13th, was a lucky day for me. New agent, renewed excitement to get the book finished. So over the course of the next 7 weeks, I busted my tail, got high blood pressure for the first time in my life (no kidding), no sleep, the works. Kevan made some suggestions for revisions and I typed away until we were both satisfied with the results. A query went out and we got 7-ish requests for the manuscript right before RWA National in D.C.

Since I had the opportunity for face time at the conference, I stalked (G), ah, sought out all the editors on our list for face-to-face introductions. What I didn't know at the time was one of the editors already planned to make an offer, but wasn't quite ready to do so. So a few days after returning from D.C., July 29th at 11:11 am, I got "The Call"! It involved lots of crying and jumping up and down. Truthfully, I think I cried through the entire call. Sadly, I was so busy freaking out that it took about a half hour after the call to realize Kevan said "book(s)". I had to confirm that little detail a couple hours later when she called to tell me we'd accepted the offer. It was for a two book contract! After many, many years of writing, rejections on other manuscripts, and getting close to making a sale or two, I was flying! I have the world's best agent!

About a week later, I talked to my new Berkley editor on the phone. She is so nice! The books will be part of a series! Now I'm waiting for the contract and for the revisions to begin. I won't be posting regularly, but will post through the next year and a half. Since the books won't come out until early 2011, it will be a long process. But if you want some insider scoop on what happens from sale to book release, please come along for the ride! Cheryl

5 comments:

  1. Go Cheryl! So many of us are loving your story -- it is a dream come true!!! The books sound wonderful, and I will be following your blog all the way til I buy them at Barnes and Noble!!!

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  2. Cheryl,
    You say that you came close a few times before making the sale. Can you elaborate on that? Thanks

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  3. Thanks Arabella! I hope you enjoy the journey!

    Hi Valerie. An editor at Harlequin loved one of my books, and told me so, several times. She dragged her feet for months, then...left the company to have babies! The next editor didn't find me funny at all. Clearly, she had no sense of humor! LOL

    A second book (and publisher) made it past a reader, assistant editor and one more editor up the chain. They held onto it for months, then passed. Ouch! So close!

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  4. Thanks for the answer! Was Kevan your first/only agent?

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