Then the scary part of querying agents begins.
When the concept and sample chapters attract an agent, I happily send my novel
off, crossing my fingers and praying that this is the agent who will sign my
manuscript to a contract and find a publishing house.
I finished my novel at the beginning of the
year and queried between thirty and forty agents. Several asked for partials
and one wanted the whole manuscript, but conflicting responses left me
confused. I’ve published short stories in well-known
magazines in the United
Kingdom and won a contest or two so I know
my writing is good.
One agent loved the back story, but not the
current, while another agent loved the current story, but not the back story.
What to do? My novel is a dual time-frame plot with the back story
taking place in 1812 Upper Canada
and the current story revolving around the descendents of the 1812
characters.
I decided I needed a fresh pair of eyes and
looked for a freelance editor. Since I live near Toronto,
I wanted to stay close to home and looked up The Editors’ Association of
Canada. My first attempt failed when an editor kept my manuscript for about
three weeks and then emailed me to say he was too busy to do the work. He
refunded my money and I had to start over. Almost a month wasted.
My second try worked like a charm. I hired
Allister Thompson, who quoted me a very reasonable fee. We agreed he would get
back to me in a month with a substantive edit and we signed a contract. He kept
in touch while he was editing my work and finished in three weeks. He charged
less than his quote and sent my evaluation by email.
I admit I was nervous while I read his
evaluation, but he assured me that I have the skill to write compelling
fiction. He said my characters were well-drawn and the plot interesting. That
was the good news. He went on to say that, my manuscript was too long and he
suggested I get rid of one character. He included several pages of general impressions and a chapter-by-chapter
breakdown, which helped me decide which scenes to keep and which ones needed
cutting or editing.
I wrote back and thanked him before I got
down to the complicated task of yet another major revision. It wasn’t as
painful as I thought it would be. By eliminating that one minor character, I
got rid of one hundred pages. It took me about a month to complete my revision
and I’m thrilled with the final effort.
If your manuscript is having trouble
finding an agent, perhaps it’s time to get the opinion of a professional editor.
It can’t hurt.
