Let me tell you a little about the progress of “The Fortunate Nomad”… my manuscript is, for the moment, as ready as it is going to get. After 14 months of intensive writing and two rounds of editing with the very talented, professional editor Monica Meneghetti, the 8th draft is finished. My story has 35 chapters. With a formatting of 12pt font and double spacing we are looking at 592 pages.
I have started the process of writing to literary agents and publishers. So far, I am targeting only companies in the UK. The London Book Fair is coming up and I am hoping to make some connections there. Unfortunately, with all the job hunting and moving to a new country, I seem to have missed my chance to sign up for personal meetings with agencies directly at the fair. This, of course, will not stop me from trying to talk with them anyways.
As for my letters and submissions, it’s a lot of hard work. Each agency has different submission guidelines, so I am spending most of my free time composing and rearranging submission after submission, then sending them out with hopes of getting some sort of feedback further down the line.
So far, I have received three rejections. The first was very encouraging, “we are unfortunately completely swamped, but I’m sure you’ll be snapped up”. The second was polite, “we don’t feel your story is right for our current list.” And the third was quite direct, “I’m afraid we’re going to pass”.
I’ll continue writing to every single agency and publisher I can find in the UK. After that, I will begin targeting the hundreds of companies in Canada and the USA.
Essentially, I am not going to stop. I will keep sending letters every day for as long as it will take to find someone who will be intrigued and care; someone who will believe in “The Fortunate Nomad” and see its great potential as much as I do.
So, keep fingers crossed my dear friends and readers. We will get there in the end! xxx