Move with me

Follow Me . . . Please

Charlie Sheen has a famous father, Adonis in his family tree, a lot of money, goddesses, tiger's blood and a mercury surfboard.  I just have my passion for fighting congenital heart disease, a sense of humor, and a good book.  Charlie Sheen had a million twitter followers in about 15 minutes; I just need 500.  That's my goal.  So, even if you hate Twitter, you can sign up and only follow me! Try it . . .

Go to this address: http://twitter.com/#!/amandaroseadams  and follow me on Twitter.  I know, Twitter seems lame to most of us who remember the 1984 Olympics, and I didn't really want to use it, but I need it.  I need Twitter to get published, and I need you.  There I admit it, now please help me and sign up for twitter and follow me.  You don't have to follow anyone else.  It's painless, I promise.

You're on the old blog, please check out the new blog at this address: http://halfheartwholelife.blogspot.com/
This is the blog for the book.  Search for the words "Follow" and "Subscribe" on the page and follow and subscribe to the blog.  If this scares you, ask a teenager for help.  :)

Here's the deal, I wrote a book.  Several literary agents (more than five but less than twenty) have told me the writing is good and these folks know their writing, but I have to prove that despite the recession and the public's love of all things Sheen and Lohan, that maybe, just maybe there is a market for the story about girl meets boy, falls in love, has baby and battles for his life.

So, please help.  Help me prove that Americans (and my rockin' Aussie, Costa Rican, and EU friends out there)  have more substance that a wild fascination with a substance abuser with tiger's blood.  It's as easy as clicking some links and telling your friends.

Pass it on! Tell your friends! Help me make this more viral than the stomach bug that took down my husband over the weekend and caused Liam to produce a huge bowl of mashed bananas for mommy to dump down the toilet - see my life is not so glamorous, but this book matters because it shines a light on CHD and the fact that normal people can do extraordinary things.

Oh yeah, and post comments!  Show the love, and know I love all my friends and family who've supported us these past eight years. 

New Name Same Story

So I have good news, bad news, and no news.  The good news is that six agents have asked for proposals and the bad is that two of the six have passed.  The no news is that there's no news from the four who have it and I must proceed with caution and not harass them lest they find me annoying. . .

The other news is that I've changed the title of the book. It's now Half Heart, Whole Life.  If it's not too much trouble, please hop over to the new site and subscribe to that too!

Thanks all!

http://halfheartwholelife.blogspot.com/

Cross your Digits

So, after sixty-seven rejections, an agent finally asked to READ the whole manuscript today.  I hope, hope, hope she has the same reaction to it that some of the AMAZING bookclub bees had last night and just can't put it down, and yes I hope it makes her cry!

I know that's awful, but at the same time the more attached she gets to my book the harder it will be for her to reject it.  So, cross your fingers and toes that our friendly literary agent needs a tissue or two and stays riveted to the book!

And special thanks to those beautiful bees who let me into the hive and sent me home humming.  Thanks Sue & Deb for the little bit of sweet honey comb that gave me some very needed encouragement!

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Will you still need me when I'm 64?

Sixty-four rejections.  I'm recycling the printed ones for shopping lists!  The one that hurts the worst was from the only person who wanted a proposal/partial.  She liked the writing and the story but doesn't expect she can sell it. 

I am feeling a bit down about it all.  It's a lot of work to query, and to get so much rejection is par of the course, but I feel like I've missed out on a lot of my actual life trying to get this book published.  I'm considering self-publishing, but we'll see where things go.  I'm giving myself at lest until Liam's birthday at the end of April before I give up on agents all-together. 

I worked REALLY hard at this process and did all the right research, so it's not like I've not done things the right way.  It's more that things aren't going my way.  I won't spend too long feeling down though; I've overcome far worse problems than this.  Still, it's a little depressing when no one says yes.

Seven in One Day!

I'm up to 51 rejections, and seven of them came today - five in the mail! I'm so glad I spent those $5 on postage! Jim is actually more upset than I am, but it's all good.  Rejection is a right of passage, I just didn't think I'd have fifty-one rejections and only one person ask to read more. 

We'll see, I have another 49 queries floating around in cyberspace and snail mail.  Like they say, you only need ONE.  We'll see.  There should be some press coverage on the reading group next week, so we'll see how that goes.  Always the optimist - that's the role of a Heart Mom, and I'm a veteran.

Wish me luck, if I don't get any serious interest by my birthday I'll start looking at alternative channels.

What I did on my Christmas vacation!

This year for my week off work, I was a query hound with my Christmas gift come early (Power Mac!!!) Post query marathon returned a lot of rejection.  As promised, here are all my rejections, with names abbreviated to protect the innocent. 

Honestly, not one of these people had to send me a rejection; they could have just ignored me.  In fact, some of these same people who were nice enough to send rejections (including one whose name I misspelled - yikes) state right on their web pages that they don't send rejections, but they did anyway.  It's not wonderful to be rejected, but it is nice to not be ignored.  So for each of these 26 rejections I say, thank you literary agents for being prompt, courteous, and kind. There is a 27th rejection by silence, that is crickets chirping.   Some were especially kind, and they get an extra smiley face :).

For those of you contemplating writing a book, here is a preview of what to expect when you're done writing a manuscript and start writing query letters!

1. Chirp, chirp - no response, assume rejected.
2. Thank you for your recent query regarding representation. Having considered this, we've concluded that x is not going to be the right fit for your project but of course wish you all the best with it.
3. We’re afraid your project does not seem right for our list, but thank you for thinking of D., and best of luck in your search for representation.
4. Thank you for your interest in our agency. This sounds like a wonderful project, but alas, as A. mentioned in her newsletter piece, we just don't do a lot of memoir, and we lean more toward literary nonfiction (where the story resembles a novel), where this sounds more theme-based. You might try www.agentquery.com as a good source for finding an agent who is more open to this type of project. Our very best wishes for this meaningful book and all your publishing endeavors!
5. Thank you so much for writing me about your project.  I read and consider each query carefully and, while yours is not exactly what I am looking for, I would certainly encourage you to keep trying.  I know your work is important to you and I am grateful that you wrote to me.
6. Thank you very much for giving us a chance to consider your work.  Unfortunately, your project is not right for us at this time. Publishing is a matter of taste, however, and another agent may feel differently—we encourage you to keep looking for an enthusiastic editor or agent. We wish you the very best of luck with your work.
7. Dear Author,  Thank you for your query.  The project you have offered is not suitable for our Agency at this point.  We apologize for responding with a form e-mail, but doing so enables us to respond quickly so that your work may be submitted elsewhere without delay.
8. Thank you for the query.  I'm sorry that I do not think that I would be the right agent for the project.
9. Thanks for your query, Amanda. This looks like a terrific book, but I'm afraid I would not be quite the right fit for it, and so must pass. But you should absolutely keep searching out other agents, as another may well want to grab it.
10. Dear Amanda--  I’m sorry to say that I’m not confident that I would be able to find a publisher for your book.  Another agent may know just the right editor and I wish you great success.
11. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to review your work, but it doesn't seem right for our agency at this time. Wishing you success.
12. Many thanks for writing. You have an interesting and powerful idea for a book, and there's a lot to like about your approach. But in the end I'm afraid that I didn't come away quite fully convinced it was something I'd be able to represent successfully. I'm sorry not to be more enthusiastic but I'm grateful for the chance to review it nonetheless, and best of luck to you in finding it the right home.
13. Thank you for your query letter.  This isn't quite right for me but thank you for thinking of my agency.  I wish you the best of success!
14. Thank you for sending us your query. We are unable to ask to see more of your work as we can only review and take on a few new projects each year. We wish you all the best and thank you for thinking of us.
15. Thank you for your query letter. We've had the chance to review it and, unfortunately, this project is not right for us.  Best of success to you in all your literary endeavors.
16. Thanks, but we will pass.
17. Not for us, thanks
18. Thanks for your query for A Memoir of Hope, and for sending along the sample pages. This is a beautiful story, and my heart goes out to you and your family. I was also impressed by the quality of prose in these pages. With regret, though, I'm afraid that the project is ultimately not the best fit for my list at this point in time. I'm so very sorry I'm not the best agent for it, but thanks again for this opportunity, and all the very best on your road to publication. best, Andrea
19. Thanks for writing, but I'm afraid I'm concentrating on mystery fiction and wouldn't be the best agent for your work. I'll step aside, then, with best wishes for your finding the right match elsewhere.
20. Thanks so much for letting me take a look at your material, which I read with great interest. Unfortunately, the project you describe does not suit my list at this time.  I sincerely wish you the best of luck in finding an agent and publisher for your work, and I thank you, once again, for letting me consider your work.
21. Thank you for thinking of me, but I am not a good fit for this. All my best,
22. Thanks for your query and kind comments. I am right now (and 'right now' may mean up to a year) not looking to take on new writers or projects.  I mean, if Martin Scorcese approached me to do his memoir or if someone had smoking gun evidence to land the entire ex-Bush administration on Death Row for crimes against humanity, I would leap at the opportunity.  But, for the most part, I have been issuing a stream of rejections. My issue is that I have too large a stock pile of brilliant projects, at least I think they are brilliant, that need good publishing homes.  In the recent ugliness that has become publishing, with books by Olympian Michael Phelps' Mom and a novel by Jersey Shore's Snooki, I find it much harder to sell books by people who can write versus dunderheads with public platforms. I am not nearly so cynical as that last sentence may make me seem.  But - I am a "no."  I wish you well with others.
23. I'm going to pass but thanks and good luck.
24. Thanks so much for your query.  Unfortunately, though, I don't believe I'd be the right agent for your work.  I wish you much success.
25. Thanks for your query.  Unfortunately, I do not feel that I could be the best advocate for your work.  Please keep in mind that mine is a subjective business, and an idea or story to which one agent does not respond may well be met with great enthusiasm by another.  I encourage you to continue writing to agents, and hope you will find someone who will get behind you and your work with the conviction necessary in the current market.
26. I'm sorry, this isn't a fit for me, but it's an important story and I wish you the best of success in finding a good home for your book.
27. Thank you for thinking of me with your query for your book.  While this sounds like a strong project, I'm afraid it doesn't strike me as a likely fit with me and my particular editorial contacts.  I wish you well in finding the right agent for your work.

Cautious Optimism

As the mother of a child who's nearly died twice and continues to live on with only half a heart and a lot of innovating artificial plumbing, I consider myself a master of cautious optimism.  So, with that sentiment, I am cautious but excited to share that an agent (one of many I've queried and dozens who've rejected my query) finally asked to see more.  Yay, but shhhh . . . this optimism is cautious.

Anyway, please send me good karma! I've sent of the materials and Heaven knows how long this impatient lady is going to have to wait to hear back.  Meantime, for fun, I'll pull up some of my 27 rejection letters for y'all (channeling my forthcoming trip to South Carolina) to peruse.  Many are very kind, most are terse, all are appreciated because many agents don't respond at all, ever.

Eh, well, it's a process and a journey, and Lord knows I've traversed more treacherous terrain over these past eight years.  Eight years on the 30th - that's our D-day, the diagnosis day the world ended and a new one began.  I never get through the 30th without some shadows, but I always find a sliver lining - see cautious optimism.