Feedback to the future…

This week I got my first actual written correspondence from an actual literary agent. This is huge for me. As you may be aware I started sending out manuscripts to agents in 2011. Situation One, Visions Of Violet, The Stamp Collective and Yours Sincerely, Southend have all been packaged up at one time or another and sent out to at least ten agents.

Understandably I received generic responses from the agents I sent out to. Some of them were kinder than others but they were of course, formulaic. I understand that there are a large number of unsolicited manuscripts that are sent to agents every single week and the chance of one of mine making it off the slush pile is highly unlikely. I have always said I know the things I write are never going to be bestsellers but I believe I am fighting the good fight.

This week I received a letter from one of the biggest agencies and from a writer himself. It meant a great deal to me. He pointed out some small things that I could have changed but said I have talent. I wrote an email back to him to thank him for taking the time to respond. When you spend so much time on a manuscript including writing it, editing it and then packaging it to send to agents it can be really disheartening to get them back through the post so soon after they have gone off so the fact that someone had clearly read Sue Key and said it was invention and distinctive has made my week, and possibly even my year. I appreciate I may be getting a little ahead of myself on the latter, it is still January but I am a very happy bunny. It makes all the effort worth it. It makes all the generic rejection letters worth it and it will push me onwards and upwards. There are great things in 2015. Great things.