Monday was a very odd day. In a very good way, but a very odd way. Because Echoes, a book which I am currently querying (current scores on the doors are 1 rejection and 9 deafening silences) and so is some way away from being published was discussed on the latest episode of The Failing Writer’s Podcast.
It’s not quite as surprising as it might seem, I did send them the first three chapters. The first episode of the current season came out on the same day that I was preparing my initial agent queries, so when I heard them ask listeners to send in samples of what they were working on, I had literally just saved a file called “Echoes – First 3 Chapters.docx”, so I sent it in…
…and they were very nice about it! They read out a bit from Chapter One and my blurb which was a surreal experience. They loved the concept and liked the way I write! They pulled out a whole load of things that they enjoyed! The said that they would definitely read more!
(They did also mention that it could maybe “benefit from a trim… a tiny bit”. I had feedback previously that the opening felt slower than the rest of the book and had already trimmed it, but sounds like it wouldn’t hurt to do another edit, and they had some good pointers as to where I should focus).
All in all, though, it was a huge confidence boost and makes me feel that maybe some of the agents who haven’t replied yet might just not have got around to reading it, rather than that they’ve all sent it straight to their trash folder in disgust at my wasting their time.
You can listen to it using the link below. You should listen to the whole thing (including the interview with the excellent Laura Barton whose new book Sad Songs is going on my tbr list) but if you do want to skip to my bit, it’s just past 54 minutes.
https://www.failingwriterspodcast.com/episodes/episode/50df31cd/s3-ep6-laura-barton-interview
So I can now tick “having my book discussed on a podcast” off my #writersgoals list. I had expected to have to wait until it was actually published before I got to do that.