Saying yes

As an editor, there are few things more thrilling than witnessing the rise of a talented author. Each manuscript that crosses my desk brings with it a unique story, a distinct voice, and the promise of potential. But perhaps the most exhilarating chapter in this journey is when an author I've worked with extensively takes a significant step forward in their career and signs with an agent.

Last week, an author I had been working with for the last year and a half signed with not one, but two agents. Her journey has been a long one. She initially came to me through an agent who had signed her a decade ago. They hadn’t been able to place the memoir and knew there must be something missing from the manuscript they couldn’t see anymore. That’s where I came in. I worked with the author to overhaul the manuscript and she absolutely knocked her edits out of the park. I still remember sitting down a few months back to the latest draft and being stunned. The first line was a bombshell. I said outloud to no one except my dog Toby, “She did it. Oh my god, she did it.” There was still another round or two after that, but that was the moment my author found her voice and her way through this story.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t she already have an agent? Why is this about “Saying Yes?” Well. You know when you’ve just looked at something for too long? And you can’t see the forest through the trees? That was how this agent felt. And I couldn’t blame her! She was right to send this author my way. She needed a fresh pair of eyes on the book and, it turned out, a fresh start. So this agent and author went their separate ways, and my author made the brave decision to start querying again. At first she got a lot of “no’s,” but she kept on trying. It was hard, but I told her to keep me in the loop so that I could assess the feedback she was getting. This went on for months. Then, two weeks ago, she started getting interest. First from a foreign agent she had queried. I spoke with a friend of mine who is an expert in foreign rights, and she said that having a foreign agent wouldn’t be a hindrance to this author getting an American agent, so I encouraged the author to explore this. Would I normally? No. But the way this agent spoke about the book—I could tell that she really got it. It was the first time someone really saw this book for what it was. And I’m a firm believer in following the love, following the enthusiasm for your work. Go where you are wanted, where you are appreciated. And she did. Then, a week later, an American agent (I may have pinged her since I thought the book would be up her alley) reached out to this author too. She also loved the book and was open to working with the foreign agent to sell the book to publishers.

I was so happy for my author—she had worked so hard on this book. She left behind a wonderful agent in a time when querying is empirically difficult. And she came back with two agents. She believed in herself and the worth of her work. And it paid off. I’m getting choked up right now, so I’ll sign off, but I just have to say it: it’s times like these that I know I absolutely was meant to leave Random House. I am meant to be helping writers harness their dreams, not put a price tag on them. I’m here to prepare them for all that is in store for them.