I mentioned in my 2009 wrap up post that I finally finished my first novel and am currently looking for an agent. I thought I’d tell you more about it.

The novel is called For Those Who Knew Zach, and I first wrote it about five years ago. At the time, I had heard that you shouldn’t be in a hurry to publish your fiction. The advice I’d heard was that you should write a fabulous story, get an agent, and market the heck out of your book. I was fine with all those points. I polished my novel, and let the people closest to me read it. But then I got really busy and decided to put it aside.

A few months ago, I decided to finish up the novel and get it published. I had listened to quite a few writers tell me how much they adored their agents, so I took their advice and decided to search for an agent myself. So far I’ve sent out a group of queries, and have received a few nibbles of interest and a few rejections. The rejections have been very sweet! No nasty letters thus far. So at least my query letter is working (which is half the battle sometimes.)

This agent thing is new to me, because with my poetry and nonfiction I published through my own company. I had the outlet to do it, and it was a business decision. For fiction I definitely wanted to go a different route. Markus Sakey calls the process of sending out queries the “query go round” and I think he’s got some great advice on his website about finding an agent. I love his first suggestion: “Write the book.” Funny how many people want an agent before they do that!

So back to my book. As I said, I took it out of “the drawer” a few months ago and did some major revisions on it. I chopped and rewrote until I was happy. Then I had the people closest to me (and the super duper honest ones) read it again. I took their feedback and tweaked. I re-read and re-wrote it again. I had people read it (again!) and when I was good and satisfied I sent some query letters. If I don’t find an agent this go-round, I think I’ll keep working on my second novel, and then start the process again. I’m not sure at this point, but that’s the general plan for right now. I’ll have more info on the book (and the agent search) as time progresses, but for right now I’m just learning all I can about this exciting new chapter. If the rest of my life is any indication, it should be a fun ride.