See these glasses? Once upon a time, back when the world was young and Da Man and I were newly married, he was a member of Sigma Chi. We went to the formal and got these awesome glasses. A few weeks ago, they were filled with Coke Zero as my Angry Ginger friend and I celebrated AN OFFER FOR MY FIRST NOVEL! I can’t tell you how excited I was! It came out of the blue. It was flattering. It was thrilling.
It wasn’t right. After discussing the decision with my agent (who rocks), we decided that ultimately we didn’t feel that this deal was for us. So we wished the company well (darling, charming company!) and passed.
I’m happy to have the offer, of course. It was extremely validating. I’m also happy to have an agent who has my best interests at heart and is savvy about the industry. (I mean, I was looking at the percentages and thinking, “Is this a good offer? A bad offer? What are allthesenumbersohmygosh!” I had no clue what a standard offer is.) But most of all, I’m proud of myself for having the confidence to say, “You know, I think I’ll wait on this. Thank you so much, though!” It’s tough not to take the offer because it WAS AN OFFER, YAY! But I made the right decision to pass on it, and it feels fantastic to have no regrets.
Now back to those glasses. You know how much Coke those suckers hold? A LOT.
5 Comments on “I Received an Offer for My Novel! Then I Walked Away.”
I will shout and scream when YOUR offer comes in. It feels good to have an agent you trust leading the way, doesn’t it?
When I accepted my contract I had another offer on the table at the same time. It was an fairly easy decision to make when everything was laid out in front of me, but i had to turn one of them down and it was hard to “let it go” knowing that I was closing a door. Good for you to sit back and not take the first thing thrown your way. You’ll be happier in the end.
That’s so awesome. Congrats, Mercedes!
That’s great that you have an agent to help you out with hard decisions like that. You’ll have MANY more offers very soon, I know it! 🙂
Kate, it totally does! And YAY on your Howard Stern and Anderson Cooper twitter news! I think that’s awesome. You’re sorta like my hero. *starry eyes*
Thanks, Michelle! I have absolutely no regrets, which is great. I’m great at second guessing myself.
Haha! I plie in your honor, sir!
Tony, I so dig that. Thanks. Think you’ll hook up with an agent, or are uninterested in having one?