By Dawn Frederick
Every Fall, there’s generally a mad rush in the life of an agent. After anywhere from one to three months of preparation, it’s generally assumed we’ll be taking titles out once Labor Day has passed. Then it’s a non-stop few months, where we attempt to take out new titles, while also focusing on all our Fall book releases.
I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but by the time we start to see some relief, our inboxes have officially also filled up. This means there’s a balance of reading any materials not read before Labor Day, and all those queries.
Unless one is a professional reader, there’s no way to explain the level of time we need to just focus on these two tasks. Or the eye strain, as well as the affects of this blue light (from these electronic screens) on our sleep. Granted we keep on pushing, despite the to-do list never really getting shorter.
Agents will always do the best with the time we have available. We always hope everyone else will exercise patience as we handle this. The only way we can do this is by also focusing on our lives outside the agency, let alone finding non-screen time. Doing this is important for the creative process.
The Fall is an exhilarating time every year, as we guide all those books into the world, along with seeing previous books sold reaching readers. It is the gift that is our fuel, this is why we love our job. 🙂
