As those of you following me know, my novel, MEDOUSA, is being formatted over at Create Space and being prepped for publication. I approved the final proof of the interior, and the text is being formatted for e-publication.

Well, what do you think happened to me just this afternoon? I received an email from The Virginia Kidd Agency.  It read as follows:

Dear Michael Butchin,

 Thank you for sending us your query for MEDOUSA.

 I have reviewed it and would like to have a closer look.  Please send an electronic copy of the manuscript, a full synopsis (2-3 pages), and any publishing credits you may have for further review. My address is….

 We ask that while we review the material, you do not submit it elsewhere for a three week period. If, while I am reviewing it, you get an offer from another agency, please let me know immediately. If all of this is acceptable, please let us know in your email. 

 Sincerely,

 Brendan, Assistant                                                       

Virginia Kidd Agency, Inc.

Now, on the one hand, I am horribly annoyed: I have already invested much time and money into self publishing, and I am literally only weeks away from actually being able to put my novel out there for sale. And now I start getting interested nibbles from publishers and agents?

On the other hand, I am rather elated: If a disinterested third party thinks my work may be good enough for publication, then perhaps my writing is not shit, after all! Perhaps I needn’t have wasted my time on a vanity project, and can be legitimately published!

What to do? What to do?

The answer is obvious: I have returned the agency’s email, attaching a synopsis and manuscript copy for them to peruse. I will hold off on hitting the final “commit” button on Create Space for three weeks. If they like my book and want to pick it up for sale, then THREE CHEERS AND A HUZZAH! I will happily eat my current losses, and allow the publisher to handle advertising and distribution (about which I know damn all), secure in the knowledge that my work can be sold on its own merits. And if they don’t like it after all, I shall proceed to publish on my own, and see what the readers have to say about how good my writing is.

But I must confess to a certain amount of frustration over this situation, nevertheless.

Timing…! Timing is everything, they say….