Ask Daphne! What If I’m Not Well?

Too cute slippers for those days you’re not feeling well, and just want to stay in your pjs, for Georgiana, who writes:

Like the majority of people who contact you, I am a writer who is interested in being published. Some years ago, I had a story published by Word Riot and was writing regularly for various financial publications. Unfortunately I became very ill.

What this means for me is that I am essentially bedbound. But what’s worse for the writing is I sometimes have aphasia. I may get stuck saying the same word over and over again. I might stutter on the same sound. I may say completely the wrong word. I do much better when I’m actually writing but I do say the wrong thing and sometimes I can’t figure out what I meant later.

I spent the next few years writing every day as I was afraid my words would desert me. I’ve written two scripts, three short novels, one adult novel, a YA novel and I’m well into a zombie YA novel that’s the darkest thing I’ve done, I think.

Having proven to myself that I can continue to write under suboptimal conditions I decided to find an agent. Because I can get easily confused I sent only one query letter last year. I wanted to do one query at a time to keep my head straight. I sent it on February 15, 2008. On March 16, 2008 she asked for a partial, which I promptly sent. August 31, 2008 she asked for a full, which I sent right away. As of today I have not had any response, despite status checks.

Unfortunately I need a very patient person to work with and now that I’ve read more of her tweets and her blog, I’m sure the agent I queried is not that person.

How in the world do you find an agent who would like to represent you, enjoys your work, and can deal with a somewhat fragile psyche and some brain damage? As well as the infrequent aphasia? And should this stuff be mentioned in the query letter? And finally, and I admit this is a very cruel thing for me to say, I was at Balticon and I heard an agent with such a screechy voice that he triggered a headache and I had to lie down in the courtyard. It’s like a joke with a bad punch line. What if I end up with a great agent and can’t talk to them? How ridiculous would that be? Finding an agent may not be the hardest thing in the world but if I found one who then fired me because I was a maudlin, wrong word saying mess I’d be extremely upset.

Thanks for your question, Georgiana. You’re in a difficult situation, no doubt about it, but it can be saved.

First of all, I assume you’ve written off the agent who hasn’t responded to you since last August. On behalf of my profession, I apologize. Moving forward, I can understand you only want to send to one agent at a time, but I fear for you that you’ll have to deal with the same sort of long delays as you’ve experienced in the past.

Would a clear submission chart help you? I recommend something like it for all authors, but I think it would be especially beneficial in your case. You want to make sure that all the details of your agent search are in one easy to understand place. Each week, perhaps, you could send out one query, note when and to whom you sent it, and when you get a response, you can go to your chart and note it, sending more material as necessary.

At this stage of the game, no one expects instant responses, so you can feel free to take the time you need to craft a response to an agent requesting material, maybe composing it one day, and rereading it the next day to make sure it says what you want to convey.

When should you tell an agent about your illness? I don’t think you need to mention it until you get someone interested in your work — that means they’ve read your full and like it, and want to continue talking to you. Then I would describe your special circumstances and see how they feel that would affect your career and their relationship with you. At that time, you can also see how you feel about working with them — if their voice is soothing or not so, if you feel you can work well with them.

I think in this day and age, in our technology-driven world, its amazing what can be done from our homes — and to take that to the extreme — from our beds if necessary. If you sell your book, your editor and publicity person will need to know the special circumstances of your physical limitations in terms of tours, interviews, etc., but that’s something to worry about down the line, and it CAN be worked with.

I don’t know if you know this, but Laura Hillenbrand, the New York Times bestselling author of Seabiscuit, has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and writes her books from bed, when she feels well enough to do so. (Here’s a link to a very personal essay — originally from The New Yorker — in which she discusses her illness.) It can be done — and very successfully, too. Good luck.