My First Solicited Email from a Literary Agent

Exciting! This is the first time I've received an email from a literary agent requesting a novel partial (+ not the other way around).

Jackson:

My name is G***** J******* and I am an assistant at The Irene Goodman Literary Agency in New York, assisting the agents who represent literary fiction and narrative non-fiction. We enjoyed "A Full Cellar" and we wanted to invite you to query us on the novel of yours that we read about.

You can email a query and a large partial (50 pages or so) to my attention at this email as an attachment; put SOLICITED in the subject line.

Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

G J

Agents' Assistant

--
The Irene Goodman Literary Agency
27 West 24th St.
Suite 700B
New York, NY 10010

6 Ways I've Kept Hope Alive This Month as an Emering Writer:

1. I sent BLANK to Graywolf press

2. I submitted stories to RHINO, Zoetrope, N+1, Alaska Quarterly

3. I also sent a new story to Dave Eggers (he told me he likes Africa stories back when I was a MFA student at Notre Dame, so I sent a new Africa story to his assistant, who forwarded to him for me)

4. I randomly emailed Melanie Jackson (Rick Moody + Miguel Syjuco's agent) + asked her whether she was accepting unsolicited query letters right now. Just seemed like the considerate thing to do before filling up her inbox with another pitch. Chances are, she won't let me know how considerate I was

5. Tomorrow, Lissa, Marvin + I are interviewing Miguel Syjuco in his hotel room for our debut issue of Flying Fists

6. I received a message on FB by a fan of mine who called "A Full Cellar" a masterpiece. Ah, how wonderful it is to feel like a writer + touch the contour lines of art for a second + see the social effects of your words!

Short Story Published in ZYZZYVA

Finally! My Short Story, "$67.00 for My Favorite Dictator," the story I workshopped in Aimee Bender's class (which is called "A Full Cellar" in this journal) is now finally available for public consumption. You can check it out in ZYZZYVA #88, Sprint 2010, which is now in book stands (especially the great, local, west coast ones). Click on the cover art to read an excerpt of my story and/or to order your own copy. Or if you're really feeling generous, help the small literary journals + subscribe after reading this. It'll make you feel good about the world.

2nd Story Accepted in 2009

It's official! I finally got my first short story accepted by a west coast literary journal! I got my contract in the mail today from Howard Junker + just found out that my short story, "Sixty-Seven Dollars for My Favorite Dictator," about a crazy + wonderful Peruvian family in Chicago, is going to be published in the Spring issue of ZYZZYVA . The beautiful thing is, I just sent HJ that story last week. But in all fairness, I'd workshopped it in Aimee Bender's class + then revised it several times. But still, how rad is that?

I've been submitting stories to ZYZZYVA since I first heard of it in Portland, Oregon in late 2002 where the journal still has quite a following--it's one of the best journals in the West Coast + just in general. I'm pretty sure the first thing I submitted was a very drafty version of "City of Sand" years before it was ready for print + was sad when HJ didn't write any feedback on my rejection letter. The rumor used to be that Howard Junker commented on every story, which the rejection note even commented on. Later on, I'd cheat and send ZYZZYVA stories every Christmas I was with my mom in Solana Beach for a month (since the journal only accepts writing by West Coast writers). Anyway, seven years later, now that I'm living in LA + working on my PhD + working with amazing writers + building my weight up, so to speak, I finally got a story accepted, sent in good faith, of all things. Ah, perseverance + karma: that cosmic cocktail. Anyway, be on the lookout for my story, coming achew in the Spring. Holla!