All I Want for Christmas is a Literary Agent

Have you ever bought yourself a Christmas present, then handed it to your spouse and said, “Here, dear, wrap this and give it to me on Christmas and I’ll pretend to be surprised”?

Of course, with young children in the house you sometimes have to step in during the gift-giving process, so your wife doesn’t end up receiving Spider-Man slippers or a singing trout on Christmas morning. And there are times when it is just easier to pick out that one thing you want that has to be just right, so you aren’t disappointed by the wrong size or your husband’s tragic lack of taste.

But this was different. I could easily have just asked for this item. It wasn’t particularly expensive and It only comes in one size. It was unlikely anyone could get mixed-up and buy the wrong one, and they weren’t in danger of running out.

It was the 2015 Guide to Literary Agents, and I bought it with my employee discount at Barnes & Noble at the end of my shift last weekend. Because I finished converting my entire novel into proper manuscript format, I’ve just about got my query letter worked out, and I just got word from my very last (and most important) beta reader that I would receive a very thorough write-up this week. So it is most definitely time for me to start organizing my agent list.

But it wasn’t enough to to just buy the Guide for myself. It calls for an occasion. After all, this moment has been close to two years in the making. I am, I believe, literally — finally— just mere days away from sending off my first finished novel for publication. It needed a pretty bow on it and a little tag saying, “From Santa.”

Of course, what I really want for Christmas is a literary agent. But, you know, I’m picky and kind of a pain to shop for.

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