What is more terrifying....knowing or not?

I am quite the Nervous Nelly over here.

I went to The Write Stuff conference back in March. I was lucky enough to snag a pitch session with Kim Lionetti from Bookends, LLC. She was super nice and I enjoyed talking with her, as nervous as I was. She asked me to send her a partial! YAY!! I ended up seeing her afterward too...she sat at our table for lunch so I tried my best to chat her up there too...about things other than my book, of course. I figured she was sick of hearing book pitches!

According to their website, partials have a 10-12 week response time and it specifically say to drop them an email if that amount of time has passed and you haven't heard from them.

Well......it's been 14 weeks since I emailed it to her. I know she got it...I received an email confirmation. So I sit here debating on what to do. Part of me really wants to send that email and ask for a status update. But the other half of me is terrified for the answer.

The Waiting Game

Life seems to be a waiting game. Every day. You wait in lines, wait for food to be ready, the laundry to be dry. In this day and age we've come to want everything immediately- an instant gratification society. I can't say I enjoy waiting, but I do try to make the most of my time. Hate to rush life by.

But I do hate waiting to hear from an agent. Man that is excruciating! Not so much the query letters...but a partial. It's step one in the journey. It may be the only step you get. It's excruciating to sit back and just wait to see if you'll be moving your career forward...or not.

My partial has been with the agent I met with at The Write Stuff conference for over a month now...close to 5 weeks. Her website says 10-12 weeks for partial requests...so I know I need to sit back and chill. But it's so hard!!

A 5-page Partial Request

The partial request. This is step two in the query process. Step one is piquing their interest with my one-page letter...a mere 200 words about my entire story....a short blurb that is supposed to convince them they want more. Then, an extreme rarity, they actually ask for more. This is my foot in the door....my big chance to "wow" the agent in a few pages.

So far, I have only sent out three queries for Spellbound. I wasn't ready yet for a full on query blast. All three were online forms I filled out...simple, easy and quick. One was for an agent who I have queried before. I like her. She's very nice and each time she's given me a non-form letter rejection after reading a 5-page partial. Today I checked my e-mail and sitting there in my inbox was a request from her to read my first five pages.

So now I will send them off...and sit..and wait...and wish...and pray...and wish some more...and pray some more....that this time will be different...this time will be right...this time I will impress her enough that she will offer me representation.