A Whole Lot of Waiting...
About anticipated releases and the nudging period!
Hi friends! I’m so sorry for making you wait on this newsletter, but it is kind of on brand for this month’s topic since we’ll be talking about something publishing makes you do a lot: waiting.
I specifically want to share my experience with something I haven’t seen a lot of people talk about. The nudging period is basically what follows after you get an offer from an agent and you start notifying the other agents you queried so they can prioritise your materials and get back to you by your decision deadline.
It’s a position you’re honoured to be in because it means you got an offer of representation (or publication, even!), but that doesn’t make it any less stressful. It can really mess with your head, which is why I want to share a little more about it!
And… we’ll also be talking about some of my anticipated releases of 2023, because being a reader also means waiting. A lot. I’m excited to be hyping up some books I’m personally waiting on! (Once a book blogger, always a book blogger, am I right?)
Now, I won’t keep you waiting (HA!) any longer, so let’s get into it!
The Nudging Periodâ„¢
When I tell you I’ve never been as confused about my own feelings as during the two weeks of nudging I went through… I mean it. And that says a lot, because I am confused about my feelings a lot.
It’s just a time where so many things are happening and you’re overwhelmed and yet you’re still waiting on more things to happen! While I was still trying to make it sink in that an agent had actually offered to represent me (it took me until after signing to realize it for real, but whatever), I already had to think about what could come next.
I was so grateful to have an agent believe in me enough, but you know what they say about publishing: once you achieve a goal, it’s never enough for you. You just want more. I knew I would be happy with this agent, but, well, I too wanted more validation.
That’s what makes it so confusing, I guess. You’ve reached a major goal of yours, but you’re still in limbo about what that means and what truly comes next.
If you’ve read my how I got my agent post, you know that I did get more offers of representation, but I didn’t know that at the time. I didn’t know if, or who, or when other agents would be interested.
My depression and anxiety were basically fighting over who had the most power over me during those two weeks. I was miserable, and all that while I knew I had a good agent who wanted to represent me!
My whole point is: feelings are confusing. You can’t control them. I kept telling myself I should be grateful and not miserable, but apparently those two can coexist and I shouldn’t have been so hard on myself. It’s a difficult time, and if you get/got an offer, I hope you can find comfort in the fact that you are not alone in feeling this way!
And I know this might be rich coming from me since I ended up with four offers, but I do want to say that how many offers you get is not a measurement of your talent. You’re doing amazing, and I’m proud of you!
My most anticipated 2023 releases
Okay, maybe I told you a little lie at the start of this post. I won’t be talking about the books I’m waiting on because then we’d be here for ages (I’m serious, I have a long list). I have read all of the books I’ll be talking about, either because the publisher sent me an eARC or the author decided to trust me and send me an early draft!
So, basically, this means I can highly recommend all the books I’ll be mentioning! I’ll include the links to their Goodreads pages, so if it sounds like your thing, be sure to add it since it can help authors a lot.
Now buckle up friends, because I have some books I want to put on your radar!
6 times we almost kissed (and one time we did) by Tess Sharpe — I’d read anything Tess Sharpe writes, but this sapphic slow-burn romance about the almost kisses between the daughters of two best friends with a whole lot of trauma tucked into its pages is so close to my heart!
If tomorrow doesn’t come by Jen St. Jude — with lesbian friends to lovers, a found family at the end of the world, and a girl struggling with her mental health… this book healed me!
Kismat connection by Ananya Devarajan — this is the ultimate friends to lovers story, with an Indian girl trying to outsmart her family curse that says she will marry the first boy she dates by fake dating her childhood best friend, not knowing he’s in love with her already!
Sing me to sleep by Gabi Burton — a genius, page-turning fantasy full of twists with an all Black/Brown cast about a murderous siren who goes undercover as the prince’s bodyguard, only to have to investigate the murders the prince doesn’t know she commited!
Out of character by Jenna Miller — this nerdy YA contemporary romance about friendship, parental issues, and a fat lesbian falling in love with her online roleplaying best friend saw right into my heart!
Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman — an amazing fantasy adventure that brings me so much comfort, following an autistic changeling and her twin sister who have to flee with two unlikely allies by their side after discovering something they shouldn’t have!
Bianca Torre is afraid of everything by Justine Pucella Winans — I adore this YA murder mystery, not just because of the birds and anxious nonbinary lesbians, but also because of the perfect humour and heart-warming friendship in it!
A curse of salt by Sarah Street — with beautiful prose, a found family of pirates, and a slow-burn enemies to lovers romance, this is a dark fantasy retelling of beauty and the beast about a girl who’d do anything for her family and sisters!
You wouldn’t dare by Samantha Markum — I still can’t stop thinking about this sweet but angsty summer romance between two friends who are trying to go back to normal after they messed up their romance (and almost their friendship) last summer.
How to find a missing girl by Victoria Wlosok — a twisty sapphic thriller about a pansexual girl and her amateur detective agency who don’t trust the police after they couldn’t find her missing sister and now investigate the disappearance of the town’s true crime podcaster, who is also her ex-girlfriend.
Damned if you do by Alex Brown — this is a unique and absolutely hilarious sapphic YA horror novel about a girl who learns she might’ve accidentally sold her soul to the devil a few years ago and now must help him end his demonic rival.
The Rosewood Hunt by Mackenzie Reed — I only finished it this week, but this is such a fun and intense mystery about a grandma’s missing fortune and the four teens brought together by the clues she left for them!
And that’s all for this month’s (belated) newsletter! I hope those who celebrate Christmas have an amazing holiday season, and I’ll talk to you all again next year!
