{"id":1839,"date":"2024-09-26T14:19:12","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T11:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diamantoula-t.com\/?p=1839"},"modified":"2026-01-16T19:22:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T17:22:01","slug":"a-grain-of-soil-looking-for-the-fitting-agent-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diamantoula-t.com\/el\/a-grain-of-soil-looking-for-the-fitting-agent-2\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A Grain of Soil\u2019: Looking for the fitting agent…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year\u2019s launching my debut novel, \u2018Sharing Her Apples\u2019<\/em>, has been a rather stressful experience, not so much for the self-publishing business which was undertaken successfully by a small but reputable publishing house in Thessaloniki, (I\u2019d recommend \u2018Fylatos Publishing\u2019 any time), as for the business of my inefficiency regarding self-promoting the book to-date[1]<\/a>. Now, \u2018Sharing Her Apples\u2019 has been translated into the Greek and it will also come out by Fylatos Publishing, in my country, beginning of December 2024.<\/p>\n

My second novel, \u2018A Grain of Soil\u2019<\/em>, or The Ruby-Fugitives<\/em>, is a work of fiction different from my first one, a story for adults, completed at 78300 words, professionally edited, and ready to go out.<\/p>\n

It is now seeking for a literate agent to promote it, -\u2018sell\u2019 it, as, perhaps is the right word, to a publisher abroad for getting a traditional publication, which might solve some costs and problems of promotion for me.<\/p>\n

The story is a drama,\u00a0<\/strong>set\u00a0in an\u00a0imaginary\u00a0but conceivable world\u00a0where the\u00a0harsh reality is that of obedience and frustrated forbearance.<\/p>\n

My inspiration for writing is sparked from reading \u2018The Handmaids Tale\u2019 by Margaret Atwood, but the events of ill-treatment are of a different order.<\/p>\n

It has the potential for a sequel for which elements of plots and protagonists\u2019 expectations I am sketching out on another, self-sufficient story.<\/p>\n

So, since April last, I am writing to literary agents in The UK and USA, sending them a \u2018queery\u2019 or \u2018submission\u2019 e-mail (which is a request for representation) with the \u2018pitch\u2019 (the story in a sentence or two) and a\u00a0 short bio, a synopsis and whatever number of pages is required as a reading sample and as stated in their website.<\/p>\n

To-date, I have just received a few polite refusals telling me that the story didn\u2019t fit into their lists, and a lot of not helpful but short-lived disappointment for those rejections.\u00a0 Determined to continue looking for an agent, I found myself unable to define in which genre the story fits in better and what changes should be made in my requests for representation, to attract the right agent, despite the fact I\u2019ll always read their website and what their interests in readings say to be.<\/p>\n

So, about the genre of\u00a0 \u2018A Grain of Soil\u2019:<\/em><\/p>\n