Pages

Tuesday 7 August 2012

TLG Blogpalooza: Sara's Side of the Story

We've discussed my knack for sad alliteration before, so let's ignore this particular example, shall we? 

Today you're going to want to tune in, blogosphere, because we'll be hearing from Sara Sargent, of Balzer + Bray, who worked as editor on THE LOST GIRL!

I'm so happy to have her here, so thanks for stopping by, Sara!

---


A Labor of First Love

As an adult, your “firsts” grow fewer and further between. Long gone are those days of first dances, first kisses, first loves. But two years ago, I was given the most precious first in the life of a young editor: my first acquisition.

THE LOST GIRL—then titled Woven—came to me from Melissa Sarver at Elizabeth Kaplan Literary. I read this manuscript in a matter of days, quickly passed it along to my team, and set up a call with Sangu within the week. Back then I was an Editorial Assistant who had only been acquiring for two months when THE LOST GIRL crossed my desk, and it was the only manuscript I’d read that I could see myself editing. I felt about this novel the way I have felt about few novels since: it was beautiful, it was stirring, it was epic and romantic, and I knew I would be heartbroken not to get it. And because there was interest from other editors, that was a very real possibility. Sangu had already wooed me, and now I had to woo her with my incisive editorial insights and the general sparkliness of my personality. Now, I never asked what made Sangu choose me as her editor; I believe it’s one of those industry mysteries better left unsolved. I do remember, with startling clarity, when Melissa called to say that Sangu had decided to publish with Balzer + Bray. I burst into tears. All I could say was “Really?” over and over; surely Melissa questioned her client’s decision in that moment of my utter inarticulateness. But there was no questioning the wonder of what I had just accomplished—not only for my career, but also for the career of this young writer whose life she had just inextricably tangled with mine. Needless to say, the next two days involved a lot of champagne.

We put THE LOST GIRL on our Fall 2012 list, which meant that we had eleven months before the manuscript was due to Copyediting. Over the course of those months, we went back and forth as she sent in revisions, I sent back notes, she sent revised pages, and I sent back more notes. Oh, and somewhere in there, Sangu had a baby. Not to mention that one of my favorite writers, Lauren DeStefano, offered to blurb; I was as excited about that blurb as Sangu was about her newborn child. Sangu and I fell into a kinship inspired by our mutual love of her novel and its story and characters (coughSeancough), but also by the fact that this was new for both of us. I couldn’t wait to see the final cover art or the book’s case or the galleys, and she couldn’t wait for me to show them all to her.

And now here we are. Mere weeks from pub. Just waiting until those buxom bound beauties hit my inbox and, from there, shelves across the country. I’m not sure what I’ll do when I finally hold one in my hands. I imagine that I’ll burst into tears once more, then smile, then perhaps continue to cry. Never again will I have the unique pleasure of seeing my very first book for the very first time, and I don’t intend to waste that moment. It’s the best first in a line of luminous firsts that originated with Eva and Sangu’s desire to tell her story. I don’t know what the future holds for many things in my life, but I do know that this book will forever occupy a place of immense joy, and for that, I wish it everything as it goes off into the world.

---

*sniffs* Okay, so maybe her post made me a teeny bit teary. DON'T JUDGE ME. I'm only human. Follow Sara on Twitter (@Sara_Sargent) for more awesomeness.

Now please excuse me while I go stop a baby from eating a phone charger...


TEASE OF THE DAY

The first chapter of THE LOST GIRL is up on my website! Click over for the teaser. 

11 comments:

  1. That's great your editor was so excited about the book!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aw! Cool! Sangu, how awesomeit is to hear from your agent and your editor. Loving these posts!

    ReplyDelete
  3. "stirring, epic, and romantic" - now I'm even more psyched to read!

    And definitely awesome to read about your editor being so excited :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. It was great to read your editor's perspective on your novel. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aw, such a sweet story! I love that this book is so special to both of you. Off to check out the first chapter!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ahh I just discovered you through Goodreads and have spent the last 30 minutes reading over your old posts. So happy that I came upon you so close to The Lost Girl's release date; after reading the sample I don't think I can bear to wait that long to read the full novel! Great post, it's really lovely to see your editor's enthusiasm for such a great project.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow. The preview is so good. And the cover is gorgeous. It was nice to hear your editor's story. Xxx

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love this story. It makes me feel all the things, and I'm so glad that Sara got THE LOST GIRL.

    ashelynnhetland @ gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh wow, that is so awesome. Also, I'm looking at your categories list as I'm typing this so I'm getting distracted by the "Sangu is gloomy" "Sangu is wise" "Sangu is weird" stuff. LOL. So yeah, before I go off into some long tangent, just know that THANK YOU, Sara, for being such an awesome editor to bring THE LOST GIRL into the world. And THANK YOU, Melissa, for agenting Sangu. Annnnnd THANK YOU, Sangu, of course, for that epilogue you wrote where I married Sean.

    ... Hey, wishful thinking doesn't have to be just wishful, amirite?

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is so cool! Can't wait to read the first chapter! I bet it's good like all the rest.
    sudhamalee(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Such a sweet story. I feel a little sniffly too. ;)

    mizuro_pearl at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete