A small rant, followed by a dose of reality. Also, help.

Anyway, here's my backstory/question: a few months ago I went to a small, regional conference and got a 10-pg manuscript with Editor A and a query critique from Editor B. Editor B requested my manuscript whenever it was ready. Of course I went home and have been doing some *major* revisions based on A's feedback and I'm getting to a point where I need to make some decisions. 

Both of these publishers are regional publishers with a market I'm convinced I can have a decent career with (nothing fancy, of course), and they both have good working-author relations, especially for stay-at-home moms. I don't *need* an agent for either of them, but I'd prefer having one. (Word on the street though, is that Editor B's house doesn't offer advances so agents typically don't like working with them.)

Since I do have super young kids to take care of, would I be wiser to stick with a smaller, more secure market until they're a bit older before venturing into deeper water? Should I go ahead and query agents and tell them about these two publishers and/or see what other publishers would be willing to work with a less....prolific writer? I don't want to limit myself because I don't know what else is available, but I'd hate to waste an agent's time simply because of my current life choices. 

Thank you!

ok, here's what you do first.
Sit down in your writing chair.
Place your hands on your knees.
Drop your head to your desk.
Hard.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.

Now, stop.
Did that knock some sense into your head?
No?

Repeat!
Until you understand that querying an agent is NOT a waste of time.
Not yours.
Certainly not mine.

You have two editors who didn't say things like "gosh, it's good you're at this conference. Pay attention in the craft classes."

They gave you feedback, and asked to see pages.
Those are good things.

And this is why you need an agent. EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK YOU NEED ONE.

You want to write for a good long while.
Wouldn't it be nice to have someone on your team who understands your goals, understands you're a work at home mom (which means your priority is your children, I know we both fully understand that) and you may not be churning out a book a year?

And that someone is also someone who knows a lot more people in publishing than you do?

I have clients who may just write one book but that book is one I am deeply honored to have had a hand into bringing into readers' lives. Prolific is great. Changing lives, helping people, is better. Maybe not for the bank account, but God isn't going to ask me how much money I made. She is going to ask what I did to make the world a better place for people.

So, the answer to your question is query agents. Don't get caught up in telling them about these regional publishers. Time for that later after they've fallen in love with your work.

When you've secured representation, you and your agent will strategize about the best approach to take.

And as every mom knows, planning doesn't survive booties on the ground.
No matter how carefully you plan, life is going to happen, and it's going to be messy.

That's the glory of it.



Mary Oliver said it far better than I ever will:

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean--
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down --
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?