“In the office”

Today I was “in the office” all day, as if that promised a relatively relaxed day of catching up on emails, paperwork and reading. In fact I seem to have spent most of the day on the telephone, speaking with publishers, authors and a new writer I’m hoping to take on as a client. Thus I’ve managed only a few emails, no paperwork and certainly no reading.

“The pile”, as I refer to the pile of full manuscripts that I’ve requested to read in full, has reduced but expanded with two new additions this week, so I’m still at three. I also have five or six outstanding queries, and I really hope to have time tomorrow to give these attention before the week finishes. I think this is inevitably going to be a bottleneck: I only have one pair of eyes. Literary agencies often use readers and this is something I’m looking into but at the moment I guess I’m trying to build my list quickly and I know I trust my own judgment.