‘Madeline’ Update

Agents and editors describe their favorite manuscript samples and book pitches at the Atlanta Writers Conference May 4.

Great news from the Atlanta Writers Conference!

An agent wants to see a proposal for our true crime book about Madeline Webb, the Oklahoma beauty caught up in a sensational 1942 murder in New York City.

Even greater news:

A publisher who is starting a true crime imprint is asking for a full manuscript!

The publisher saw our original proposal and said she couldn’t stop reading it. She also suggested that we create a more emotion-packed beginning that relates to the crime (rather than starting with a scene from Madeline’s childhood in Stillwater, Oklahoma).

That means a bunch of rewriting to get the manuscript into shape. It also means updating the proposal that we send the agent to reflect the new opening.

Think we can do it in four weeks?

Challenge accepted!

P.S. Both the publisher and the agent think we can come up with a better title than Madeline Gets Life; Pals to Die.

Sigh.