Not Easy.

Yesterday I came to terms with a difficult situation: I decided to close my agency as of 7/31/06. It wasn't easy. The relationships I have with my clients is more than just business. I looked on them almost as if they were my children. I made suggestions in regards to their plots, edited out mistakes, got them published.
I sent an email to our main publisher, who in turn sent me a reply that brought me to tears. He'd held me in such high esteem all of these years that it boggled the imagination. I asked him to find agents for my clients. He declined saying they didn't need one. He would allow them to submit without an agent.
Bob also made me promise to hold to my contract. My Bobby Beckett, August Summer mystery series belonged to him.
All in all it was a sad situation. I've had some problems with health lately that limit my abilities to properly care for my clients. No ploy for sympathy, rather it was an awakening. If I cannot do my job and respresent them as I should, then they deserve to be free to pursue other agents.
We've all become such close friends, though, that the emails and holiday wishes will never stop. I wish them all the best.