From the title of this piece alone, one should realise that patience really is the greatest virtue of all . Well, patience and resilience, something Dubai’s very own Sara Hamdan discovered the traditional way. With Hamdan’s first book manuscript continuously rejected by agents and publishers, her second attempt had the literary bigwigs fighting over it, eventually landing a historic 6-figure-deal, the largest deal for a contemporary artist based out of The Middle East. The book in question is the yet to be released (aiming for February, 2025) What Will People Think?, about an aspiring Arab/American female stand up comedian in NYC.
Raised in Greece but currently living in Dubai, Hamdan, has written for multiple historic publications such as The New York Times, and will be bringing her literary prowess to the Emirati Literature Fest this week, from January 31 – February 6, 2024 at the Intercontinental hotel in Dubai Festival City.
Esquire Middle East sits down with the Arab/American writer, journalist, dreamer, to discuss the importance of manuscript editing, landing an agent, and the future of literature in a world of AI.
Esquire: Why do you think your first manuscript kept getting rejected, and do you, as the creator, feel that your second is that much superior?
Sara Hamdan: I think it was my first pancake. I was trying to figure out my writing style, my own voice. I’d always written for other people, The New York Times, Google, and then suddenly I was trying to write an entire novel. And although it was an accomplishment, when you write the words ‘the end’, that’s when the real work begins. You just edit and edit and edit, and I thought after three edits I would be done, but you’re just continuously honing your skills, slowly getting better. I took courses. I hired an editor.
Esquire: Tell me about What Will People Think?
SH: It’s about a standup comedian who’s Palestinian/American, like myself, living in New York. My husband insisted I take standup comedy classes, and it was so scary, but that’s how this story formed, but as I was writing it, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel came out, and although I was nervous that would steal a bit of my thunder, I felt that the world can have more than just one story about a female stand-up comedian, so I just went for it. And then my other manuscript, Disconnected, is about a woman addicted to the tech world, living life on Zoom. She orders all her groceries online, and as she’s up for a promotion, she travels to Greece without any Wi-Fi to prove to her boss that she can still interact with real human beings. And the twist as to why she’s so addicted to the tech world is (don’t worry, us here at Esquire are not going to reveal that!)
Esquire: How much is based on your own experience working in the tech world?
SH: I’ve spent years working in the digital world. At Google, with AI, and even until now I’ve been the managing editor at a Silicon Valley based tech firm, so generative AI is my day to day, and I love it.
Esquire: Being a writer, what are your thoughts on ChatGPT and should aspiring writers be scared?
SH: I think I would be pretty nervous if I was a writer starting out now, because a lot of the entry level reporter positions that require you to generate these snappy one-liners for social media and headlines can be done by ChatGPT, and it is scary. With that said, the skillset we have as editors will be more important than ever because ChatGPT isn’t always factually accurate, and I believe in the future we’ll see job openings for like ‘ChatGPT editor’ and similar positions. There’s always been a shift. After radio there was video, after video there was social media and short form video, and this is just another tool we’ll have to adapt to. If we work with it rather than shy away from it, it’ll work to our benefit. I’m just trying to stay ahead of it by working in the field so I don’t miss out.
Esquire: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, eh?
SH: Totally. Plus, ChatGPT still sounds like a robot. It’s not funny, emotional, and still very robotic. I had ChatGPT to write a Valentine’s Day card for my husband and it was just awful.
Esquire: Did you hire an editor before sending it out to agents?
SH: Yes, which is usually uncommon practice, but the results paid off. And this is where I have to give credit to the Literature Fest here in Dubai. I was sitting at this press conference with two manuscripts, wondering how to get ahead after so much time cold-querying agents and getting rejected, and then they announced a fellowship for writers trying to make it big on a global level. So I applied, got in, and I had a full year of working with a dedicated mentor who worked with me on six drafts. I hired a professional line editor, and then these writing workshops which helped us with everything from smooth transitions between chapters to how to talk to an agent over a Zoom call. And eventually I had four separate agents all very interested in signing me, and ended up signing with both United Talent Agency in New York and Curtis Brown in London, which feels absolutely surreal.
Esquire: What can people expect from the Emirates Literature Fest?
SH: It’s just an incredible meeting of creative minds, and I went from being an attendee to hosting panels, to hosting bigger panels. And I can’t stress enough, but it really is the highlight of the year for so many people because so many icons fly in from all over the world. We’ve had Margaret Atwood, Brian Cox, artists from every spectrum. And I just found out that BookTok is actually bigger here in the Middle East than it is globally, so TikTok is hosting a massive awards ceremony here at the festival, because people here just love to read.
Click here to view, and get tickets for, Sara Hamdan’s calendar for the upcoming Literature Fest, and follow Sara Hamdan on Instagram here.
Franz Kafka once said, “A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.” And if any of you aspiring artists needed any more convincing on the importance of reading, here is (arguably) the craziest filmmaker who’s ever lived, Werner Herzog, echoing this philosophy.
