JUST QUERY
Wow, almost two months since I last posted. I guess those holidays that I swore wouldn't slow me down, slowed me down.
It's January 15th -- just about the right time to get back into the swing of the normal routine, right? Well, sorta. I've got some new things going on that I'll talk more about later.
Today, I'm talking about submissions. I have a bunch of excuses I could easily (and justifiably) use to delay sending off my next set of queries to the agents one tier down on my list. These include, but are not limited to:
- I'm working full time
- My husband is out of town
- The house is a mess
- There is laundry to be done
- There are bills to be paid
- There is homework to be supervised
- It's too late (at night)
- I have to get up early tomorrow
- I'm too tired
- I'm PMSing
- I'm just going to get rejected anyway
But, I didn't focus on those (IMHO very valid) excuses. I just opened my computer, brought up my documents and got started. An hour later, my queries are out, and I feel good about that. It's a little like exercise--you don't particularly love it while you're doing it, but you feel much better after it's done.
So, just ignore your excuses (no matter how extraordinary, they are) and JUST QUERY.
Total sent: 12Email Q's: 8
Mail Q's: 4
I still have 2 partials and 1 full out to agents, sent first of November. Not quite what I'd consider "written off", but also not particularly promising. I also still have 2 mailed Q's that have not received a response yet.
Share your querying progress (or woes).
2 comments:
Nice to see you back. ;)
You're very right on the submission thing being like exercise. You just have to do it.
FWIW, the interest I had from agents came after MONTHS of waiting, first on partials and then on fulls, so a few months is nothing. I think L had my partial 2 months and my full at least three more before she offered representation. And that was before her agency got so big. Don't stress over the wait times. It's completely understandable considering the holidays.
Good luck on the new queries! Which book are you q'ing?
Thanks, E.
I'm querying SAFE. I recently realized that while I've written 8 manuscripts, only SAFE and HIDING are really ready to be seen by an agent or editor. All my others need MAJOR revision work.
My goal is to get through the first draft of BURIED SECRETS and go back to THE ART OF DANGER and start revisions.
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