Okay, so I have officially sent out my first query to a Literary Agency!! I have to say I am a little nervous about it zipping off electronically through cyber space to end up in somebody's 'in-box'. I am sure they will be totally bogged down with manuscripts, but hope and pray they read and enjoy the book, or at least the first 10 pages of it!! Book 'A' is now out in the world, how many submissions do we think it will take until someone picks it up......I should start a wager with you all!
I found writing the main query letter was extrememly difficult. In fact it may have been harder than writing the manuscript! Okay, maybe not but there was alot of anxiety and re-writing that occured just for it to be emailed. I do understand that the query is equally important as the manuscript itself but why? The book is speaking for itself, the query is just you, nothing but you and your accomplishments, so why does it need to be so perfect? I understand the need for good spelling, punctuation and grammar but perfection? I hope perfection shines through in my query, I followed all guidelines to a tee, or at least I think I did....now I am doubting myself!! See, sheer anxiety over this submission, please let them love it so I don't have more queries to write.
'Penned Pages'
So, as we discussed in a previous post, it is summertime, and I have been enjoying it to the fullest so far. I am not going to beat around the bush......I have written NOTHING!!!!!!!! That's right, zip, zilch, zero!!!
Too much fun has been infiltrating my writing time. Swimming, gardening, trips to the Zoo and farm, all these have taken priority the last few weeks. I know I need to prioritize a little better, and I will, I promise....this Fall!!!!!! No, no, no...I am sorry, that was a bad joke! Seriously I will take more time and finish my Book 'B' by later this Summer/Fall.
Happy Penning!!
Hey--queries do suck. And summaries. You wrote your book in 100,000 words for a reason and now you have a business letter form to sell it? The fact is agents on the whole are too busy right now. The market is slumping. No one knows where to place their bets on e-books. So you have to sell yourself and your book. Hell, you have to be a hollywood hooker with that shit. And you will get rejected in impersonal little notes (you should probably publish simultaneously even though they say not to) over and over and over.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I got sick of it and decided to publish through createspace. After all, I don't need to be Stephen King. I just want some people to read my writing.
The only nice I can offer you is that writing good queries and synopses becomes easier with practice. It is another form of writing to learn, and just like any other you learn the rules and the tricks and it goes much faster.