I've been spending all morning trying to come up with something to blog about today. To tell you the truth- I got nothing. My mind has been totally taken up with querying.
It's been a long time since I've actually queried. Last fall to be exact. It was last August that I got my first two full requests. One I heard back on almost immediately- a very nice pass. A month later, I won a pitch contest and sent out a partial. That partial also got a pass but with some very helpful crits on some things that could be tightened in the MS. With that one full still out there, my plan was to wait until I heard back from that agent. I hoped that if it was a no, she'd have some comments also, then I'd go back to the MS and revise.
December hit and I still hadn't heard so I nudged. She had never received the full! Aaahhhh!!!! That's how I felt anyhow. (So if you're ever wondering if you should nudge, here's proof why it's a good idea.) So I sent it off again. In the meantime, I'd written a new MS and was busy with that so the waiting wasn't so bad. Then came February and a contest. I entered- another full request. March- another contest, another full request. Then of course May and The Writer's Voice. Two partial requests. When the Xmas in July contest hit, I decided if I made it in, it was time to revise. So I did- finally.
I've since heard back from some of those subs, not all. But I've made the decision to get back into those query trenches. I'm not gonna lie, I'm starting to despair a little over this story that I love so much. But I need a few more rejections (I can't believe I'm saying that!) before I decide it's just not gonna make it out into the world and I shelve it for good. Really, I haven't actually queried it with my sparkly query all that much. So even though it's been awhile, I'm giving it a chance. After that, I've got another MS waiting in the wings.
So, querying. This post isn't advice. It doesn't tell you how to survive. It doesn't tell you what to do or what not to do. It's probably not useful to anyone but me- a chance to unload the stress that is crowding up my brain. If you've been in the query trenches, you'll know what I'm talking about.
So what about you? Any of you querying out there? How's it going?
You know, Querying is a form of self imposed torture. At least, that's what it feels like to me right now. I'm in the trenches and having very little success. I'm guessing that it must be time to do a revision on my MS to see if I can make it any better than it is currently. But I've only really just started.
ReplyDeleteGood luck.
I'm already stressing about querying. I've never done it before, and I'm getting much closer to that point. Good luck with your querying! :)
ReplyDeletegood luck! I think it's a great idea to query some more, especially with a reworked query letter. It speaks volumes (to me) that you've had some requests with it.
ReplyDeleteDon't give up! At least you know your query is good enough to bring in full requests. That says a lot!
ReplyDeleteIf you've ever given the small publisher route thought, we are having a contest in August over at Unicorn Bell with 4 publishers judging queries. You can check it out Here.
right there with you. I started another wip while I query. It's a great distraction.
ReplyDeleteI am right there with you, friend.
ReplyDeleteI was so excited to see your query up on Christmas in July, though, I've wanted to read it since I saw it up on Mother.Write. :) I wish I could say don't give up, except I know that sometimes it's best. Still, I really do want to read it sometime, so for my own selfish purposes, you should at least consider self-publishing instead of completely shelving it.
Ah, yes, the trenches. I queried last spring, and received lots of rejections, and one partial. So then I reworked my query because obviously that was the cause for the rejections. Then I sent out my new query in late April. And right away came two full requests. I figured I'd found the right query. But then nothing. No more requests. And the earlier fulls were rejected, one with great feedback and an offer to re-query. But now my queries are coming back as form rejections. And I wonder why. Is it the query? Ah, who knows! I hear you, though. Frustrating stuff this is.
ReplyDeleteAghhhhh the trenches! I made the mistake of querying too early. But in total I sent out 23 queries, got 8 full requests, 3 partial requests, 1 contest win and an R+R. Now I am faithfully working on the R+R and I've realized that my book is getting stronger. No matter what happens, these revisions were 100% what I needed to do. :)
ReplyDeleteI will hopefully be stepping into the trenches soon. We just have to stick together and send each other some food/books to read while in the trenches. It's a tough process, but I think we can make it. :)
ReplyDelete