Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Agents/Queries

Well, after the third round of revisions on the query came back I am no closer to having a good one. Don't get me wrong I recieved some excellent feedback, the problem is most of it was really good and I tried to incorporate it all into the next round of revisions. So the last one is 320 words. The first one was 238. I know what I want to say, now I'm all just screwed up in how to say it. And as we all know, the recommendation on a query is 250 words or less.

And I just erased 4 paragraphs from this post because it was all blather. Less is more, so they say, I just have to try and get it there.

And I just erased 2 more paragraphs from this post because it was all blather. See what happens when I try and get up early to post.

Agents in my genre are limited. Although Donald Maass says he reads everything that crosses the e-mail file and if he finds something he likes, he'll rep it. HA wouldn't THAT be the %$#@ing balls. (Excuse my vernacular)

Truthfully, I'm so sick of this process, no, wait, I take that back, I'm not sick of the process, I'm sick of the rejection. I'm sick of the form rejection. Hopefully this time someone will send me a rejection with notes. So I'll know what the hell I'm doing. Then again, hopefully someone will say, yeah, I'll take you on as a client. Wouldn't that be sweet.

If I could only get an agent, then a contract, then I could just write the rest of the books, like I want to. The agent could handle all the agent bullshit and I could just write. For now. I have a marketing/PR strategy all set to go. Believe me, I have thought about this. I have a career arc, I know EXACTLY where I want to be 10 years from now. I know EXACTLY how to get there. I just need someone to give me a freaking chance.

Okay, I need to go upstairs now and start my real day. Small One is going to school today whether she's still got the sniffles or not. I've got more line edits to run.
More agents to query. I wonder if I can re-query those I already have but gotten a form rejection. No; no is no I think.

Small One's feet have just hit the floor. Have a lovely day.

10 comments:

Kelsey (Dominique) Ridge said...

The query process is a stressful one, but it's a necessary evil of the business.

Resist the urge to requery the folks who have already passed. It can be tempting, but most agent blogs would say that a no is a no for pretty much always.

Good luck with the line edits.

Anne Gallagher said...

Thanks for repeating a 'no is a no'. I knew that, but didn't really want to believe it because those were the major players I wanted to try. Again. Just in case. You know.

Thanks Dominique, it's always nice to have you here.

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Oh, dear, the TRENCHES. I'm not in hurry to hop in there with you. But it sounds like it might be easier if we're doing it together. You know, support and all that. But I'm here to support you anyway, okay? Querying is 99% rejection, I think. Not good odds for those trenches, but there's always hope. I'm cheering you on! If you'd like feedback on your query let me know.

Stephanie said...

Me too...I soooooo know where I want to be...got tons and tons of plans...just need one little agent to say "okay!"

Stephanie said...

Also, if something got a 'no', but then you made significant revisions, you can requery! As long as a good amount of time has passed.

Anne Gallagher said...

Hey Michelle I might just take you up on that.

Stephanie -- yeah, that was my original thought on the query -- it's been at least 6 months and I've brought the word count down to under 99K (from the original 124K). I'd really like to requery those first agents because they're the bomb and while researching others, there are only a handful who rep what I do. (And none of those are AAR.)

Sarah Ahiers said...

ugh that is a tough place to be. I've got my query out for a critique right now. I'm so sure that it's awesome that i know i'll be in a bit of trouble when it comes back with the recommended changes. Sigh.
Ah well. I like to edit.
If you'd like a fresh pair of eyes on your query i can take a look. I don't know much about your novel since i'm kind of new to your blog, so i should be unbiased. Send me an email if you're interested.

Sarah Ahiers said...

Ha - i just realized i did give you a quick critique already. That said, i can certainly give you a longer one if you're interested.

dolorah said...

Geeze Anne; you sound like the rest of us :P

Welcome to the query pity pool. Just don't spend too much time there, and know you have loads of friends with the same issues.

I burned a couple preferred agents myself by querying too soon, and not having an acceptable query. It truly was my lucky day when I stumbled into writers blogs.

Much luck to you.

.........dhole

Anne Gallagher said...

Hey thanks Donna for stopping by and sharing. I love the comments you make on the Lit Lab. It's nice to have you here.

Yeah, stupid me, queried last year, without revisions, without editing, with the lamest query EVER. After 8 form rejections and 8 no answers I figured I'd better figure out what the hell I was doing. I lurked around on the blogs for awhile and then finally screwed up enough courage to start this one. I am so glad I did. I have met the greatest people who share and are so unbelievably freaking talented, I'm glad we're all this same boat together. Life rafts are behind the fo'c'sle.