On Today's Menu -- Tuna Melts, "Sick" Soup, and Bread Pudding. (Hi Liza)
I just wanted to say Thanks to everyone who commented on my "I Hate Sex" Post. It was a great discussion and I loved hearing everyone's views on the subject. And PLEASE, I never intended to insult anyone and their writing. I know several ladies I follow on blogs who write erotic romance and are published and do a damn fine job of it. More power to you. For my post I was strictly referring to the Regency romance genre and how they just plop (Hi Michelle) sex in with no reason for it whatsoever. Okay, enough about that.
I thought you might like to know that Lydia and Joe Sharp over at The Sharp Angle are holding a crit contest where EVERYONE will get a critique of their first 500 words. So go here now and sign up. I believe this closes down Jan 15. I think. So hurry over because I'm not sure.
I believe 2011 will become THE YEAR OF THE QUERY. So far, I've counted eight people who are getting ready to query this year. Including myself. There are also three of us who started the process right before the holidays (Yeah, what were we thinking, there's nothing worse than waiting on queries over Christmas.) So to all of you, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. If you need any help with your queries, don't hesitate to ask. I'm always up for a good query. (And not to toot my own horn or anything but I think I'm pretty good at them. My own have garnered partials and fulls and at least partials from other people whom I've helped if you need references. piedmontwriter at gmail dot com)
I received another request from an agent for REMEMBERING YOU. She wants an exclusive. Unfortunately I couldn't give it to her when she wants it, (which is now) because I still have 10 queries out with other agents. However, I did tell her when the other 10 come back in, I will grant it if nothing else develops.
I've heard horror stories about exclusives before, and I always said I wouldn't give them, but this agent was so nice about it (we had several emails) I couldn't refuse. Besides she's one of my top 10 picks so... have to.
I'm also taking a small hiatus -- not sure when that will happen, probably the week after next. I have to seriously buckle down and get my act together. Ellis and Violet are building a nice little love story, which is great, but also Penny and William are clamoring for me to fix them. (I finally had the revelation I needed to make this ms. work.) And if I can get both these books finished by the time I'm done querying REMEMBERING YOU, who knows, I may come away with a two-book deal. Wouldn't that be nice?
Any-hoo, I hope you all have a great weekend. I'll see you on Monday.
Showing posts with label queries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label queries. Show all posts
Friday, January 7, 2011
Monday, November 1, 2010
NaNo -- A New Twist
Happy NaNo everyone. Although I'm not participating this year, (after much deliberation and forethought, I realized even though I have a great story and a lot of the backstory already tackled, it's just too much pressure) I found another idea.
It's not my idea. It's from Tracy at Forever Endeavor. It's called NaNoQUERMo. National Novel Query Month. Isn't that awesome just covered in sauce?
30 days. 30 Queries out to Agents. I can't believe how easy this sounds.
I've been waiting to query, it seems like forever, and I keep putting if off. If not now, when? I had high hopes of getting the query out by October 1 but it didn't happen. Real life happens, tornadoes happen, hot water heaters blowing up happens, father's getting sick happens... if I let real life keep getting in my way, then querying will never happen.
So I'm biting the bullet and going for it. Anyone else for NaNoQUERMo? I know a bunch of us are in the same boat -- ready to query. Will you join me and Tracy in the high seas of rejections, the rough waters of anticipation, the swell of partial/full requests? What have you got to lose?
It's not my idea. It's from Tracy at Forever Endeavor. It's called NaNoQUERMo. National Novel Query Month. Isn't that awesome just covered in sauce?
30 days. 30 Queries out to Agents. I can't believe how easy this sounds.
I've been waiting to query, it seems like forever, and I keep putting if off. If not now, when? I had high hopes of getting the query out by October 1 but it didn't happen. Real life happens, tornadoes happen, hot water heaters blowing up happens, father's getting sick happens... if I let real life keep getting in my way, then querying will never happen.
So I'm biting the bullet and going for it. Anyone else for NaNoQUERMo? I know a bunch of us are in the same boat -- ready to query. Will you join me and Tracy in the high seas of rejections, the rough waters of anticipation, the swell of partial/full requests? What have you got to lose?
Friday, October 1, 2010
Final Query
My sincerest heartfelt thanks go out to Rick here because he commented on my struggles and I got up the nerve to email him (because we are friends from another dimension) and he just basically wrote my query the way HE thought it should have been written. I took his template and tweaked it and here it is. And sometimes that's just all it takes.
This is my final query and what I will be sending out shortly.
When Genna goes home to Rhode Island to spend a long-awaited vacation, she finds that her family is falling apart and she has only twenty-one days to put them back together.
Her new promotion as Executive Chef at the posh Littlefield Country Club in Delaware is a dream job. It’s more than the pay and benefits, she has the chance to achieve what she’s always wanted – her own kitchen – and Genna can’t wait to get started when she returns after her Fourth of July holiday.
However, her vacation is far from relaxing. Two men are vying for her attention, an ex-fiancé who wants to fix the mistakes of the past, and an old school chum who finds her irresistible…and inspires mutual feelings in Genna. Her aunt is also clearly showing signs of mental illness. The family is in denial; her cousins are unable to cope with their mother’s changing behavior and her beloved uncle, dealing with all the stress, has a heart attack.
Genna steps in to keep his diner open and the family together while he recuperates and she questions what’s more important – breaking the glass ceiling or her family. The clock runs out and Genna finds she is needed at her new job, she is needed by her family, and she is needed by lovers old and new. Now Genna must search her soul to find out what she needs.
My Hook -- We know who (Genna), where (Rhode Island), what is happening (vacation and her family falling apart) and what she faces (twenty-one days to put them back together). I liked that "21 days" line from the last query and so stuck it in here. Truthfully I still liked my "hell in a handbasket" line better but I couldn't justify it.
First Paragraph -- This is the set-up for the main conflict Genna faces. Her job or her family.
Second Paragraph -- This is what happens to Genna on her vacation. These are all the external and internal conflicts without the fat. Two men, her aunt, her cousins and her uncle. Oh my. Notice I didn't use any names. Also notice I didn't use Alzheimer's. I don't know why I changed that, but it seems to flow better, also makes you ask the question -- which mental illness, could it be alzheimer's, could it be dementia, could it be she's just crazy?
Final Paragraph -- And this is what Genna does when all that stuff happens to her. She keeps the diner open and the family together. And yes, I do have the one cliche -- break the glass ceiling -- because it says so much to what she's feeling and what she's been through to get there. It's not ambiguous. We also have a question but in the form of a sentence (Thanks Rick!) And hopefully this will do the trick in allowing the agent to ask "Oh, what does Genna do about all this, I need to know."
Did you notice I used conflict in both my first and second paragraphs?
Did you notice I combined the motivation and goal in the last paragraph?
With only 250 words (more or less -- this version is 238) to lure an agent to request, sometimes you must combine the four -- Hook Conflict Motivation Goal -- to get the killer query.
I also want to say this. Don't ever be afraid to ask for help. The Slushpile is great to get you going but ultimately what you want with the final draft is to get one or two people to look at it, preferably someone who doesn't know anything about your book. They'll have an unbiased opinion, (like Rick did for me) and just basically tell the story they think needs to be told.
So there we go, an anatomy lesson in my query process. I hope this has helped you, at least a little bit.
Next week, I'll do a post about the rest of the letter, the author bio -- as an answer to a question in the comments.
Any questions, comments, let me know what you think. If you were an agent would you want to read this book?
This is my final query and what I will be sending out shortly.
When Genna goes home to Rhode Island to spend a long-awaited vacation, she finds that her family is falling apart and she has only twenty-one days to put them back together.
Her new promotion as Executive Chef at the posh Littlefield Country Club in Delaware is a dream job. It’s more than the pay and benefits, she has the chance to achieve what she’s always wanted – her own kitchen – and Genna can’t wait to get started when she returns after her Fourth of July holiday.
However, her vacation is far from relaxing. Two men are vying for her attention, an ex-fiancé who wants to fix the mistakes of the past, and an old school chum who finds her irresistible…and inspires mutual feelings in Genna. Her aunt is also clearly showing signs of mental illness. The family is in denial; her cousins are unable to cope with their mother’s changing behavior and her beloved uncle, dealing with all the stress, has a heart attack.
Genna steps in to keep his diner open and the family together while he recuperates and she questions what’s more important – breaking the glass ceiling or her family. The clock runs out and Genna finds she is needed at her new job, she is needed by her family, and she is needed by lovers old and new. Now Genna must search her soul to find out what she needs.
My Hook -- We know who (Genna), where (Rhode Island), what is happening (vacation and her family falling apart) and what she faces (twenty-one days to put them back together). I liked that "21 days" line from the last query and so stuck it in here. Truthfully I still liked my "hell in a handbasket" line better but I couldn't justify it.
First Paragraph -- This is the set-up for the main conflict Genna faces. Her job or her family.
Second Paragraph -- This is what happens to Genna on her vacation. These are all the external and internal conflicts without the fat. Two men, her aunt, her cousins and her uncle. Oh my. Notice I didn't use any names. Also notice I didn't use Alzheimer's. I don't know why I changed that, but it seems to flow better, also makes you ask the question -- which mental illness, could it be alzheimer's, could it be dementia, could it be she's just crazy?
Final Paragraph -- And this is what Genna does when all that stuff happens to her. She keeps the diner open and the family together. And yes, I do have the one cliche -- break the glass ceiling -- because it says so much to what she's feeling and what she's been through to get there. It's not ambiguous. We also have a question but in the form of a sentence (Thanks Rick!) And hopefully this will do the trick in allowing the agent to ask "Oh, what does Genna do about all this, I need to know."
Did you notice I used conflict in both my first and second paragraphs?
Did you notice I combined the motivation and goal in the last paragraph?
With only 250 words (more or less -- this version is 238) to lure an agent to request, sometimes you must combine the four -- Hook Conflict Motivation Goal -- to get the killer query.
I also want to say this. Don't ever be afraid to ask for help. The Slushpile is great to get you going but ultimately what you want with the final draft is to get one or two people to look at it, preferably someone who doesn't know anything about your book. They'll have an unbiased opinion, (like Rick did for me) and just basically tell the story they think needs to be told.
So there we go, an anatomy lesson in my query process. I hope this has helped you, at least a little bit.
Next week, I'll do a post about the rest of the letter, the author bio -- as an answer to a question in the comments.
Any questions, comments, let me know what you think. If you were an agent would you want to read this book?
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Query Number Three
You can read the entire context of my queries and the feedback at The Public Query Slushpile. (Under the heading Women's Fiction is the easiest way to find it.) Thanks again to Rick Daley and the amazing amount of work he does.
Here we go.
If Genna had thought going home would be hell, she would have brought along her hand basket.
Returning home to Bristol, Rhode Island for the annual Fourth of July parade for the first time in ten years, Genna is more than excited to share the great news about her fantastic promotion as executive kitchen manager at a swanky country club in Delaware. However, she isn’t home five minutes before trouble starts when she runs into her ex-fiancé. Although everyone says he’s no good, Genna can’t see through her memories clearly enough to discern if they’re right.
Genna’s problems escalate as she discovers her aunt may have Alzheimer’s and no one in the family wants to deal with it. Angie is hysterical over a bad pap smear and a broken marriage. Robby completely shuts down when he finds out his plaid and pearl wearing girlfriend is pregnant. To put the icing on the cake, her beloved uncle has a heart attack.
Genna finds keeping her uncle’s diner open during the busiest time of the year is more than just hard work, it is in her blood and she questions if she should give up her new job in Delaware to stay in Bristol. And when little Petie DiCampo appears, all grown up and looking like a calendar boy, she wonders if he could be the man to finally break down the walls she’s built around herself since the night her parents were killed by a drunk driver when she was a kid.
In twenty-one days, Genna figures out all the answers to her family’s problems before she heads back to Delaware. She also decides living without love is not in her future, the problem is, which man will she choose?
The Hook - Again with the hand basket line which I really really liked, however, as one person pointed out to me, even though it might be a great hook, it doesn't make any sense as you don't carry a hand basket to hell, you're already in the hand basket. As in, "I'm going to hell in a hand basket." And what did we learn about cliches?
Paragraph Two -- Details, details details. This is the feedback the last query brought so here I decided to show some of the details. Why she was going home, where she was going, what happens when she gets there. Although this is quite possibly too many details. To me, now as I read it, it seems a little stiff. Notice I got rid of the cliches and romance roots here.
Paragraph Three -- Who are all these people? Why do we care about them? Do we really need to know ALL the events of the story. No, No, and NO. This is all extraneous. Especially their names. Distracting.
Paragraph Four -- This is the meat of the story right here -- when Genna keeps the diner open and she realized maybe her dream job isn't all that. She QUESTIONS what's more important. This is her conflict. And as for Pete, another name to add to the growing pile of confusion. And now I've also thrown in the part about her parents which was never in any of the other queries. Sure it's important but it's not what's driving the story. (Well, it is but only in a minimalist kind of way.)
Final Paragraph -- I've ended the query with one decision made for Genna but then turn around and ask a question. And what did we learn about asking questions at the end of a query? In the words of Mater -- "To not to."
Any Questions? Hope you'll come back for the final installment tomorrow where we can discuss how I trimmed the fat and hopefully will have the query to entice an agent.
Here we go.
If Genna had thought going home would be hell, she would have brought along her hand basket.
Returning home to Bristol, Rhode Island for the annual Fourth of July parade for the first time in ten years, Genna is more than excited to share the great news about her fantastic promotion as executive kitchen manager at a swanky country club in Delaware. However, she isn’t home five minutes before trouble starts when she runs into her ex-fiancé. Although everyone says he’s no good, Genna can’t see through her memories clearly enough to discern if they’re right.
Genna’s problems escalate as she discovers her aunt may have Alzheimer’s and no one in the family wants to deal with it. Angie is hysterical over a bad pap smear and a broken marriage. Robby completely shuts down when he finds out his plaid and pearl wearing girlfriend is pregnant. To put the icing on the cake, her beloved uncle has a heart attack.
Genna finds keeping her uncle’s diner open during the busiest time of the year is more than just hard work, it is in her blood and she questions if she should give up her new job in Delaware to stay in Bristol. And when little Petie DiCampo appears, all grown up and looking like a calendar boy, she wonders if he could be the man to finally break down the walls she’s built around herself since the night her parents were killed by a drunk driver when she was a kid.
In twenty-one days, Genna figures out all the answers to her family’s problems before she heads back to Delaware. She also decides living without love is not in her future, the problem is, which man will she choose?
The Hook - Again with the hand basket line which I really really liked, however, as one person pointed out to me, even though it might be a great hook, it doesn't make any sense as you don't carry a hand basket to hell, you're already in the hand basket. As in, "I'm going to hell in a hand basket." And what did we learn about cliches?
Paragraph Two -- Details, details details. This is the feedback the last query brought so here I decided to show some of the details. Why she was going home, where she was going, what happens when she gets there. Although this is quite possibly too many details. To me, now as I read it, it seems a little stiff. Notice I got rid of the cliches and romance roots here.
Paragraph Three -- Who are all these people? Why do we care about them? Do we really need to know ALL the events of the story. No, No, and NO. This is all extraneous. Especially their names. Distracting.
Paragraph Four -- This is the meat of the story right here -- when Genna keeps the diner open and she realized maybe her dream job isn't all that. She QUESTIONS what's more important. This is her conflict. And as for Pete, another name to add to the growing pile of confusion. And now I've also thrown in the part about her parents which was never in any of the other queries. Sure it's important but it's not what's driving the story. (Well, it is but only in a minimalist kind of way.)
Final Paragraph -- I've ended the query with one decision made for Genna but then turn around and ask a question. And what did we learn about asking questions at the end of a query? In the words of Mater -- "To not to."
Any Questions? Hope you'll come back for the final installment tomorrow where we can discuss how I trimmed the fat and hopefully will have the query to entice an agent.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Query Number Two
Thanks again to Rick over at The Public Query Slushpile.
Okay, here we go.
If Genna thought returning home after a long absence would be hell, she would have brought along her hand-basket. Wanting to celebrate the good news about her fabulous job offer, Genna realizes it’s time to relinquish her past demons and go home.
Not even there five minutes, it comes back to haunt her in the form of her ex-fiancé and her unresolved feelings for him. What he did a decade ago still twists her heart and when he asks for forgiveness, Genna decides to let the past go and move on. However, when Genna’s cousin reveals long buried secrets about her ex- Genna wonders if she made a mistake. “People don’t change” Angie says, but Genna has seen it happen in more than one person since returning. Including herself.
Unexpectedly, she discovers a promising new love in the arms of a man she once despised. Her family is pushing her into this new relationship but as she wrestles with her feelings, she makes the unbelievable mistake of sleeping with her ex-. Keeping the two men from finding out about each other proves to be impossible as they both show up for a date on the same night.
Moreover, her new promotion grows cold as she faces a family member’s health crisis no one saw coming. She wonders if she should skip the advancement and remain where she never wanted to leave or go and live the life she always thought she wanted. Genna, torn between two worlds, her decision to remain is the only one possible. However, which love will capture her heart, old or new?
My hook; see, now here, I thought I was being clever with the hell in a handbasket line but it didn't work out that way. Everyone said it just didn't work - AT ALL. And besides it's a cliche. And what did we learn about cliches?
Second paragraph -- still going back to the romance roots. "haunt her" "twists her heart" "long buried secrets".
And here, I've taken a quote from her cousin Angie, which is relevant to the story, but the agent will ask, who the hell is Angie and why is she in this query? It doesn't make sense.
I thought the third paragraph was pretty good, pitting the two men against each other and then the little teaser "as they both show up for the same date". I thought it was slightly amusing but it didn't really fly after I finished writing so much of the book.
The last paragraph -- I like the wording in this but as I continued to write the book and Genna's atitude and that of her family changed about her future, it didn't work as well as I liked. And never NEVER EVER end a query with a question that doesn't have the answer. An agent wants to know what happens and if the query isn't strong enough to begin with, ending with a question won't make her want to request pages.
Any questions? Hope you'll stop by tomorrow for Query Number Three.
Okay, here we go.
If Genna thought returning home after a long absence would be hell, she would have brought along her hand-basket. Wanting to celebrate the good news about her fabulous job offer, Genna realizes it’s time to relinquish her past demons and go home.
Not even there five minutes, it comes back to haunt her in the form of her ex-fiancé and her unresolved feelings for him. What he did a decade ago still twists her heart and when he asks for forgiveness, Genna decides to let the past go and move on. However, when Genna’s cousin reveals long buried secrets about her ex- Genna wonders if she made a mistake. “People don’t change” Angie says, but Genna has seen it happen in more than one person since returning. Including herself.
Unexpectedly, she discovers a promising new love in the arms of a man she once despised. Her family is pushing her into this new relationship but as she wrestles with her feelings, she makes the unbelievable mistake of sleeping with her ex-. Keeping the two men from finding out about each other proves to be impossible as they both show up for a date on the same night.
Moreover, her new promotion grows cold as she faces a family member’s health crisis no one saw coming. She wonders if she should skip the advancement and remain where she never wanted to leave or go and live the life she always thought she wanted. Genna, torn between two worlds, her decision to remain is the only one possible. However, which love will capture her heart, old or new?
My hook; see, now here, I thought I was being clever with the hell in a handbasket line but it didn't work out that way. Everyone said it just didn't work - AT ALL. And besides it's a cliche. And what did we learn about cliches?
Second paragraph -- still going back to the romance roots. "haunt her" "twists her heart" "long buried secrets".
And here, I've taken a quote from her cousin Angie, which is relevant to the story, but the agent will ask, who the hell is Angie and why is she in this query? It doesn't make sense.
I thought the third paragraph was pretty good, pitting the two men against each other and then the little teaser "as they both show up for the same date". I thought it was slightly amusing but it didn't really fly after I finished writing so much of the book.
The last paragraph -- I like the wording in this but as I continued to write the book and Genna's atitude and that of her family changed about her future, it didn't work as well as I liked. And never NEVER EVER end a query with a question that doesn't have the answer. An agent wants to know what happens and if the query isn't strong enough to begin with, ending with a question won't make her want to request pages.
Any questions? Hope you'll stop by tomorrow for Query Number Three.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Query Number One
Well, here we go. First I want to say, thank you to Rick Daley and his amazing blog, The Public Query Slushpile. It's where I do all my query try-outs. There is just such amazing feedback there and everyone is so polite and learned. It's a great place so if you're getting ready to write the dreaded query, please go there and try it out. You won't be sorry.
Now, onto my first attempt. As you will see, this query really says nothing.
Ten years is a long time to live in a self-imposed exile and when Genna’s longing for the familiar turn into nightmares about her future, she realizes it’s time to go home.
Once there, the past comes back to haunt her in the form of her ex-fiancé and his dead wife. Genna’s unresolved feelings for him and what he did a decade ago only twist her heart and lead her down a perilous path. He wants her back and Genna wonders if it’s only for her money.
Coming home has also brought her aunt’s Alzheimer’s to light, something the family refuses to face. Her cousin is falling apart under the strain of a too perfect marriage and her best friend is ignoring her. Genna also finds herself encumbered with an inheritance that threatens to destroy her relationship with her uncle.
What’s a girl to do?
Genna needs to makes some tough decisions regarding her future; does she give up the job of a lifetime and come home to work for peanuts or does she go back and live the same lonely life she’s had for the last decade? And will trying to get over her broken heart lead her to find comfort in the arms of a man she once despised? With the help of the only person who has ever put her first, Genna makes the decisions that will change her life forever.
Ambiguous was the resounding response I'd gotten from the Slushpile on this. I was trying to fit in ALL the components that make up Genna's story without "telling" anything about her. You have to "tell" not "show" in a query.
The first sentence, my hook, I thought was pretty good. The second paragraph, although it tells part of the story, my flair for the dramatic was overdone. "Haunt her" "twist her heart" "perilous path". Yeah, reads more like a romance which is what my last book was. Sometimes it's hard to let go of what you've learned.
Third paragraph is about everyone else, and though this is important, as it does pertain to Genna, it's not tight enough. Too much information.
The question -- "What's a girl to do?" not right. It doesn't make any sense. The agent doesn't want to ask the question, she wants the answer.
And the ending paragraph -- ugh, too many questions. Don't ask questions, give the answers. Tell us what Genna will do. And too many cliches. "work for peanuts" "broken heart" "find comfort in the arms of a man" "change her life forever" This screams ROMANCE NOVEL.
Like I said, sometimes it's hard to change formats in your brain.
I wanted to showcase the women's fiction aspect of this book but it's just way overblown and swinging back toward my romance roots. I needed to scale back, cut out the cliches and questions and just tell the story.
Any questions? I hope you'll come back tomorrow for Query Number Two.
Now, onto my first attempt. As you will see, this query really says nothing.
Ten years is a long time to live in a self-imposed exile and when Genna’s longing for the familiar turn into nightmares about her future, she realizes it’s time to go home.
Once there, the past comes back to haunt her in the form of her ex-fiancé and his dead wife. Genna’s unresolved feelings for him and what he did a decade ago only twist her heart and lead her down a perilous path. He wants her back and Genna wonders if it’s only for her money.
Coming home has also brought her aunt’s Alzheimer’s to light, something the family refuses to face. Her cousin is falling apart under the strain of a too perfect marriage and her best friend is ignoring her. Genna also finds herself encumbered with an inheritance that threatens to destroy her relationship with her uncle.
What’s a girl to do?
Genna needs to makes some tough decisions regarding her future; does she give up the job of a lifetime and come home to work for peanuts or does she go back and live the same lonely life she’s had for the last decade? And will trying to get over her broken heart lead her to find comfort in the arms of a man she once despised? With the help of the only person who has ever put her first, Genna makes the decisions that will change her life forever.
Ambiguous was the resounding response I'd gotten from the Slushpile on this. I was trying to fit in ALL the components that make up Genna's story without "telling" anything about her. You have to "tell" not "show" in a query.
The first sentence, my hook, I thought was pretty good. The second paragraph, although it tells part of the story, my flair for the dramatic was overdone. "Haunt her" "twist her heart" "perilous path". Yeah, reads more like a romance which is what my last book was. Sometimes it's hard to let go of what you've learned.
Third paragraph is about everyone else, and though this is important, as it does pertain to Genna, it's not tight enough. Too much information.
The question -- "What's a girl to do?" not right. It doesn't make any sense. The agent doesn't want to ask the question, she wants the answer.
And the ending paragraph -- ugh, too many questions. Don't ask questions, give the answers. Tell us what Genna will do. And too many cliches. "work for peanuts" "broken heart" "find comfort in the arms of a man" "change her life forever" This screams ROMANCE NOVEL.
Like I said, sometimes it's hard to change formats in your brain.
I wanted to showcase the women's fiction aspect of this book but it's just way overblown and swinging back toward my romance roots. I needed to scale back, cut out the cliches and questions and just tell the story.
Any questions? I hope you'll come back tomorrow for Query Number Two.
Monday, September 27, 2010
It's Query Week
Good Monday morning everyone. I hope your weekends went well. And as for the adage, "Be careful what you wish for..." As I was complaining on Friday about the blasted heat, a low pressure system moved in Saturday night and now it's rainy and c-c-cold.
And no, I'm not finished with the ms. yet, but well on my way. 89K and counting. Yes, I'm over my orginal word count but I did some editing Saturday night on the first act and already I've killed off several cheap scenes. I haven't yet figured out how much of the word count I'm missing. I'm hoping when all is said and done, I'll end up back at my orginal 87k.
Any-hoo, what I've decided to do this week was post the various forms of my query for REMEMBERING YOU. Kind of like before, middle and after. I thought it might help some of you see what kind of process I go through and maybe help you along the way.
There are four main things you need for a really great query;
Hook -- This is the first sentence of the query which summarizes what the book is about. Sometimes called a logline or an 'elevator pitch'.
Conflict -- This is what the protagonist (main character/s) must go through to reach the goal. I like to use both internal and external conflicts in my queries.
Motivation -- This is what drives the main character to the goal.
Goal -- And this is what the main character gets.
Now I'm not going to dive too deeply into why I did what I did, changed what I wrote, my thought processes on each and every version -- sometimes too much information can overload the system so I've noted what I thought was important and what wasn't.
I hope you'll stop by.
And no, I'm not finished with the ms. yet, but well on my way. 89K and counting. Yes, I'm over my orginal word count but I did some editing Saturday night on the first act and already I've killed off several cheap scenes. I haven't yet figured out how much of the word count I'm missing. I'm hoping when all is said and done, I'll end up back at my orginal 87k.
Any-hoo, what I've decided to do this week was post the various forms of my query for REMEMBERING YOU. Kind of like before, middle and after. I thought it might help some of you see what kind of process I go through and maybe help you along the way.
There are four main things you need for a really great query;
Hook -- This is the first sentence of the query which summarizes what the book is about. Sometimes called a logline or an 'elevator pitch'.
Conflict -- This is what the protagonist (main character/s) must go through to reach the goal. I like to use both internal and external conflicts in my queries.
Motivation -- This is what drives the main character to the goal.
Goal -- And this is what the main character gets.
Now I'm not going to dive too deeply into why I did what I did, changed what I wrote, my thought processes on each and every version -- sometimes too much information can overload the system so I've noted what I thought was important and what wasn't.
I hope you'll stop by.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
It's Query Week in the Piedmont
I wanted to let you know I've just finished writing my posts for this week. It's all about my query process, how I wrote it, re-wrote it, tweaked it, and I think, finally nailed it.
I hope you'll stop by, I've got the whole week mapped out so you won't have to wait in between days for the next installment.
And this is by no means a comprehensive guide but perhaps a template for you to use when you get into the trenches yourselves. There are many ways to write a query, I'm just going to show you what I did and hopefully, you'll be able to grab the gist.
Write on! See you tomorrow.
I hope you'll stop by, I've got the whole week mapped out so you won't have to wait in between days for the next installment.
And this is by no means a comprehensive guide but perhaps a template for you to use when you get into the trenches yourselves. There are many ways to write a query, I'm just going to show you what I did and hopefully, you'll be able to grab the gist.
Write on! See you tomorrow.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Friday's at the Piedmont Grille
Well good morning my lovelies. It's been a while, I know. With Monster Baby getting ready for kindergarten, it's been a long few weeks.
She goes full time now, which is a blessing for me. Did I cry when I dropped her off the very first day? No-o-o-o-o-o. My mother called me that morning at 9:00 and asked what I was doing, sobbing into my cereal, weeping into my tea. No-o-o-o-o, I was scrubbing the kitchen from top to bottom. The walls, the floor, behind the stove and refrigerator. I went crazy. Next week, I start on the playroom/office. (And it will take a whole week.)
I'd like to say Thank You and Welcome to all my new "friends" here at Piedmont Writer. So many of you, I'm so blessed. Ericka, Kalmdown, MB, Tara, Rose, Charmaine, Beth, Sora, Clarissa, Summer Ross, The English Writer, Chiccoreal, Mesmirix, Larry, Kay Em, Alison, DJ, Valerie and Shalet Jimmy. Thank you all so much for hanging out with me as I try and get a grip on the writing life.
Thanks again to everyone who read my IN THEIR OWN WORDS series. I'm leaving it up so if you missed it, there it is.
Now some of you have been following my story REMEMBERING YOU as I began posting excerpts in the spring. I've been trying to finish it up, my goal for Labor Day, but that is just not going to happen. Too many things going on. But I will tell you, that I have two more excerpts to post, yes, I'm sorry, only two, because I am almost finished with it. Almost. So stayed tuned. Big things are going to happen.
And when I said I was going to revise and be ready to query by the end of September, for those of you who laughed at me, I'm now laughing with you. What was I thinking? Obviously I wasn't. Writing is hard work. I have to keep reminding myself of that when I say stupid things out loud.
I also got the final two partials back from MASQUERADE - rejected - so that little tome is firmly shelved until I decide what to do with it. And let me tell you how subjective agents can be so you'll understand the process. (And these were the only agents out of 67 who gave me any kind of feedback - all the rest were form.)
Agent A said it was well written but the plot lacked...She didn't tell me what it was lacking only that it lacked. (I had 3 beta readers tell me they loved my plot and the mystery surrounding it held steadfast until the very end.)
Agent B said the female protag wasn't strong enough. (She only read the first 50 pages so didn't see the transformation of the female protag throughout, which was what an historical romance professional said the main MC should do.)
Agent C said my main secondary charater shouldn't be involved in the plot at all. (Which is why my female MC was involved in the plot in the first place.)
And Agent D said the writing was strong, the plot was good, the characters were wholly developed but she didn't think she could place it in the market at this time.
So, what I take away from this is - this business is very subjective.
And that's all I have for right now. I'm going to try and stick to my M-W-F posting schedule again. Like I said, the last few weeks have been busy and I haven't been around much.
Happy Labor Day weekend and for those of you on the East Coast, take good care, I hear there's a hurricane moving in.
She goes full time now, which is a blessing for me. Did I cry when I dropped her off the very first day? No-o-o-o-o-o. My mother called me that morning at 9:00 and asked what I was doing, sobbing into my cereal, weeping into my tea. No-o-o-o-o, I was scrubbing the kitchen from top to bottom. The walls, the floor, behind the stove and refrigerator. I went crazy. Next week, I start on the playroom/office. (And it will take a whole week.)
I'd like to say Thank You and Welcome to all my new "friends" here at Piedmont Writer. So many of you, I'm so blessed. Ericka, Kalmdown, MB, Tara, Rose, Charmaine, Beth, Sora, Clarissa, Summer Ross, The English Writer, Chiccoreal, Mesmirix, Larry, Kay Em, Alison, DJ, Valerie and Shalet Jimmy. Thank you all so much for hanging out with me as I try and get a grip on the writing life.
Thanks again to everyone who read my IN THEIR OWN WORDS series. I'm leaving it up so if you missed it, there it is.
Now some of you have been following my story REMEMBERING YOU as I began posting excerpts in the spring. I've been trying to finish it up, my goal for Labor Day, but that is just not going to happen. Too many things going on. But I will tell you, that I have two more excerpts to post, yes, I'm sorry, only two, because I am almost finished with it. Almost. So stayed tuned. Big things are going to happen.
And when I said I was going to revise and be ready to query by the end of September, for those of you who laughed at me, I'm now laughing with you. What was I thinking? Obviously I wasn't. Writing is hard work. I have to keep reminding myself of that when I say stupid things out loud.
I also got the final two partials back from MASQUERADE - rejected - so that little tome is firmly shelved until I decide what to do with it. And let me tell you how subjective agents can be so you'll understand the process. (And these were the only agents out of 67 who gave me any kind of feedback - all the rest were form.)
Agent A said it was well written but the plot lacked...She didn't tell me what it was lacking only that it lacked. (I had 3 beta readers tell me they loved my plot and the mystery surrounding it held steadfast until the very end.)
Agent B said the female protag wasn't strong enough. (She only read the first 50 pages so didn't see the transformation of the female protag throughout, which was what an historical romance professional said the main MC should do.)
Agent C said my main secondary charater shouldn't be involved in the plot at all. (Which is why my female MC was involved in the plot in the first place.)
And Agent D said the writing was strong, the plot was good, the characters were wholly developed but she didn't think she could place it in the market at this time.
So, what I take away from this is - this business is very subjective.
And that's all I have for right now. I'm going to try and stick to my M-W-F posting schedule again. Like I said, the last few weeks have been busy and I haven't been around much.
Happy Labor Day weekend and for those of you on the East Coast, take good care, I hear there's a hurricane moving in.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Three Games Behind
Good Monday Morning gentle readers. You may ask why last week and now today I have been using baseball jargon for my post titles. Well, you see, it's easy, my beloved Red Sox are three games behind first place. Now as some of you may know, or not, the Red Sox have this crazy way of starting out slow at the beginning of the season and then after the All-Star Game they usually rally to get into the play offs. Well, most of the time anyway.
I liken this to my own writing. I started off slow, and then, after many, many practices and games, I rallied and ended up in the All-Star games. I queried and had some partials requested. Now, I'm trying to head for the play offs. Trying to get published. It's a lot of hard work, a lot of practice but without practice how can you get good? (LOL don't hate me for my word choices.)
Anyway, last week, Ed said something in my comments that struck a chord deep, deep down inside me, and I took it as a sign. He said:
"rejections suck. have a space in your home to feel the rejections, preferably over the waste basket, and then release that crap."
Now I have had all the queries and all the rejections sitting in my inbox because with Monster Baby, well, I tend to lose my mind and I like to keep track of these things. After Ed's response I went directly to said inbox and dumped them all in the trash and deleted them from the mailbox completely.
You know why, because all that questioning, negative energy was blocking all the good, factual energy that was trying to get into the inbox. Hence, the question from the new agent about what kind of work I was doing. She was confused at what I wrote. And I don't blame her. My inbox was sending mixed messages. So now with all that negative, questioning energy released, I hope I've given some new ju-ju into the universe. And I think it worked because at 8:46pm Saturday night she requested the first 50 pages. (Okay, let me just say this again-- 8:46pm Saturday night. I think I'm in love with this woman that she'll work on a Saturday night.)
So thank you Ed for your sage advice. I should have known it myself as I know about Karma and the Universal Mind and believe in things too weird to mention here. You have the heart of a poet and the wisdom of the ages in your soul.
Now, to you my dear, fellow queriers, take Ed's advice, dump the rejections in your inbox out. Release the negativity. Of course you may need to write down the names of the agents who have rejected you so you don't re-query them, but keep that list away from your computer. You don't want to fool around with negative energy. The farther away it is, the better off you'll be.
I would also like to take this time to say a formal apology to Roland Yeomans from Writing in the Crosshairs. Now if you don't know Roland, please go and give him some love. If you do know him, you know that he's been in the query trenches for awhile now, with his book French Quarter Nocturne. (If you haven't read his excerpts yet, go NOW) In my haste to get the awards blog out Saturday morning (before my computer shut down for the day) I added several names to the Sure Fire Winner Award -- and I forgot Roland. I cannot believe I did it, I feel terrible, like the biggest jerk-face in the universe. Is a complete brain implosion a good enough excuse? So Roland, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you off the list and I'm glad Christi remembered you.
Wednesday I will be posting the latest excerpt from REMEMBERING YOU, my little saga of Genna & Tony. I hope you'll come back for it.
Have a great week, get some work done, and release the negative!!!
I liken this to my own writing. I started off slow, and then, after many, many practices and games, I rallied and ended up in the All-Star games. I queried and had some partials requested. Now, I'm trying to head for the play offs. Trying to get published. It's a lot of hard work, a lot of practice but without practice how can you get good? (LOL don't hate me for my word choices.)
Anyway, last week, Ed said something in my comments that struck a chord deep, deep down inside me, and I took it as a sign. He said:
"rejections suck. have a space in your home to feel the rejections, preferably over the waste basket, and then release that crap."
Now I have had all the queries and all the rejections sitting in my inbox because with Monster Baby, well, I tend to lose my mind and I like to keep track of these things. After Ed's response I went directly to said inbox and dumped them all in the trash and deleted them from the mailbox completely.
You know why, because all that questioning, negative energy was blocking all the good, factual energy that was trying to get into the inbox. Hence, the question from the new agent about what kind of work I was doing. She was confused at what I wrote. And I don't blame her. My inbox was sending mixed messages. So now with all that negative, questioning energy released, I hope I've given some new ju-ju into the universe. And I think it worked because at 8:46pm Saturday night she requested the first 50 pages. (Okay, let me just say this again-- 8:46pm Saturday night. I think I'm in love with this woman that she'll work on a Saturday night.)
So thank you Ed for your sage advice. I should have known it myself as I know about Karma and the Universal Mind and believe in things too weird to mention here. You have the heart of a poet and the wisdom of the ages in your soul.
Now, to you my dear, fellow queriers, take Ed's advice, dump the rejections in your inbox out. Release the negativity. Of course you may need to write down the names of the agents who have rejected you so you don't re-query them, but keep that list away from your computer. You don't want to fool around with negative energy. The farther away it is, the better off you'll be.
I would also like to take this time to say a formal apology to Roland Yeomans from Writing in the Crosshairs. Now if you don't know Roland, please go and give him some love. If you do know him, you know that he's been in the query trenches for awhile now, with his book French Quarter Nocturne. (If you haven't read his excerpts yet, go NOW) In my haste to get the awards blog out Saturday morning (before my computer shut down for the day) I added several names to the Sure Fire Winner Award -- and I forgot Roland. I cannot believe I did it, I feel terrible, like the biggest jerk-face in the universe. Is a complete brain implosion a good enough excuse? So Roland, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave you off the list and I'm glad Christi remembered you.
Wednesday I will be posting the latest excerpt from REMEMBERING YOU, my little saga of Genna & Tony. I hope you'll come back for it.
Have a great week, get some work done, and release the negative!!!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Friday's at the Piedmont Grille
Well, slowly but surely I'm making progress. I don't have a meter but I have updated the word counts on my side bar. 4K to THE CAPTAIN'S HOUSE and wonder of wonder another 3K to REMEMBERING YOU.
Yes, I had a breakthrough the other night as I was trying to sleep. I couldn't get Genna out of my mind. She refused to talk to me so I decided to talk to Uncle Sally instead and find out what was up. And boy howdy did Uncle Sally talk. He wouldn't shut up! I finally figured out a way to segue through the rest of the week before the 4th of July party. And O.M.G. am I a brilliant writer or what? (I know everyone, it's coming back, it's coming back.)
I was having such a hard time with Tony and what to do about him. I'm sorry but I think I'm really going to make him the villain. Okay, maybe not so much a villain but a real jerk-face. Only we won't find out about it until the last chapter. See, that's what makes me brilliant. I also have to tweak the night of his conversation in the car with Genna and that will set up the whole third act. TA DA!
And I've decided I'm in love with Pete, Genna's new hottie. He's so nice, and cute, and sexy in his Pearl Jam t-shirt and Celtics jogging shorts. But wait, there's intrigue and disaster brewing at Billy's Beach Bar the night of the 4th and well, wow, Pete's not going to be happy. We'll see what happens won't we. And yes, next week I will be posting excerpts again so stay tuned. I'm changing the day from Thursday to Wednesday just so you know.
In other news, I had a post written for Wednesday about all the crappy crap I'm going through with the query out on MASQUERADE and Bad Blogger posted it while it was in draft mode. Crazy thing that Blogger. Only one person read it and she emailed me with a lovely note saying how I shouldn't give up. And I'm not. And I'm not posting any more blogs filled with 'poor me' either. I just don't want to. I'm so sick and tired of getting rejected, and you guys probably are too so, no more. (Although I just have to tell you, I did send out 6 more queries Tuesday afternoon and I received a rejection in 14 minutes. That's a new record for me.)
I also received feedback from my first beta on MASQUERADE and there was nothing wrong with it. She said it was totally fantastic and I really didn't have to do anything to it. I'm waiting to hear from the other two beta's and see what they say. (And just so you know, I worked my a$$ off on the revisions for MASQUERADE to make sure it was perfect. This first beta knows Regency so I'm not bragging when she said there was nothing wrong with it. And let me tell you how warm and fuzzy I am right now. It's not the book, it's the agents. I'll blame it on them.)
And here's a piece of interesting news...I found another agent who sounds just wonderful and I sent her my query yesterday afternoon. Last night after supper I received an email from her wondering if my book was strictly Regency (are you ready for this) or did it have sex in it? I gave her the rundown of make-out sessions and told her more or less the story was more a mystery surrounding Penny's father and how Penny and William are trying to find true love amid all the mistaken identities. Tune in sports fans to see if she rejects it.
Tomorrow I'll get my head together and pass out the awards I've been hoarding. As you know I haven't been in a celebratory mood these last few weeks but with the breakthrough with Genna and feedback on the Regency, my world is bright and shiny again.
Have I told you how much I love you all? You guys totally rock my world with your uplifting comments and blog love. I hope I'm living up to my end of the bargain. And if not, smack me.
Oh, and I've been toying with the idea of doing another picture post -- who would be Genna & Tony in the movie version. I've got to find some people but I have an idea of who they might be. Hmmmm....
So, that's all for now my lovelies. Have a wonderful weekend, eat some great food and try and get some more on those word counts.
Yes, I had a breakthrough the other night as I was trying to sleep. I couldn't get Genna out of my mind. She refused to talk to me so I decided to talk to Uncle Sally instead and find out what was up. And boy howdy did Uncle Sally talk. He wouldn't shut up! I finally figured out a way to segue through the rest of the week before the 4th of July party. And O.M.G. am I a brilliant writer or what? (I know everyone, it's coming back, it's coming back.)
I was having such a hard time with Tony and what to do about him. I'm sorry but I think I'm really going to make him the villain. Okay, maybe not so much a villain but a real jerk-face. Only we won't find out about it until the last chapter. See, that's what makes me brilliant. I also have to tweak the night of his conversation in the car with Genna and that will set up the whole third act. TA DA!
And I've decided I'm in love with Pete, Genna's new hottie. He's so nice, and cute, and sexy in his Pearl Jam t-shirt and Celtics jogging shorts. But wait, there's intrigue and disaster brewing at Billy's Beach Bar the night of the 4th and well, wow, Pete's not going to be happy. We'll see what happens won't we. And yes, next week I will be posting excerpts again so stay tuned. I'm changing the day from Thursday to Wednesday just so you know.
In other news, I had a post written for Wednesday about all the crappy crap I'm going through with the query out on MASQUERADE and Bad Blogger posted it while it was in draft mode. Crazy thing that Blogger. Only one person read it and she emailed me with a lovely note saying how I shouldn't give up. And I'm not. And I'm not posting any more blogs filled with 'poor me' either. I just don't want to. I'm so sick and tired of getting rejected, and you guys probably are too so, no more. (Although I just have to tell you, I did send out 6 more queries Tuesday afternoon and I received a rejection in 14 minutes. That's a new record for me.)
I also received feedback from my first beta on MASQUERADE and there was nothing wrong with it. She said it was totally fantastic and I really didn't have to do anything to it. I'm waiting to hear from the other two beta's and see what they say. (And just so you know, I worked my a$$ off on the revisions for MASQUERADE to make sure it was perfect. This first beta knows Regency so I'm not bragging when she said there was nothing wrong with it. And let me tell you how warm and fuzzy I am right now. It's not the book, it's the agents. I'll blame it on them.)
And here's a piece of interesting news...I found another agent who sounds just wonderful and I sent her my query yesterday afternoon. Last night after supper I received an email from her wondering if my book was strictly Regency (are you ready for this) or did it have sex in it? I gave her the rundown of make-out sessions and told her more or less the story was more a mystery surrounding Penny's father and how Penny and William are trying to find true love amid all the mistaken identities. Tune in sports fans to see if she rejects it.
Tomorrow I'll get my head together and pass out the awards I've been hoarding. As you know I haven't been in a celebratory mood these last few weeks but with the breakthrough with Genna and feedback on the Regency, my world is bright and shiny again.
Have I told you how much I love you all? You guys totally rock my world with your uplifting comments and blog love. I hope I'm living up to my end of the bargain. And if not, smack me.
Oh, and I've been toying with the idea of doing another picture post -- who would be Genna & Tony in the movie version. I've got to find some people but I have an idea of who they might be. Hmmmm....
So, that's all for now my lovelies. Have a wonderful weekend, eat some great food and try and get some more on those word counts.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Status Update
Just thought I'd let you all know, as of sending out queries on Thursday, I received a partial request 7 hours later. I know this agent to be one of the top in her field so I am thrilled that she requested it. I'm not holding my breath, I've learned from the last bunch of queries and requests, but it's nice to know, a top performer is requesting. At least I know the query is working.
Also, for all you out there querying, please learn from my mistake -- I accidentally sent the same query to two of the agents I sent to back in February. They both had a three month response time and I'm assuming they rejected and I feel stupid, so here's a lesson to you -- check your notes or spreadsheets or whatever you use carefully so you don't look like a stupidhead.
I've also spent the last 2 hours on Query Tracker researching other agents and I've come up with another 19. So all is not lost. Some of then are A-listers, some are B's, and some I've never even heard of. And as this business is so subjective, I don't mind categorizing my targeted agents in this way.
Monster Baby and I are going to *big box office superstore* to buy the required envelopes for the snail mail partial. Yeah, snail mail, but you know, if I were an agent, I'd rather read a partial on paper too, so I'm not minding so much. Besides I can use the other snail mail partial that was rejected. Return SASE's are useful.
I hope you are all having a delightful weekend.
Also, for all you out there querying, please learn from my mistake -- I accidentally sent the same query to two of the agents I sent to back in February. They both had a three month response time and I'm assuming they rejected and I feel stupid, so here's a lesson to you -- check your notes or spreadsheets or whatever you use carefully so you don't look like a stupidhead.
I've also spent the last 2 hours on Query Tracker researching other agents and I've come up with another 19. So all is not lost. Some of then are A-listers, some are B's, and some I've never even heard of. And as this business is so subjective, I don't mind categorizing my targeted agents in this way.
Monster Baby and I are going to *big box office superstore* to buy the required envelopes for the snail mail partial. Yeah, snail mail, but you know, if I were an agent, I'd rather read a partial on paper too, so I'm not minding so much. Besides I can use the other snail mail partial that was rejected. Return SASE's are useful.
I hope you are all having a delightful weekend.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Head's Up
Just thought I'd let you all in on what I've been doing these last few days. Sending out more queries, cleaning up THE LADY'S MASQUERADE manuscript and scouring agents on Query Tracker.
Boy Howdy, let me tell you how fantastic this site is for finding agents. If you haven't gone, go now. If you haven't joined, join now. This is invaluable information that we all need and I'm really grateful to the guys and gals who put this together. (Thanks Elana, thanks Patrick.)
I have a really good feeling about a couple of the agents I sent out today, course that doesn't mean anything, could be just the Mexican food I had for breakfast, but I'm really hoping to land a few more partials with a few of them. You know what they say, query well, query widely. So I'm casting my net into deeper water. We'll see what happens.
I know today is Thursday, and I should have posted another excerpt from the Genna & Tony saga but I didn't as I had already done so on Tuesday. So if you need a fix, scroll down. (And yes, I know it still needs work but I've been so busy doing other things I just haven't gotten around to it yet.)
Anyway, I hope you are all being productive and getting some writing done. I miss you and will see you all soon.
Boy Howdy, let me tell you how fantastic this site is for finding agents. If you haven't gone, go now. If you haven't joined, join now. This is invaluable information that we all need and I'm really grateful to the guys and gals who put this together. (Thanks Elana, thanks Patrick.)
I have a really good feeling about a couple of the agents I sent out today, course that doesn't mean anything, could be just the Mexican food I had for breakfast, but I'm really hoping to land a few more partials with a few of them. You know what they say, query well, query widely. So I'm casting my net into deeper water. We'll see what happens.
I know today is Thursday, and I should have posted another excerpt from the Genna & Tony saga but I didn't as I had already done so on Tuesday. So if you need a fix, scroll down. (And yes, I know it still needs work but I've been so busy doing other things I just haven't gotten around to it yet.)
Anyway, I hope you are all being productive and getting some writing done. I miss you and will see you all soon.
Monday, March 8, 2010
A Long Weekend
Good Monday morning. The sun is shining and it's supposed to be warm. Finally, spring has arrived in the Piedmont. At least I hope so, there shouldn't be any more snow. I hope it is nice where you are.
Well, I'm not going to lie, I haven't written a word since last week. After I had my little fit of depression, I wrote last Friday's blog post and that was pretty much it. I've been thinking. I do that a lot. Some people would call it procrastination. I do that too. I'm also in a physical sort of blue funky haze. I have had to make doctor appointments (I have several physical boo-boo's that seem to have been exacerbated by the cold weather, the stress of my real life as opposed to my writing life, and my own stupidity -- I have to remember I cannot pick up a 40# bag of dog food or shovel snow anymore.) So being in a less than perfect physical state has screwed with my perfect mental state. lol. You know how it is when you don't feel good, you don't want to do anything. so.
Okay, Query Tally Stats -- 16 out -- 3 partials requested, 2 rejected. Also received another form rejection on a query so that makes 7 total rejections. I have 8 still out and one partial still out. Now that I have more than half of them back it's time to send out the next batch. UGH!! I don't even think I have 8 agents left to e-query on my list. I have about 20 for snail mail, but man that gets expensive. But if that's what I have to do...
I also wanted to say Welcome and Thank You to Amy, Donna, Talli and Laurel. Thanks for hanging out. You've made it just in time, not only do you get to hang at the buffet, I'll be putting the pool in soon so you can swim with the rest of us this summer.
I don't think I'll be back until Friday, a lot going on this week. But I'm keeping my eye on you all.
Have a great week everyone!
Well, I'm not going to lie, I haven't written a word since last week. After I had my little fit of depression, I wrote last Friday's blog post and that was pretty much it. I've been thinking. I do that a lot. Some people would call it procrastination. I do that too. I'm also in a physical sort of blue funky haze. I have had to make doctor appointments (I have several physical boo-boo's that seem to have been exacerbated by the cold weather, the stress of my real life as opposed to my writing life, and my own stupidity -- I have to remember I cannot pick up a 40# bag of dog food or shovel snow anymore.) So being in a less than perfect physical state has screwed with my perfect mental state. lol. You know how it is when you don't feel good, you don't want to do anything. so.
Okay, Query Tally Stats -- 16 out -- 3 partials requested, 2 rejected. Also received another form rejection on a query so that makes 7 total rejections. I have 8 still out and one partial still out. Now that I have more than half of them back it's time to send out the next batch. UGH!! I don't even think I have 8 agents left to e-query on my list. I have about 20 for snail mail, but man that gets expensive. But if that's what I have to do...
I also wanted to say Welcome and Thank You to Amy, Donna, Talli and Laurel. Thanks for hanging out. You've made it just in time, not only do you get to hang at the buffet, I'll be putting the pool in soon so you can swim with the rest of us this summer.
I don't think I'll be back until Friday, a lot going on this week. But I'm keeping my eye on you all.
Have a great week everyone!
Friday, February 12, 2010
The Five Stages of Querying
The Five Stages of Querying By Anne Gallagher
In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote the Five Stages of Death and Dying, an invaluable book as to what many patients may face when they are presented with the knowledge they are going to die.
I have chosen to take this premise with regard as to what many of us may face when we have finally honed our manuscripts to perfection and are ready to query. It's a little like death, it's a little like dying. As writers, we are singular in our occupation and sometimes the only human contact we have about writing is through the internet. I hope this will help you identify the emotions you may be feeling as you send out that first query.
The Five Stages of Querying
#1) Conceit – This is the beginning of the query experience in which you are convinced that any agent would be a fool to turn you down. You know deep in your heart this is the most fantastic book ever written and every agent who reads your query will request a full, (or at least a partial) immediately. And your mother, husband/wife and BFF said so.
#2) Fear – This second emotion is harder to contain as it encompasses a variety of anxieties at the same time: Is the query strong enough to get a request? Is the manuscript good enough? Have I revised enough? Did I find all my typos? Did I say everything I was supposed to say? Will I be a babbling idiot when “The Call” comes?
#3) Bargaining – This is when you’ll do absolutely anything for God if s/he chooses to let an agent request any part of your manuscript: Spend more time with the kids, your mother-in-law, the PTO. You’ll keep up with the laundry, dishes, dust bunnies. You’ll remember to make breakfast, pay the bills, feed the dog. And you’ll pass up the new shoes you saw last week at the mall…you swear, if you could only get a request.
#4) Depression – This is how far you’ll actually sink before you start climbing up from the pit of despair. Some frequent comments in your head will be – “My query sucked, the agent will hate it. My book sucks. Why am I doing this? I can’t write a book. No one would read it anyway, it will never sell.” At this point, you must remember you do have family and friends who love you and care for you. Step away from the chocolate, get out of your sweats, take a shower and go for a nice long walk. A little fresh air never hurt anyone.
#5) Acceptance – And this last stage is when you realize, the query is out, agents are looking at it, you gave it your 100% best shot and there is nothing more you can do. So relax. And I won't tell you not to check your e-mail account fifteen times a day because I know you will, just try and get it down to three.
These five stages are not all encompassing or complete. Some people will never reach the acceptance stage, others will be stuck in Fear or Depression, and still others may fluctuate wildly among the five. The emotional reactions to querying varies across individuals and largely depends upon their support systems. And how much bourbon is still left in the liquor cabinet.
Queriers are in a unique position as compared to other writers, given that they are forward looking and can anticipate some aspects of the future. How many of us have already spent our six-figure advance, scheduled a book tour, or designed our web-site?
Recognition of a Rejection however, can be the factor that helps us temper our excitement and bring us back down to earth. Our awareness of the Rejection is necessary. If we defend ourselves against the improbability of that, we are only postponing the agony when it arrives.
Here are Five Guidelines that will help you to manage these Five Stages of Querying and allow you to get on with writing your next book.
Five Guidelines After the Query Has Been Sent
#1) Responding – Try to respond appropriately when someone asks about your book.
Incorrect Response: “Oh my God, I sent it out to query like three weeks ago and haven’t heard a word, and it’s like freaking me out, I can’t stand the waiting, it’s killing me because I knew I forgot to fix the typo in the return address and it’s like…”
Correct Response: “I’ve sent my book out to query. I should hopefully have more information in a few weeks. Thank you for asking.”
#2) Education & Developing Increased Resourcefulness – Now is the perfect time to stroll through agent blogs and find out what you need to ask them if "The Call" comes. Do they have their own Foreign Rights agent and if not, who do they use? Is it possible to get a smaller advance in lieu of a larger royalty rate? Can you get the rights reverted back to you after five years instead of seven? These are just a few of the things you'll want to know, so write them down and put them in a safe place, just in case. An agent will appreciate you've done your homework instead of babbling incoherently "I can't believe it, YOU really called me. Oh my GAWD!"
#3) Encourage Your Peers – As I’ve said before, many times – We are all in this boat together and if we don’t help and encourage other writers, it’s going to be a nasty voyage. I’d hate to be the one stuck out on the poop deck.
#4) Recognize That a Moderate Level of Anxiety is Acceptable – Of course, you have anxiety, your ‘baby’ that you’ve slaved over is out in front of the world. Falling on your face is never anything we want to think about so do have a modicum of hope. Someone may love what you’ve written and as we all know, this business is subjective – What one agent may hate, another may do back flips over.
#5) Develop a Sense of Control & Efficacy – Clean your office, your workspace, your kitchen. Write your author blurb, dedication, back cover blurb. You’ll have to do it sooner or later and, who knows, if "The Call" does come, you’ll be ready and agents love an efficient and prepared writer. Besides, you won’t have to panic later.
Life, After Rejection
This is the most difficult aspect of querying for sure. You’ve sent out however many queries and they have all come back as rejections. Righteous indignation that your-work-is-a-best-seller-and-why-can’t-they-see-that, is useless. Rage is oppressive and despair is not an option. We cannot all be picked up on the first try. So dust your keyboard, sharpen your pencils, open your mind and start writing. It’s very hard and perhaps overwhelming that you have to let this one go, when you finally have to admit to yourself, “They're just not that into it.” You don't suck, the book doesn't suck, you must convince yourself "it's just not right for today's market." However, you now have the opportunity to try again, whether in revisions or something new.
Courage in the face of adversity, my friends, is what keeps us all writing.
Happy Querying!!
Thank you to the National Cervical Cancer Coalition whose resources I modeled this article after. http://www.nccc-online.org/resources/caregivers/stages.html
© 2010 Anne Gallagher
No part of this article can be reused without the express permission of the author or a link to http://piedmontwriter.blogspot.com
**I just had to tell you all -- I couldn't wait until Monday -- I got another request for a partial on The Lady's Masquerade. Yay Me!!
In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote the Five Stages of Death and Dying, an invaluable book as to what many patients may face when they are presented with the knowledge they are going to die.
I have chosen to take this premise with regard as to what many of us may face when we have finally honed our manuscripts to perfection and are ready to query. It's a little like death, it's a little like dying. As writers, we are singular in our occupation and sometimes the only human contact we have about writing is through the internet. I hope this will help you identify the emotions you may be feeling as you send out that first query.
The Five Stages of Querying
#1) Conceit – This is the beginning of the query experience in which you are convinced that any agent would be a fool to turn you down. You know deep in your heart this is the most fantastic book ever written and every agent who reads your query will request a full, (or at least a partial) immediately. And your mother, husband/wife and BFF said so.
#2) Fear – This second emotion is harder to contain as it encompasses a variety of anxieties at the same time: Is the query strong enough to get a request? Is the manuscript good enough? Have I revised enough? Did I find all my typos? Did I say everything I was supposed to say? Will I be a babbling idiot when “The Call” comes?
#3) Bargaining – This is when you’ll do absolutely anything for God if s/he chooses to let an agent request any part of your manuscript: Spend more time with the kids, your mother-in-law, the PTO. You’ll keep up with the laundry, dishes, dust bunnies. You’ll remember to make breakfast, pay the bills, feed the dog. And you’ll pass up the new shoes you saw last week at the mall…you swear, if you could only get a request.
#4) Depression – This is how far you’ll actually sink before you start climbing up from the pit of despair. Some frequent comments in your head will be – “My query sucked, the agent will hate it. My book sucks. Why am I doing this? I can’t write a book. No one would read it anyway, it will never sell.” At this point, you must remember you do have family and friends who love you and care for you. Step away from the chocolate, get out of your sweats, take a shower and go for a nice long walk. A little fresh air never hurt anyone.
#5) Acceptance – And this last stage is when you realize, the query is out, agents are looking at it, you gave it your 100% best shot and there is nothing more you can do. So relax. And I won't tell you not to check your e-mail account fifteen times a day because I know you will, just try and get it down to three.
These five stages are not all encompassing or complete. Some people will never reach the acceptance stage, others will be stuck in Fear or Depression, and still others may fluctuate wildly among the five. The emotional reactions to querying varies across individuals and largely depends upon their support systems. And how much bourbon is still left in the liquor cabinet.
Queriers are in a unique position as compared to other writers, given that they are forward looking and can anticipate some aspects of the future. How many of us have already spent our six-figure advance, scheduled a book tour, or designed our web-site?
Recognition of a Rejection however, can be the factor that helps us temper our excitement and bring us back down to earth. Our awareness of the Rejection is necessary. If we defend ourselves against the improbability of that, we are only postponing the agony when it arrives.
Here are Five Guidelines that will help you to manage these Five Stages of Querying and allow you to get on with writing your next book.
Five Guidelines After the Query Has Been Sent
#1) Responding – Try to respond appropriately when someone asks about your book.
Incorrect Response: “Oh my God, I sent it out to query like three weeks ago and haven’t heard a word, and it’s like freaking me out, I can’t stand the waiting, it’s killing me because I knew I forgot to fix the typo in the return address and it’s like…”
Correct Response: “I’ve sent my book out to query. I should hopefully have more information in a few weeks. Thank you for asking.”
#2) Education & Developing Increased Resourcefulness – Now is the perfect time to stroll through agent blogs and find out what you need to ask them if "The Call" comes. Do they have their own Foreign Rights agent and if not, who do they use? Is it possible to get a smaller advance in lieu of a larger royalty rate? Can you get the rights reverted back to you after five years instead of seven? These are just a few of the things you'll want to know, so write them down and put them in a safe place, just in case. An agent will appreciate you've done your homework instead of babbling incoherently "I can't believe it, YOU really called me. Oh my GAWD!"
#3) Encourage Your Peers – As I’ve said before, many times – We are all in this boat together and if we don’t help and encourage other writers, it’s going to be a nasty voyage. I’d hate to be the one stuck out on the poop deck.
#4) Recognize That a Moderate Level of Anxiety is Acceptable – Of course, you have anxiety, your ‘baby’ that you’ve slaved over is out in front of the world. Falling on your face is never anything we want to think about so do have a modicum of hope. Someone may love what you’ve written and as we all know, this business is subjective – What one agent may hate, another may do back flips over.
#5) Develop a Sense of Control & Efficacy – Clean your office, your workspace, your kitchen. Write your author blurb, dedication, back cover blurb. You’ll have to do it sooner or later and, who knows, if "The Call" does come, you’ll be ready and agents love an efficient and prepared writer. Besides, you won’t have to panic later.
Life, After Rejection
This is the most difficult aspect of querying for sure. You’ve sent out however many queries and they have all come back as rejections. Righteous indignation that your-work-is-a-best-seller-and-why-can’t-they-see-that, is useless. Rage is oppressive and despair is not an option. We cannot all be picked up on the first try. So dust your keyboard, sharpen your pencils, open your mind and start writing. It’s very hard and perhaps overwhelming that you have to let this one go, when you finally have to admit to yourself, “They're just not that into it.” You don't suck, the book doesn't suck, you must convince yourself "it's just not right for today's market." However, you now have the opportunity to try again, whether in revisions or something new.
Courage in the face of adversity, my friends, is what keeps us all writing.
Happy Querying!!
Thank you to the National Cervical Cancer Coalition whose resources I modeled this article after. http://www.nccc-online.org/resources/caregivers/stages.html
© 2010 Anne Gallagher
No part of this article can be reused without the express permission of the author or a link to http://piedmontwriter.blogspot.com
**I just had to tell you all -- I couldn't wait until Monday -- I got another request for a partial on The Lady's Masquerade. Yay Me!!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Query Wars
Well, as it's Sunday, I decided I would work on sending out more queries. Nine to be exact. God, what a pain in the carpel tunnel this is. Some want only queries, some only query and first 10 pages, some the whole shebang -- query, first three chapters and the synopsis. And I did remember to change that line this time. Enclosed you will find...instead of I would be delighted to send you...
The first list of 7 I sent out two weeks ago went to 5 previous agencies and 2 new ones -- all A-list.
This list of 9 went to all new A-list agencies. I also found 4 in these who might request additional material. (fingers crossed) I think with 3 I don't have a shot, and the other 2 a maybe. Then again, everything is subjective and I might get 9 solid rejections. Then again, I might get 9 requests. (Wouldn't that be totally groovy?)
I'll tell you what, this is exhausting. I've been on the computer since 7 this morning, researching addresses and blog posts, and all kinds of other stuff. I have a pad with all the information and a tally list, sent & rejected. I could end up being a walking encyclodpedia for the historical romance genre agents once I totally finish.
I still have maybe 6 or 7 other e-mail agents to query, then I suppose I'll have to query through snail mail which could get quite expensive. The ink alone for the printer will kill me I'm sure. The partial I sent was only $3.00 but multiply that by 10, well, there you go.
Nobody said this was going to be easy. And what are you doing today?
* as of 4pm I received another of those, "Thanks for sending us your query, we'll get around to it when we do" messages. Which I think is actually very nice, and extremely polite, even if it is computer generated.
The first list of 7 I sent out two weeks ago went to 5 previous agencies and 2 new ones -- all A-list.
This list of 9 went to all new A-list agencies. I also found 4 in these who might request additional material. (fingers crossed) I think with 3 I don't have a shot, and the other 2 a maybe. Then again, everything is subjective and I might get 9 solid rejections. Then again, I might get 9 requests. (Wouldn't that be totally groovy?)
I'll tell you what, this is exhausting. I've been on the computer since 7 this morning, researching addresses and blog posts, and all kinds of other stuff. I have a pad with all the information and a tally list, sent & rejected. I could end up being a walking encyclodpedia for the historical romance genre agents once I totally finish.
I still have maybe 6 or 7 other e-mail agents to query, then I suppose I'll have to query through snail mail which could get quite expensive. The ink alone for the printer will kill me I'm sure. The partial I sent was only $3.00 but multiply that by 10, well, there you go.
Nobody said this was going to be easy. And what are you doing today?
* as of 4pm I received another of those, "Thanks for sending us your query, we'll get around to it when we do" messages. Which I think is actually very nice, and extremely polite, even if it is computer generated.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Query Tally Stats
Here we go, gentle readers, query tally stats for week one.
7 out, 1 form rejection, 1 thanks for the info, we'll get around to it when we do, 1 partial request. Yes, you heard that right. ONE PARTIAL REQUEST.
I have calmed down since I received that bad boy in my inbox, but the tingling is still hovering. I tell you, I couldn't believe my eyes and had to read it fifteen times before it really sank in. I've probably read it about fifteen more times over the course of the weekend, thinking it might be a joke, but it's still there in my inbox and no one's jumped out of the screen and yelled, "HA, you've been punked."
They want the synopsis and first three chapters, snail mail, which I've prepared and have ready to go to *Big Office Boxstore* to buy the envelope in which to send it. I would have done it Saturday, but as some of you know, we got hit with 10" of snow and I was, kind of like, snowed in. (They don't have plows here in NC -- go figure).
I sent my e-mails out last Wednesday. I received their invitation on Friday. Two days. The exact words were, "We would like to see more of this project." I still can't really believe it. But as you know sports fans, anything can happen in this game. They might not like it after all, which is why I'm trying to temper my excitement with some reality. (Not really working.) I'm also holding on to the fact that I have 5 other queries out there in the inboxes of other agents, so if this doesn't pan out I may have another shot at fulfillment. Not to mention, this is my first set of queries and I still have another 26 agents to go on my list.
But still, can you freaking believe it???!!!! Thank you most heartily to everyone who wished me well and helped with the process, I really couldn't have done it without you. (As we well know what happened last year when I tried to query this as a newbie. Just for giggles, if I can find the original query I might post it so you can see just how "newbie" I really was. Then again, maybe not, I don't want you to see just how STUPID I really was.)
And so, as every good little writer knows, I will now be working on book two. I've decided to go with Richard and Amanda (I posted an excerpt from that on Friday for those of you who would like to read it -- I can't link yet, I don't know how, but it's only a short scroll down) instead of Ellis and Violet. I read an agent blog who said Ellis' story has been done a bazillion times so what's the point. I'll have to find another premise for Ellis to find his wife. As for Richard and Amanda, they have a unique, heart-wrenching love story that spans through two continents, holds a myriad of obstacles for them to overcome and well, dang it, I just love Richard. He's sooooo conflicted. As for Amanda, she is too, but she's a strong woman and I know she'll fight for what she wants...and get it.
And so gentle readers, happy Monday. I hope the sun is shining where you are because, right now, I can't have it any other way.
7 out, 1 form rejection, 1 thanks for the info, we'll get around to it when we do, 1 partial request. Yes, you heard that right. ONE PARTIAL REQUEST.
I have calmed down since I received that bad boy in my inbox, but the tingling is still hovering. I tell you, I couldn't believe my eyes and had to read it fifteen times before it really sank in. I've probably read it about fifteen more times over the course of the weekend, thinking it might be a joke, but it's still there in my inbox and no one's jumped out of the screen and yelled, "HA, you've been punked."
They want the synopsis and first three chapters, snail mail, which I've prepared and have ready to go to *Big Office Boxstore* to buy the envelope in which to send it. I would have done it Saturday, but as some of you know, we got hit with 10" of snow and I was, kind of like, snowed in. (They don't have plows here in NC -- go figure).
I sent my e-mails out last Wednesday. I received their invitation on Friday. Two days. The exact words were, "We would like to see more of this project." I still can't really believe it. But as you know sports fans, anything can happen in this game. They might not like it after all, which is why I'm trying to temper my excitement with some reality. (Not really working.) I'm also holding on to the fact that I have 5 other queries out there in the inboxes of other agents, so if this doesn't pan out I may have another shot at fulfillment. Not to mention, this is my first set of queries and I still have another 26 agents to go on my list.
But still, can you freaking believe it???!!!! Thank you most heartily to everyone who wished me well and helped with the process, I really couldn't have done it without you. (As we well know what happened last year when I tried to query this as a newbie. Just for giggles, if I can find the original query I might post it so you can see just how "newbie" I really was. Then again, maybe not, I don't want you to see just how STUPID I really was.)
And so, as every good little writer knows, I will now be working on book two. I've decided to go with Richard and Amanda (I posted an excerpt from that on Friday for those of you who would like to read it -- I can't link yet, I don't know how, but it's only a short scroll down) instead of Ellis and Violet. I read an agent blog who said Ellis' story has been done a bazillion times so what's the point. I'll have to find another premise for Ellis to find his wife. As for Richard and Amanda, they have a unique, heart-wrenching love story that spans through two continents, holds a myriad of obstacles for them to overcome and well, dang it, I just love Richard. He's sooooo conflicted. As for Amanda, she is too, but she's a strong woman and I know she'll fight for what she wants...and get it.
And so gentle readers, happy Monday. I hope the sun is shining where you are because, right now, I can't have it any other way.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Query Recipe
I was over at the TPQSP last night trying to give some advice. There is nothing more frustrating than a query and trying to help someone else through it. I'm trying to pay it forward you know. I mean, I worked on my query over there through 3 revisions and when I started to cry I said no, I can't do this anymore, it's just too much information, I got 2, count them, one & two, friends who I trusted to help me with the process. Two, and only two friends, who understood what my story was about, what I wanted to say, and who knew what the query process was all about.
With their help I think I drew up a damn good query. I had most of the words, I just had to shuffle them around a bit. And that's really all it took. I had read it SO. MANY. TIMES. I couldn't read it anymore without going blind.
Which is where these poor people at TPQSP are. I can hear the frustration, the anger, the panic in their voices now. I tried to give them the same advice my friends gave me. But they didn't seem to want to hear it.
So now I will give it to you. All you need for good query are four things:
Hook, Conflict for the MC, Motivation to get MC to end, Goal for MC. That's it. Oh, and two trusted friends who know how to write. You write up what you think is a good query following the guidelines I just gave you. You ask yourself if you have answered the four questions. You give it to friend #1 to read. If she says yes, you give it to friend #2, if she says yes, then you've got your query. If either of them says no, then you must go back and find where you've messed up. And also Less is more. You don't need twelve sentences to say one thing. One good sentence with the right verbiage (I love that word, it reminds me of a fancy salad) will kill an agent stone dead. Or make them ask for a partial.
I will also tell you I have 15 queries in Word. And 32 in pen in the "Lady's" file. Along with scratches, scribbles and every other thing imaginable. It's very hard to get your novel condensed into 250 words or less. I mean, if you go over to 265, no one is going to call Janet Reid and get the shark after you but, they better not mess up the business letter format. Unless of course, you have already been published, then you can do whatever you want.
So, that's my query recipe and I'm sticking to it. If anyone has other tidbits, helpful hints they'd like to share feel free. If anyone needs help with their query, feel free to ask. We're all in this boat together and if we can't help each other then it's going to be a long nasty voyage.
With their help I think I drew up a damn good query. I had most of the words, I just had to shuffle them around a bit. And that's really all it took. I had read it SO. MANY. TIMES. I couldn't read it anymore without going blind.
Which is where these poor people at TPQSP are. I can hear the frustration, the anger, the panic in their voices now. I tried to give them the same advice my friends gave me. But they didn't seem to want to hear it.
So now I will give it to you. All you need for good query are four things:
Hook, Conflict for the MC, Motivation to get MC to end, Goal for MC. That's it. Oh, and two trusted friends who know how to write. You write up what you think is a good query following the guidelines I just gave you. You ask yourself if you have answered the four questions. You give it to friend #1 to read. If she says yes, you give it to friend #2, if she says yes, then you've got your query. If either of them says no, then you must go back and find where you've messed up. And also Less is more. You don't need twelve sentences to say one thing. One good sentence with the right verbiage (I love that word, it reminds me of a fancy salad) will kill an agent stone dead. Or make them ask for a partial.
I will also tell you I have 15 queries in Word. And 32 in pen in the "Lady's" file. Along with scratches, scribbles and every other thing imaginable. It's very hard to get your novel condensed into 250 words or less. I mean, if you go over to 265, no one is going to call Janet Reid and get the shark after you but, they better not mess up the business letter format. Unless of course, you have already been published, then you can do whatever you want.
So, that's my query recipe and I'm sticking to it. If anyone has other tidbits, helpful hints they'd like to share feel free. If anyone needs help with their query, feel free to ask. We're all in this boat together and if we can't help each other then it's going to be a long nasty voyage.
Friday, January 22, 2010
THE LADY'S MASQUERADE
17 January 2010
Donald Maass Literary Agency
121 West 27th Street, Suite 801
New York NY 10001
Dear Mr. Maass,
I am seeking representation for THE LADY'S MASQUERADE, a single title Regency romance, complete at 98,000 words.
Someone is trying to kill Lady Penelope Leighton's father and now the fiend has turned his sights on her! Frightened, she flees London in the dead of night masquerading as a traveling companion.
When William Smith, the Earl of Westerly, arrives at Wakefield to keep an eye on his aunt's cousin, he is more than surprised when he meets her young, beautiful companion. A confirmed bachelor, William is fascinated by the mysterious Miss Penny Higgins whose sweet, sunny smile and unfathomable intellect are in direct contrast to her dowdy clothes and recurring stutter. The duchess keeps a strict eye on Penny, and William means to find out why, but no one is talking. He discerns the ladies are in trouble, they are obviously in hiding, and now it appears he will also have to masquerade... as the steward.
Before either of them realize it, they've lost their hearts: Penny to a man who's sworn to never marry and William to a woman incognito and destined for the hand of a duke.
After Penny's true identity and her reason for hiding are finally revealed to William, he immediately engages his friends to help in the campaign to catch the villains. However, upon their return to London, a confounding chain of events finds his cousin Robert as Penny's fiance. William realizes his desire for Penny is more than just a passing fancy and is determined to marry her, but first he must find the blackguard who threatens her.
I would be delighted to send you the synopsis and first three chapters. Thank you for your consideration.
Very Cordially Yours,
And that's it, what do you think. Business letter format, introduction with genre, word count, marketability (single title), and the whole thing at the end with the synopsis and first three chapters says that I have completed all tasks that need to be completed when trying to sell a book. I may be a newbie with no experience but at least I did my homework. I have no pub credits so I don't need to state that, and the whole very cordially yours, is part of my 'voice'. I'm writing Regency, they would expect me to be cordial, don't you think. So there it is. What do you think?
And thank you to everyone who gave comments and critiques at TPQSP. I may not show it, but I used all the information offered to me. And if anyone has any questions about this please feel free to ask, writing a query is really hard, and I had a lot, A LOT of help. So if you need help with yours and I can help you, just ask.
Donald Maass Literary Agency
121 West 27th Street, Suite 801
New York NY 10001
Dear Mr. Maass,
I am seeking representation for THE LADY'S MASQUERADE, a single title Regency romance, complete at 98,000 words.
Someone is trying to kill Lady Penelope Leighton's father and now the fiend has turned his sights on her! Frightened, she flees London in the dead of night masquerading as a traveling companion.
When William Smith, the Earl of Westerly, arrives at Wakefield to keep an eye on his aunt's cousin, he is more than surprised when he meets her young, beautiful companion. A confirmed bachelor, William is fascinated by the mysterious Miss Penny Higgins whose sweet, sunny smile and unfathomable intellect are in direct contrast to her dowdy clothes and recurring stutter. The duchess keeps a strict eye on Penny, and William means to find out why, but no one is talking. He discerns the ladies are in trouble, they are obviously in hiding, and now it appears he will also have to masquerade... as the steward.
Before either of them realize it, they've lost their hearts: Penny to a man who's sworn to never marry and William to a woman incognito and destined for the hand of a duke.
After Penny's true identity and her reason for hiding are finally revealed to William, he immediately engages his friends to help in the campaign to catch the villains. However, upon their return to London, a confounding chain of events finds his cousin Robert as Penny's fiance. William realizes his desire for Penny is more than just a passing fancy and is determined to marry her, but first he must find the blackguard who threatens her.
I would be delighted to send you the synopsis and first three chapters. Thank you for your consideration.
Very Cordially Yours,
And that's it, what do you think. Business letter format, introduction with genre, word count, marketability (single title), and the whole thing at the end with the synopsis and first three chapters says that I have completed all tasks that need to be completed when trying to sell a book. I may be a newbie with no experience but at least I did my homework. I have no pub credits so I don't need to state that, and the whole very cordially yours, is part of my 'voice'. I'm writing Regency, they would expect me to be cordial, don't you think. So there it is. What do you think?
And thank you to everyone who gave comments and critiques at TPQSP. I may not show it, but I used all the information offered to me. And if anyone has any questions about this please feel free to ask, writing a query is really hard, and I had a lot, A LOT of help. So if you need help with yours and I can help you, just ask.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
What Dreams May Come
Well, gentle readers after my gmail mail mishap yesterday I ate almost 10 pounds of virtual chocolate and went to bed at 8:00 eastern daylight time. I awoke this morning around 5 with the dream of the East Side of Providence still in my head and some crazy man, his wife, and a most adorable baby, getting in the back seat of my old VW rabbit while I was trying to get on the connector to get back down-town (there's been a lot of re-routing of the old highway to make room for the new I-way.) Anyway, these people were trying to get in the back seat with my big dog Jon sitting there. And I asked him, in a rather nasty voice, "Are you out of your f*%$ing mind? That dog will eat the baby!"
And he laughed and they got in and off we went to the east side. There was a man in the front seat with me, (he was the actor that played the 'numbers' guy in the movie The American President -- short, dark hair with glasses) and the reason we were going to the east side was I was looking for an apartment. (I can't afford to live on the east side, that's where Brown Univ. and RISD are, where Edgar Allen Poe used to hang out (and a couple other famous poets too whose names escape me at the nonce) And for some crazy reason I was also trying to have an affair with a man named Peter and he was married. I know him from a long time ago and did not in any, way, shape or form want to have an affair with him back then. Or now. hhhhmmmmmm.
Don't know why I dreamt all these crazy dreams. Must have been the *chocolate*. There's a warning to you. Limit yourselves to small quantities of virtual chocolate. It must be better than real chocolate. More cacao or something. (Note: I did not consume chocolate at all yesterday. As a matter of fact, I haven't had chocolate it quite some time.)
Anyway, thanks for commiserating with me yesterday. But we shall press on, what.
(Have been thinking in British for quite awhile now, makes the dialogue so much easier.) I'm going to work on paper today instead of the computer. I will print off the 16 versions of the query I have and then go sit at my kitchen table and take pieces from each. A friend gave me a template to work with so I'm going to take all the best pieces out of the 4 (was only kidding about 16 -- well, I wasn't I do have like 9 or 10 but I've narrowed it down to 4) and put together something fantastic.
I will then have my beta's, alpha's and whomever else wants to read the bloody thing and see if I can't get out these queries tomorrow. Or at least over the weekend.
My plan of attack will be to e-query the people who want just the query, and then those who want a synopsis and pages second, then those who want snail mail. I went to Agent Query to get my list but I have to back pedal somewhat because a bunch of those names do not take romance, like Nathan Bransford, he was on the list, and I know it would have to be truly exceptional for him to take on a romance, it would have to be a literary romance or something, because I can't see Nathan taking on The Steward and Miss Higgins. *laugh giggle laugh* And just for kicks, I think I will also requery the agents I queried before. Well, maybe one, or two. I went to one of their websites and she said, if you've put a lot of revision in it and a lot of time has passed you may requery. It's not a guarantee or anything but hey, why not give it a shot. I was such a freaking newbie when I queried the first time, my word count was 124K, duh, I even gave the page count. *hides my head in shame*
So, here we go, another new day, with crazy dreams and all. Anyway, that was basically the question I was going to ask you all today -- do you work on the computer all the time, or do you feel the need for paper and pen at times?
And he laughed and they got in and off we went to the east side. There was a man in the front seat with me, (he was the actor that played the 'numbers' guy in the movie The American President -- short, dark hair with glasses) and the reason we were going to the east side was I was looking for an apartment. (I can't afford to live on the east side, that's where Brown Univ. and RISD are, where Edgar Allen Poe used to hang out (and a couple other famous poets too whose names escape me at the nonce) And for some crazy reason I was also trying to have an affair with a man named Peter and he was married. I know him from a long time ago and did not in any, way, shape or form want to have an affair with him back then. Or now. hhhhmmmmmm.
Don't know why I dreamt all these crazy dreams. Must have been the *chocolate*. There's a warning to you. Limit yourselves to small quantities of virtual chocolate. It must be better than real chocolate. More cacao or something. (Note: I did not consume chocolate at all yesterday. As a matter of fact, I haven't had chocolate it quite some time.)
Anyway, thanks for commiserating with me yesterday. But we shall press on, what.
(Have been thinking in British for quite awhile now, makes the dialogue so much easier.) I'm going to work on paper today instead of the computer. I will print off the 16 versions of the query I have and then go sit at my kitchen table and take pieces from each. A friend gave me a template to work with so I'm going to take all the best pieces out of the 4 (was only kidding about 16 -- well, I wasn't I do have like 9 or 10 but I've narrowed it down to 4) and put together something fantastic.
I will then have my beta's, alpha's and whomever else wants to read the bloody thing and see if I can't get out these queries tomorrow. Or at least over the weekend.
My plan of attack will be to e-query the people who want just the query, and then those who want a synopsis and pages second, then those who want snail mail. I went to Agent Query to get my list but I have to back pedal somewhat because a bunch of those names do not take romance, like Nathan Bransford, he was on the list, and I know it would have to be truly exceptional for him to take on a romance, it would have to be a literary romance or something, because I can't see Nathan taking on The Steward and Miss Higgins. *laugh giggle laugh* And just for kicks, I think I will also requery the agents I queried before. Well, maybe one, or two. I went to one of their websites and she said, if you've put a lot of revision in it and a lot of time has passed you may requery. It's not a guarantee or anything but hey, why not give it a shot. I was such a freaking newbie when I queried the first time, my word count was 124K, duh, I even gave the page count. *hides my head in shame*
So, here we go, another new day, with crazy dreams and all. Anyway, that was basically the question I was going to ask you all today -- do you work on the computer all the time, or do you feel the need for paper and pen at times?
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