Monday, September 30, 2013

Circling, Spinning, Twisting, Turning.

And that's just my stomach!

It's been a busy couple of weeks.

You see, I finished CROW'S BLOOD and started querying, which is no small task on it's own.

Researching Agents:
There are plenty of websites (such as QueryTracker) to find out the basics about agents, what they represent, who they represent, what their query guidelines are, etc. But the best source is always going to be the agent's website. It's maintained by them (or someone on staff) and they direct what goes onto it. It also doesn't hurt to dig through their trash (I'm kidding, don't dig through their trash!).

It goes beyond just finding the agents that represent what you want to publish though. It's important to find an agent that fits YOU. They don't represent your book (ok, some do), the best agents (in my opinion) represent their authors and their authors' careers.

On Querying:
It's incredible how much time agonizing over and rewriting a single sentence in your query letter can be. I mean, it has to be perfect. Take that and multiply it by the number of personalized sentences, then the number of agents I queried and that's a LOT of time!

Then there's the matter of following submission guidelines. Beyond the query letter itself, and doing research on what the agents had for breakfast the last six days running (research is important) following the submission guidelines is key. If you don't submit your query, pages, and/or synopsis to the agent you've carefully selected in the exact method (e-mail with or without attachments, font, spacing, size, content, specific data points, etc.) that they prefer you could have the next best-seller and they won't even read it!

After you've queried you get rejections. They're guaranteed. For the agents it's a subjective thing, not every book is perfect for every agent. They have to be excited enough to invest in it and "sell" it to editors.

If you don't get rejections (yay!) you might get requests. Requests can take a few different forms (usually in the following order):

  • Partial Requests: A request for a set number of pages or chapters
  • Full Requests: They want the whole thing
  • You might also get... nothing. The silence of no response is maddening!
Revise and Resubmit Requests:
If the agent likes your Full they might send an R&R. A Revise and Resubmit means they're excited about it, but it has a few problems. It's an opportunity for them to let the writer know that, while at the same time see how the writer takes criticism and direction as well as their work ethic.

Now, I've never made it so far as an R&R (yet), but it's my opinion (and my understanding from talking to others who have been there) that you don't have to just go along with it. If you have reasons for some things in your story, you can stick to your guns (or swords, or spells, or magical necromantic chipmunks, or whatever).

Could pushing back against changes hurt your chances with an agent? It could, but that doesn't mean it will. One of the key points of the whole query process is to find an agent that you can work with. There's going to be points of disagreement (unless you're both robots trying to STEAL MY JOB!!!). It's the points of disagreement and how you handle them that's key.

What Else?
So, aside from going through the query grind and getting started on a Rejection Letter wallpaper, what have I been doing?

  • High-level outlining the sequel to CROW'S BLOOD
  • Brainstorming ideas and starting to outline them. 
    • I'm sitting on 6 full book ideas at the moment with 2 of them pushing to the forefront.
  • Writing vignettes on those ideas to get a feel for the characters.
  • Slowly working my way through 2 of my CPs latest drafts.
  • Reading (for fun)
So... What have YOU been doing?

No comments:

Post a Comment