2013 - Happy New Year

Well, here we are near the start of the new year ... just 5 days in. 2012 was a very hard year for my family. Hopefully 2013 will be a better year.

Meanwhile, I'll be getting the January 2013 issue of Literary Brushstrokes out today. It's a slim issue since I didn't get a whole lot of good submissions. I'm wondering if I need to advertise somewhere. I had hoped that my listing on Duotrope would cover that base, especially since this is not and never will be a money-making endeavor. And, I am distressed to see that Duotrope has become a paid subscription site now. I'm not entirely sure how to get to the page that has the listing for my magazine. Oh well....

My to do list for this weekend is a long one:

• Complete the homework for the online class I'm currently in (Effective Online Teaching)
• Put out the January issue of Literary Brushstrokes
• Complete the syllabi for my classes this Spring 2013 semester
• Get caught up with my duties for Sheree Bykofsky
• Grocery shop
• Clean the house
• Take down the Christmas decorations and put them away

Well, that's too much to do in one weekend, but somehow I have to accomplish all that!

Thinking out loud ... or in print

Well, anyone who has been keeping up with my blog knows that I am now up to 15 rejections - translation, 15 agents weren't enticed by my query letter. I know that there are many now-famous writers who were rejected many times (sometimes in the 100s) before an agent finally took an interested. So, I know rejections are to be expected. Still, I think It's time to revise my query before I go any further, so that this ...

... doesn't sit in this neat little pile forever

Before I exert too many brain cells in the painful process of rewriting my query, I'm doing some research on agents I might consider. Since each agency has it's own set of guidelines, it pays to study those before proceeding further.

Some agencies I'm considering querying in the future

There are literally hundreds and hundreds of agencies. Here are just a few agencies that consider fiction queries and represent the type of fiction I've written (suspense/thriller). Each agency has multiple agents, each with different interests. This is where it really pays to do your homework - who you send your query to can mean the difference between a request for more, or an outright rejection.

Zachary Shuster Harmsworth

This agency has offices in New York and Boston. There are eleven agents, each with different interests. They obtain most of their clients via recommendations - so, this one is a long, long shot. However, Esmond Harmsworth represents commercial and literary fiction. He may be a good agent to try. the worse that could happen is another rejection.

Waxman Literary Agency

This agency is located in New York, NY. There are five agents and the beauty of the website is that it gives exactly what the likes and dislikes of each agent are. I'm impressed with what I've seen on their website, so I might move them up to the top of the list when my query has been revised.

Spencerhill Associates

This agency is located in Chatham, NY. The website lists three agents. Their, very user-friendly website gives lots information and clear instructions. They represent commercial fiction and non-fiction. After reading the information posted on their site (as well as information that I found in Writer's Market, I think this agency should move to the top of this group.

Foundry Literary + Media

Located in New York, NY and has ten agents listed on the website. It's refreshing that this agency doesn't just ask for that pesky one page query, but also wants a synopsis, first three chapters, and an author bio. Although, I'm sure that a faulty query might make them lose interest in reading further (just my theory). Also a sampling of the books they represent shows a wide variety of interests. Definitely worthy of consideration.

Well, these are just a few agencies. There are so many yet to be discovered in the further adventures of this writer.

And I roll the dice one more time...

... actually will probably roll the dice until I get a yes from someone ... I may be as old and grey as Rip Van Winkle, but someone, someday will say yes...

Revised the query letter one more time and sent it and the first 5 pages to another agent. Keeping fingers crossed... Hope I don't get a form rejection so fast that I get whiplash.

one issue, then another...

I revised my query letter and, I must admit, the story sounds far more interesting. I sent the query out via email to another agent and am bracing myself for another rejection.

According to one source I read, if you continually query one agent at a time, it could take years before someone requests your manuscript. So, I will seek out agents who don't mind simultaneous submissions. For those who do mind, I will query them separately after rejections and before querying other agents.

One of the agencies that I am interested in querying requires a synopsis for the query package. Gulp ... a synopsis ...

.... more to come

To query or not to query, that is the question...

Having received my first rejection, I have some decisions to make. The first decision, to revise my query letter, is an easy one - it obviously needs to be revised. The second decision, who to query (agent(s)), is not an easy one. I'll deal with each issue separately.

Query revision:
I have read multiple books and websites and they all give different guidelines regarding the number of paragraphs and what to say in your query letter. Most agree that a query should be one page. Some say to use a standard three paragraph query, while others give examples of winning queries that were longer than, and more detailed than, the standard three paragraph query. Confusion abounds here. I recently read a query letter in the 2010 edition of Writer's Market - their example of a good query letter was one page, but consisted of eight paragraphs. So my trying to force everything I had to say into three paragraphs could have been my undoing (may have led to my first rejection).

Query to agents:
Some agents require exclusive submission while others state that they accept simultaneous submissions. Much as I would like to increase the statistical likelihood that an agent might want to see my entire manuscript by sending out multiple submissions, I must say I'm a one agent/one relationship-type. Which leads back to the first question: with each rejection, do you continue to revise your query letter?

UPDATE: Just created a submission tracker in excel so that I can keep track of submissions, rejections, and form rejection vs. rejection with comments.