Query Time
It seems like the beginning of every year begins the same.
New Year’s resolutions are made and I am reminded that I haven’t submitted my
work in a few months of holiday craziness. So, I spend the first part of the month
submitting queries to various places. The query process has always baffled me.
For those who are not sure, let me take a brief moment to explain. Basically,
most agents/publishers want writers to sell themselves and their work in one single
spaced page. Although, that’s never really accurate because a query letter is a
business letter. Therefore, all the headings, margins and signatures take up
space. I would say it really comes down to .7 of a page. Talk about being
concise. Sell yourself in the amount of space that this blog takes. Oh, and don’t
forget to sell your work and convince them why you are different and the best
person to write the piece.
The whole process seems unfair. However, I do understand the
requirement. Every day they get thousands of writers seeking to be the next big
client. It also makes sense why writers hate these. After all, we write novels.
Words are our friends. We don’t like to discriminate amongst them and shorten
their gatherings. Some places, especially agents, only want the letter. After
that, it varies. Some want samples others just a synopsis. Publishing houses
are the nicest. They normally ask from anywhere between the first three
chapters to the first fifty pages. Recently, I had one ask for fifty pages that
gave the beginning, ending and various elements in between. Of course, big page
counts also equal longer wait times for a response, typically six months. One agent
who asked for the entire manuscript took close to eight months to get back to
me. I hear that is fast. I did have one agent ask for the first page. That was
it. Not even a “good” page from anywhere. Nope. The first page of the book. If
you didn’t capture her by then, she wasn’t interested. She got back to me that
day, though.
It’s a rough business. I think writers tend to be
introverted people. Pushy selling techniques are not natural, especially when I
grew up trained not to “brag.” But that’s what writers have to do. We have to
brag and sell without lying (although I have met a few who blur the edges of a
lie to sell). That’s the business writer’s choose. Because, after all, after
the publisher comes selling to readers. If you think about it, reader’s
standards are not much different. For instance, I read the back jacket of a
book to judge it first. If not captured, I put the book away. If it interests
me, I leaf through a small portion of the inside, maybe even read the first
chapter. Isn’t this the whole publication query all over again?
It’s a tough business, but the first five-star review makes
all the trouble worth it.
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