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I just sent my very first query letter, and I actually feel a little queasy. My finger hovered for about a minute before I pressed the send button. I pressed it when my husband threatened to press it for me.
--> Be the one to press the very first send to your very first query!
I suppose that the reason I feel a bit queasy is a) nerves, b) excitement, c) the fact that I still haven't finished reading the final read of my manuscript. But it'll only take the next two days to finish reading it and I'm sure it'll take more than two days for the agent to pick out my query letter to read. They say I can expect a month. So I'll get busy reading today to make sure that there were no little mistakes last time I made corrections.
I also offered the agent to request the full proposal. I felt it was ready last night, but now I'm bit nervous since I feel I must shorten the character sketch part and maybe the author bio. Again, I should be able to do that over the weekend.
--> Be completely happy with your full profile before querying...if you don't want nerves to pain you the next day.
This is why you shouldn't query when you're too tired.
--> Be wide awake and fresh when querying.
Despite of all that, I'm very excited. I know my chances are slim, but I'm curious to see what happens. I thought the query letter turned out well and I included the first five pages of the manuscript.
What I was unhappy with was that I chose to write in plain format, which means that there were no italics and the whole thing looked just like a string of letters. I fixed it so that there were white spaces between paragraphs, but if the agent copies it to Word, there'll be double spaces. I chose to write in plain because then I'd be sure that there would be no funny letters in between (which sometimes happens in rich formatting). I've read multiple posts on how agents don't like fancy formats and such, so I made it as simple as I could. I have no idea if plain format is the right choice, but here's for hoping.
--> Don't use fancy fonts and decoration in your query letters.
I also kept to the point, but kept my voice, as many blog editors/agents recommend.
--> Keep your voice in the letter, but be professional.
I promise to post my query letter if I get published (if the publisher won't mind it). If you've been reading my blog, you'll see that I've complained about the lack of actual successful queries posted on the internet.
Well, it's independence day here in Iceland, 17th of June, and it's time to focus on my twins now. The celebration should be fun (even though I'll probably sneak in an hour or three of work).
Task for the day: Read 50 pages and then take a breather to enjoy the day.
Have a nice day!
Wow. I completed my query letter yesterday and sent it off to have it proofread. It'll take 1-2 days and it's already been one, and I'm oh-so-tired of waiting. How will I be when I actually send it and have to wait for a response? At least I feel that I'm ready to send it, and that's a good sign.
Since yesterday, I've been reading the manuscript yet again, and I'm so glad I did. Last time I read it, I made so many changes, so I've already found five places half way through where I forgot to delete a word. Naturally, I used the opportunity to change other little things as well.
--> Read the manuscript again if you've made a lot of changes.
I don't think I'll read it again though. I think I must have read all of the 250 word pages at least twenty times, and I so want to get the novel out there and try my luck. Honestly, I've read the manuscript so many times that I think I can tell the story blindfolded. At least I'll be able to tell the agent/publisher how changes would affect the rest of the chapters.
The query letter turned out nicely, I think. I've been poring over different hooks and then suddenly a good one came to me. I hope it'll catch the attention of the agent, if not, then I'll have other query letters ready, just in case.
--> If you're exclusively querying an agent, have other queries ready in case he/she turns you down.
As I've said before, I'm only going to query this one exclusively, and then I'll send a bunch if he declines.
I read an interesting interview with Stephenie Meyer. She said that she sent out 15 queries. Five didn't answer back and eight turned her down. She then got an agent deal and a huge book deal, and shortly after she received the ninth rejection letter that was terribly rude, saying that she'd never get published etc.
I find myself asking, why would agents send such rude letters? I can understand it if the writer querying is rude in his/her letter, but why be so mean?
I don't know. Yes, it's nice to get a critique, even if they break your heart, but downright rude critiques? I just don't see the point in them. At least this example shows how different agents are in their tastes.
I'm still bracing myself for the whole process of agent questing. As I've said before, I'm going to view the rejection letters as a part of the process and nothing personal (even if I'll get a rude letter like Meyer got). I'm kind of looking at it as a challenge, and I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.
And I'm so determined to get my book published. If it won't, I think I'll even re-write it, because the story idea and characters are good, and it's different and fresh. I wrote it before I knew anything of the market (the requirements, structure etc.), and then edited it afterwards. I've also been reading a lot of books in my genre recently and noticed that my novel doesn't start as quickly as they do. I think that if I'll get turned down by everyone, I might rewrite the first half of the novel (ugh, but it would be a challenge, and as I said: it's going to get published).
--> Be positive and keep rooting for your book!
I've also been worried about the trend of fantasy dieing down, but then I read somewhere that even though the agents are turning down all queries containing the word "vampire"; my novel doesn't have vampires in it. The beings I have created are different (and aren't remotely related to vampires), and might be just what the agents are looking for.
Fantasy will never die. It's been alive since our ancestors were telling stories about elves, trolls, Odin, Thor, and the rest in Valhalla. Even the ancient Egyptians told fantasies. It's in our blood, and it will continue to fascinate future generations.
So, I'll let myself believe that although vampires may be getting old, other kind of fantasy will take its place for now.
Task for the day: Read the next chapter.
Have a nice day!
P.S. Vampires may be fading, but I'm still heavily sucked in. I'm currently reading the House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast.
I finished my full proposal yesterday, and I feel incredibly accomplished! This means that all I need to do now is take a second look at the query synopsis before I send it out. I'm uncertain if I should send the Hollywood-action-blurp one, or the sedate-'stating what happens'-professional one. It seems that Query Shark would prefer the sedate one, but Heather Brewer has this nice action one that gave her nine out of eleven responses. But Heather's book is rated for kids of ages 9-12 on Amazon, and my book is for 14-22, or thereabouts. I wish I knew how Stephenie Meyer, Christopher Paolini and Cassandra Clare queried. Honestly, there should be a site with examples of the successful YA writers' query letters.
--> Have your query letter read for mistakes before sending it.
I have a problem. My fingers are itching to rewrite the whole first chapter and delete a chunk of the second chapter. I'm not sure if it's just an excuse not to send out the query yet (because the act of sending a query is terrifying to me), or if I'm truly unhappy with the first chapter. I suppose that if I look deep, I am happy with the first chapter, but it has a lot of backstory and doesn't "dive in" like many people suggest that first chapters should do. Still, I think it's beautifully written and it explains so much that needs explaining before the "point at which the action starts" (as Query Shark calls it). That point doesn't happen until the end of the second chapter/beginning of the third. And my chapters are loooong, I realized after I wrote the book. They're 7,000-8,000 words.
Kristin at Pub Rants says that the point of action should be within the first 30 pages. Mine is at page 33. I hope it doesn't make too much of a difference, but I'm now thinking that I could change the first chapter and delete a big part of the second to make that happen.
...Or maybe I'm just having a hard time letting go...
--> Learn to let go!
I asked Randy of how to do it and hope that he'll reply.
Task for the day: Look at nice queries and see if I can apply my novel to the recipe. Look at my already existing queries and see if I can make changes. Have my queries read to check spelling/punctuation.
Have a nice day!
Well, it took a little longer than I thought, but I've finished my final polish at last. I ended up spending all of my time during the weekend with my sons, and I greatly enjoyed it. I suppose even writers need a break from their work. I've spent all days and evenings since reading the second half of the manuscript and typing it into the computer. I suppose it differs between writers, but I enjoy the reading and editing more than typing it all in.
I managed to get the manuscript down to 118,000 words, but I added an emotional chunk in the last chapter which took the manuscript up to 118,600 words. Still, it's better than 126.600, and it is true what they say; less is more. This first book of mine has gone through major changes since the original manuscript, but it being my first, I've been learning as I go and I'm very pleased with the results. What I've chopped off this round are things like "Meg said sardonically" and such, because the reader can already see that her remark was sarcastic.
--> The reader isn't stupid and can read between the lines.
I've wondered if I'd have to do such serious changes through the next manuscript, but I highly doubt it since I know a lot more now and I should be able to apply it as I write. My fingers are itching to write the next book, I already have some scenes written, but I've read some blogs and articles that recommend holding off writing the second book in a series until the first book is ready for publication, since the manuscript will go through serious editing first and that might change the whole second manuscript. I suppose I'll just write some scenes while querying agents, since the process supposedly takes so long.
Now that the manuscript is ready for querying, it's time to work on my full proposal again. I've found many articles and blogs on how to do it, and I'll also read Randy's book, which is just wonderful and easy to follow. I'll save the comparison to other books in the same genre for last, I think, since it's going to take some pondering. I know that it'll fly off my fingers once I get into it though. I have already finished the two-page synopsis, which wasn't difficult to write at all! All I did was follow Randy's formula and voila! Randy is my Wikipedia of getting published.
--> Write a two-page synopsis.
I submitted my one-sentence summary to Rachelle Gardner's blog, but I learned that it was much to vague. I'll have to spend some time on it to make it better. Rachelle made long posts on what made the winning entries win and what made the bad one bad. I think I need to introduce more conflict into the sentence. There's a lot of conflict in the book, but to make it so that it's conveyed in 25 words or less is a bit difficult. Apparently, according to some, this one-sentence summary (storyline) is a big deal for publishers. I like Randy's reasons for writing one, and that is to be able to tell people and agents/publishers you're meeting what the book is about in one, short sentence. I tried following his instructions on how to write one, but as I said, mine is too vague and could apply to a number of books.
Currently it goes: Stuck in a mystical world, Eva is forced to pick a side in a deadly battle between good and evil to get home.
I also had: Eva and the boy of her dreams are stuck in a mystical world, and are forced to pick a side in a deadly battle between good and evil to get home.
What I was trying to point out here is that they'd consider choosing evil. Clearly their stake is to get back home and the conflict was supposed to be to choose.
The problem, I think, is that the stakes of the series is to get home, while the stakes of this one book is to choose between helping the good or evil. The storyline for the second book is easy, but that's not going to sell this book.
I think I'll have to re-think the whole sentence and maybe approach it from different angle.
--> Write a one-sentence summary (storyline).
Maybe I could have it: Eva loves Richard and they’re stuck in a mystical world together, but when Eva meets the dark and dangerous enemy, she finds it hard to fight the attraction.
That's Eva's conflict, and she's the only PoV character in the book. The choice between good and evil is more the conflict for the group (of four) as a whole.
Any thoughts?
Today's task: Print out two copies of the book and have two obliging friends read it over one last time. Work on the full proposal - Executive Summary, to be exact - and finalize my character profiles (have most if it done already).
Take care!
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