Rethinking My Queries

A Few Words on Queries:
I have had to rethink the way I send out queries.  In the beginning I sent them out to 5-10 agents in one batch.  This was recommended in one of the many articles I've read about queries...you know...reaching more agents at a time.  It sounded like good advice, but when I continued to get form rejections back, I had to make a change. 

Of course every writer thinks what they write is really good and they're just itching to get their manuscript into the hands of a good agent.  But since I wasn't sending out my manuscript, no one could tell if it was good or not cause I couldn't get past the initial reading of the query. 

So I had to rewrite my query, try again, rewrite the query, try again....you get the picture.  Well, I believe it's true that the more you write, the better you get at writing.  I finally have what I think is the best query I've written so far (thanks to all the reading I did on the Query Shark's blog and Rachelle Gardner's blog) and now I'm starting over again.  My fear...that I've depleted my supply of agents, at least those that represent my genre.  Is that possible?  And when do you call it quits with this manuscript you've poured your heart into and move on to the next unfinished one that's been waiting patiently in that word doc on your computer's desktop?

In my case...not yet.  I still think my novel is good, is relevant, and is worthy of being published.  But you see, I cheated.  I was afraid of writing the synopsis.  Oh, I tried, and I think I have a pretty good one-page synopsis now.  But I was sending queries to agents that only wanted the query letter.  I was putting on hold the ones that requested a synopsis too.  And in turn, I was cheating myself and the story I want to see published.  And all because of my overwhelming insecurities.

So now I've got a whole new list of agents...ones who want a one-page or a three-page or even a five-page synopsis.  And I'm sweating through the process of making sure I have the best synopsis I can write that will fit all of these requests.  But, and this is a big but, I am only sending these out to 1-5 agents at a time just in case my synopsis' aren't the best I can do.  Does that make sense?  Cause you see, I thought my first query was pretty darn good when I started sending it out.  But now looking at my newest query, I can see where it really wasn't that good.  So I begin again...and simply because, like any writer, I believe in my novel.

And so goes the life of a wanna-be-author. 

If you're a writer, I would love to hear how you manage your queries.

Update on Bronson:


On a 10 ft. chain...always

 I have an update on Bronson.  He's the dog I told you all about on my post "Venting" on Jan. 15th.  I tried everything I could think of to help this poor dog out of a bad situation.  I even offered to buy him.  The landlord told the owners I would give them $100 for him.  It was around Christmas and they have 6 children and only one of them works.  I know they needed the money.  But because it was me (the dad doesn't like me because I called the dog warden) he refused.  The woman I was in contact with from a Cleveland area Shepherd rescue offered to send another $100.  It didn't work.  
 


No straw, no grass, just mud

 Last week I realized he was gone.  I didn't know where he'd gone so I simply asked the woman of the  house and she told me a friend of a friend (you know how that goes) an hour away really wanted him so they gave him away.  She will at least talk to me...he won't...except to call me a bitch.

So now I wonder where he really is and if he's being taken care of.  I have to make myself believe that he's in a good home with someone that will actually teach him what love is.  I have to believe this beautiful, gentle dog is better off now than he was the first 4 years of his life.  I have to believe it.  Cause you see, my love of animals is so great, that to think anything else would crush me. 

The Drop by Michael Connelly:

I have to admit I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.  I have never read anything by this author but it showed up on the the "recommended" list at my library so I gave it a try. 
In this story, there are 2 crimes to solve. One is being pushed on Harry Bosch and his partner from higher up the food chain in the city government...a questionable murder...or was it suicide? The other is about DNA from a cold case that links to a recent arrest. Problem is...the man in question would only have been 8 years old when the cold case murder was committed.                                    
Well, after reading this, I can honestly say I will be reading more.  It's right up my alley.  It has suspense, the kind that makes you want to keep reading late into the night.  I love a book that makes you want to keep turning the pages and I get irritated when I have to put it down because real life calls. 

Quotes of the Day:
Manuscript: something submitted in haste and returned at leisure. ~ Oliver Herford

The profession of book-writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business. ~ John Steinbeck

A good novel tells us the truth about it's hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.” ~ Immanuel Kant