Querying is Hard
Querying is hard. Much harder than I thought it would be, in fact. There are a lot of materials to give prospective agents: A query letter, a synopsis, the first few chapters of a manuscript, and all of these have to be polished to perfection.
Then, when you have all of these ready to go, and you’ve put hours and hours of research into which agents might want your manuscript and might also be the right agent for you… your cursor hovers over the send button with last-minute hesitation.
Why the hesitation after all this work? Haven’t I put in enough time? Aren’t I sure this is the best thing I’ve created so far, and about as good as I can make it? For some perspective, here’s a recap the time I’ve spent on this project:
Four years (off and on) to write the rough draft.
Another year to finish the second.
Three more months to polish up the third
Another month to prepare Query materials and find the agents that might want this thing.
And now, these long seconds to hit the send button.
But I did it, and it’s sent. This thing is out of my hands now, at least for these first few agents.
Now, I’m off to eat a whole half-gallon of ice cream.
78 Replies to “Querying is Hard”
Congrats!!!
Thank you!
Congratulations Andrew!! Well done. I am proud of you for your continued self prodding and struggling with time constraints and time management issues. You have overcome a huge obstacle personally in following through on creating something from start to finish. You’ve learned so much along the way, not only about writing, but about yourself. You will never be sorry that you put forth this effort to create this product of what’s been inside your head and heart. I must say that it seems to me to be something kindred to becoming a parent, on a smaller scale of course. You have watched this creation grow from within you and brought it forth into the world for all to see. Now have faith and trust that it will become everything you hope it will become!!! I happen to have six of those such life projects. You are one of them and I can truly say you have become all I that I hoped you would become after holding my finger over that send button for a very long time, saying a prayer and pushing it. You are one of my great novels!!!!
Thanks, Mom!
So proud of you Sal!