The query is on! - blog

It has finally begun. Querying. The one part about writing a book, but I was more afraid of than editing. For those that don't know, querying is akin to sending your job application in for review, or an artist's portfolio cover letter. Querying is when an author gives a small portion of their book and a cover letter with a synopsis to an agent or a publisher hoping for them to request the full book to read. The hard part about query letters is that you have one page and just a few paragraphs to pitch, in my case 106,000 words, of a novel to somebody who knows nothing about your project. Your query has to be good enough to catch them and entice them to want to read further.
 
The Keeper’s Reign is in this stage of production. I am currently querying both agents and publishers, and I have been never more excited, anxious, determined, and discouraged all at once.
 
With the modern job hunt as it is, you've probably turned in a resume online or even in person and then had to wait for some unspecified amount of time to hear back whether or not you're a good fit. Sometimes, you don't hear back at all. This is essentially what a query letter is. You send this email off into the ether, and you hope that one day somebody will respond. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't and sometimes their response time is six months. Six months of waiting, of twiddling your thumbs and of praying somebody will request your full manuscript. I'm currently at this stage I'm in now.

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I have sent out a dozen queries for Keepers, and just under that same amount of short stories. I haven’t sent out nearly enough from what I can tell, but it's a start and what is more important, is that it’s no less nerve-racking than if I had sent out over 100 of them. So far, the agents I have queried have been very responsive and respectful. A lot of "thank you, but this is not what I'm looking for," and most within about a week. I'm honestly so thankful for these replies. As long as they respond, and don't leave me wondering, I will be happy. Obviously, my goal is to have somebody request the full manuscript, and then love it enough to want to help me. I'm trying to keep my chin up, and I hope everyone else who is in the same state, the best of luck. Us writers have to stick together!

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