It's closing in on 3 weeks since I sent out the first wave of query letters for my novel Spirit Quest. I've received another rejection over the past week. It was a form letter response.
I'm trying to focus on other projects. It's proving rather difficult. Each time I hit a milestone, it seems that the next goal is quite far off. Looking back, when I completed my first draft, I had no idea how much work would be involved in the second and third drafts. Now that I'm on my last pass (recovering comments from a few Alpha readers), I have to avoid having my doubts creep in and stall the momentum I've built up so far. I'm not sure what I expected in terms of the first wave. But, coming off the high of having written the book, I felt like it was going well. I still have 6 outstanding responses, so I'll remain positive and patient.
Reading about how many rejections to expect, I came across the following which made me smile: "Don't give up until you've queried 80 agents or more".
And here's another great article on the query letter process and revision:
johngilstrap.com/essayqueryletter.html
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
An update on my agent hunt
I sent out 8 agent query letters on January 9th. I received on rejection and submitted to another agent, who in turn, rejected me as well. Both of these rejections were based just on the query letter. So I'm remaining positive for the other 7 query letters as they all include chapter samples. I can console myself in that the two rejections had nothing to do with my actual writing.
I'm resisting the temptation to spend any time tweaking the query letter. I compare my novel, Spirit Quest, to Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles. They're both urban fantasy series that are very similar, although I feel that my story and hopefully series will be a bit more rural fantasy.
At first I had compared my story to F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack as my protagonist would be going around and helping people with his spirit magic. Although we both wrote our stories in the 3rd person point-of-view, Spirit Quest, is also a kind of coming of age novel. That 3rd person point-of-view was important, especially with my strong supporting cast. Tara could easily be the story's co-protagonist, but I'm saving that for the sequel.
I'm resisting the temptation to spend any time tweaking the query letter. I compare my novel, Spirit Quest, to Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles. They're both urban fantasy series that are very similar, although I feel that my story and hopefully series will be a bit more rural fantasy.
At first I had compared my story to F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack as my protagonist would be going around and helping people with his spirit magic. Although we both wrote our stories in the 3rd person point-of-view, Spirit Quest, is also a kind of coming of age novel. That 3rd person point-of-view was important, especially with my strong supporting cast. Tara could easily be the story's co-protagonist, but I'm saving that for the sequel.
Monday, January 12, 2015
And it's done! The final draft of my novel, SPIRIT QUEST, is done!
The final draft of my novel, SPIRIT QUEST, is done. It clocks in around 99,100 words.
I have two Alpha Readers going through the manuscript now and need to recover their comments. When they're done with that, I'll have a read through of the entire thing. But, I want to put a bit of distance between myself and the manuscript. I'm also hoping to cut it down to 98,000 words.
As for how I feel? I'm pretty damn happy. It's been a long road. The idea for this novel surfaced over two years ago. The core of the novel was written in 2012's NaNoWriMo. In 2013, I had an opportunity to pitch the novel and it was well received which prompted me to take that 50,000 and craft it into a real novel. I had a 5,000 word document just of the one-line descriptions of all the little bits and pieces in the story I needed to fix. And that's done!
I know I'm not done done. I can expect at least two more rounds of significant editing (one from the agent and one from the publisher), but I'm taking a moment to enjoy where am. I can look back at 2012 and the two plus years it's taken me to get here with this nice, big, beautiful manuscript and take a deep breath.
Up next, I'm going to spend some time brainstorming ideas for the second and third novels. I also have another project that I NaNoWriMo'ed in 2011, ELEGANT DARKNESS.
I have two Alpha Readers going through the manuscript now and need to recover their comments. When they're done with that, I'll have a read through of the entire thing. But, I want to put a bit of distance between myself and the manuscript. I'm also hoping to cut it down to 98,000 words.
As for how I feel? I'm pretty damn happy. It's been a long road. The idea for this novel surfaced over two years ago. The core of the novel was written in 2012's NaNoWriMo. In 2013, I had an opportunity to pitch the novel and it was well received which prompted me to take that 50,000 and craft it into a real novel. I had a 5,000 word document just of the one-line descriptions of all the little bits and pieces in the story I needed to fix. And that's done!
I know I'm not done done. I can expect at least two more rounds of significant editing (one from the agent and one from the publisher), but I'm taking a moment to enjoy where am. I can look back at 2012 and the two plus years it's taken me to get here with this nice, big, beautiful manuscript and take a deep breath.
Up next, I'm going to spend some time brainstorming ideas for the second and third novels. I also have another project that I NaNoWriMo'ed in 2011, ELEGANT DARKNESS.
Friday, January 9, 2015
And They're Off... Query Letters to Agents
It took a bit longer than I expected to prepare query letters as several agencies had different submission requirements. When you're ready to send out author query letters, take the time to closely read their submission guidelines. For example, most asked for a 5 page sample, but one asked for a 4 page sample, and another a 10 page sample. Some also asked for a synopsis of the novel and even that request had a variety of lengths (from 3-5 paragraphs to 1-2 pages). Cutting and pasting your novel sample is relatively simple compared to the synopsis.
The synopsis itself is an art form. Hopefully you have the basic idea of your novel distilled down to a single sentence. When I started to write my synopsis, I had about 1,200 words. Then I keep chipping away at it until it was down to 900 words. So with this first round of agent queries, I ended up having to continue distilling that down to just over 250 words. It's a great exercise to sharpen the focus of your novel and see what key story items and themes make the cut.
With my first round of author queries, I sent off eight of them to different agencies whose response time varied from 8-10 days to 12 weeks. I expect that there's probably a significant queue already in their inboxes and that I'll just have to be patient and wait. All that work and momentum around starting to feel like a real writer and now I have to wait. I guess that's part of being a real writer.
Of course, I won't be sitting around and waiting. I'll be polishing the handful of little items remaining for my manuscript. I'll also be working on the synopsis of the next two novels. More than enough to keep me busy!
The synopsis itself is an art form. Hopefully you have the basic idea of your novel distilled down to a single sentence. When I started to write my synopsis, I had about 1,200 words. Then I keep chipping away at it until it was down to 900 words. So with this first round of agent queries, I ended up having to continue distilling that down to just over 250 words. It's a great exercise to sharpen the focus of your novel and see what key story items and themes make the cut.
With my first round of author queries, I sent off eight of them to different agencies whose response time varied from 8-10 days to 12 weeks. I expect that there's probably a significant queue already in their inboxes and that I'll just have to be patient and wait. All that work and momentum around starting to feel like a real writer and now I have to wait. I guess that's part of being a real writer.
Of course, I won't be sitting around and waiting. I'll be polishing the handful of little items remaining for my manuscript. I'll also be working on the synopsis of the next two novels. More than enough to keep me busy!
Thursday, January 8, 2015
After Your First Draft...
I'm putting the final touches on the third draft to my novel, Spirit Quest. Although, I could argue that this is actually the fourth or fifth draft seeing as how I've rewritten some chapters.
The first draft is simply getting your ideas on paper, writing it all out. The second draft is taking a long sober look at what you have and finding the real story. The third draft is shaping and polishing that real story.
Working on an existing draft is different than writing. Sometimes all you have to do is cut a word or a sentence, re-write a sentence, or add a new one. Sometimes, it cutting a paragraph or a chapter. And sometimes, it juggling the chapter order to improve the story's pacing.
Don't underestimate the amount of time and work required. The first draft is simply that, a first step. There's a lot of work and a lot of it is thinking work. Thinking about your story and characters and their evolution throughout. Thinking about your ending and making sure you set it up properly. That's another aspect not to underestimate: know where you're going.
Knowing the ending is so key to your whole story. Even after your first draft you might not know where you're going, but you do need to work on that right away as your address your second draft.
It was a great accomplishment to complete my first draft. But, I know now that completing the third draft is a whole other feeling. And it feels great.
The first draft is simply getting your ideas on paper, writing it all out. The second draft is taking a long sober look at what you have and finding the real story. The third draft is shaping and polishing that real story.
Working on an existing draft is different than writing. Sometimes all you have to do is cut a word or a sentence, re-write a sentence, or add a new one. Sometimes, it cutting a paragraph or a chapter. And sometimes, it juggling the chapter order to improve the story's pacing.
Don't underestimate the amount of time and work required. The first draft is simply that, a first step. There's a lot of work and a lot of it is thinking work. Thinking about your story and characters and their evolution throughout. Thinking about your ending and making sure you set it up properly. That's another aspect not to underestimate: know where you're going.
Knowing the ending is so key to your whole story. Even after your first draft you might not know where you're going, but you do need to work on that right away as your address your second draft.
It was a great accomplishment to complete my first draft. But, I know now that completing the third draft is a whole other feeling. And it feels great.
Monday, January 5, 2015
A Hunting I Will Go ... For An Agent
The hunt begins this week for an agent for my novel, SPIRIT QUEST. I'll probably wait until mid-January to query potential agents as they'll just be getting back into the office. Meanwhile, as I've done a bit of research and reading on the subject, I thought I'd share my step-by-step guide that I hope to try out shortly!
Here's a great website/blog I came across: quick-brown-fox-canada.blogspot.ca/search/label/*%20Literary%20agents
- Get your manuscript done.
- Have another read of it.
- Search Google for the agents of your favorite writers in the genre you're interested in. Pick five agents. Do a bit more genre-related Google searches to find other agent suggestions.
- Review their guidelines. Make sure they're open and they're interested in what you've got.
- Do a Google search on those agents, read about them from their twitter feed, guest blog posts, or their own blog posts. Make sure they're a good fit for you. Keep an eye for other agents on those blogs.
- Most agents are okay with you submitting to multiple agents, just not within the same agency.
- Review their submission guidelines again and make sure you follow them. There's really no worse impression than submitting your novel and not following their guidelines.
- Submit.
- Be patient. Don't follow up with them a day or two after their response time estimate.
- Be prepared for rejection.
- If rejected, go back to Step 3.
- Do the happy dance!
Here's a great website/blog I came across: quick-brown-fox-canada.blogspot.ca/search/label/*%20Literary%20agents
Friday, January 2, 2015
Everyone Deals With Rejection...
Rejection Letter for U2's tape in 1979. The band would sign in 1980 with Island Records and the rest is history...
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