I can attest to the amount of patience required. I've been through this three times in the last 15 years with 3 different books. No agent yet, but I'm gearing up to do it again with another.
I appreciate your perspective, Audrey, and your resolve. It's a tough industry, for sure. If you don't mind my asking--have you received requests for a partial manuscript from any of your queries?
What’s tough for me is knowing if what I have is something that is good enough to begin querying with. I have a finished book, and I think it’s good, but I can’t tell if it’s just good to me or actually good. The only people who have read it are friends and family. I can’t seem to find any volunteer beta readers, and I don’t have the money for hiring one unfortunately.
I hear you, Keith. Every writer I know doubts themselves sometimes. If you want a reader who is not friend or family and who will read your manuscript for free, I recommend finding or starting a writers' group so that you can share manuscripts with each other and trade feedback.
There's one more author with an agent here :-) The 4th draft of my novel got a MS assessment award, the 6th an agent. That was the first pitch letter I sent out and when I got the reply two weeks later, I sat down and cried. It sounds like a fairy tale and I keep my fingers crossed not to jinx it. There's been no positive reply from publishers yet, it's a waiting game. So, I'm here, reading, writing, and learning to think positively :)
Congratulations, Rostislava! That's fantastic. Two weeks is quite speedy for a reply. And I love the lesson inherent in your story: you had revised several times before you sent your book out. And I hope you will bring the same patience to waiting for publisher responses that you brought to the process of revision. December is notoriously slow, so I wouldn't expect a response during the holidays. I think that being aware of the industry lull periods (August and December) can relieve some of the stress of waiting.
Perfect timing. Just sent out my first batch of queries and the self-doubt and "why am I doing this?" set in. So annoying. I've kept tabs on Cindi's journey - amazing how she navigated the process (and a great example for me). Persistence is queen.
Hi Khal. Yes, try this first: https://janefriedman.com/query-letters/. Jane Friedman is an expert on all things self-publishing, but she also writes about traditional publishing.
Thank you for including me in this post! I hope it helps people. :)
I can attest to the amount of patience required. I've been through this three times in the last 15 years with 3 different books. No agent yet, but I'm gearing up to do it again with another.
I appreciate your perspective, Audrey, and your resolve. It's a tough industry, for sure. If you don't mind my asking--have you received requests for a partial manuscript from any of your queries?
What’s tough for me is knowing if what I have is something that is good enough to begin querying with. I have a finished book, and I think it’s good, but I can’t tell if it’s just good to me or actually good. The only people who have read it are friends and family. I can’t seem to find any volunteer beta readers, and I don’t have the money for hiring one unfortunately.
I hear you, Keith. Every writer I know doubts themselves sometimes. If you want a reader who is not friend or family and who will read your manuscript for free, I recommend finding or starting a writers' group so that you can share manuscripts with each other and trade feedback.
There's one more author with an agent here :-) The 4th draft of my novel got a MS assessment award, the 6th an agent. That was the first pitch letter I sent out and when I got the reply two weeks later, I sat down and cried. It sounds like a fairy tale and I keep my fingers crossed not to jinx it. There's been no positive reply from publishers yet, it's a waiting game. So, I'm here, reading, writing, and learning to think positively :)
Congratulations, Rostislava! That's fantastic. Two weeks is quite speedy for a reply. And I love the lesson inherent in your story: you had revised several times before you sent your book out. And I hope you will bring the same patience to waiting for publisher responses that you brought to the process of revision. December is notoriously slow, so I wouldn't expect a response during the holidays. I think that being aware of the industry lull periods (August and December) can relieve some of the stress of waiting.
everybody is saying the same thing. no shortcuts.
Yes, true!
Perfect timing. Just sent out my first batch of queries and the self-doubt and "why am I doing this?" set in. So annoying. I've kept tabs on Cindi's journey - amazing how she navigated the process (and a great example for me). Persistence is queen.
Congratulations on sending out your queries, Jacqueline!
Can you point me towards any resources that explain what a good query looks like please?
Hi Khal. Yes, try this first: https://janefriedman.com/query-letters/. Jane Friedman is an expert on all things self-publishing, but she also writes about traditional publishing.
Thank you
You're welcome!