Back in the swing of things

Happy New Year!  Let's get this show on the road.

I'm working on a new manuscript and it feels great.  It's a manuscript I barely started last year, but the plot is cute in my eyes so I'm moving forward with completing it.  Who knows how many drafts this manuscript will see? lol

In other news, I found a new literary agency for picture books and submitted there.  Before submitting, I touched up my query letter, revised the manuscript just a tiny bit, and said a little prayer.  It's so hard to completely shelf these old manuscripts, even though this particular one was rejected about 25 times.  It doesn't hurt to try though.

I hope your new year is off to a great start too!

All I Want for Christmas...

is an Offer of Representation.

This round of queries is very uneventful.  Agent responses are slowing down, drastically.  For the first round of queries, I chose agents with very quick response times, and saved the slower folks for last.  Yeah, that might be totally backward, but that's how I did it.  Sue me. {lol }

Two thousand thirteen has been a LONG year for me in terms of writing.  I began the year querying agents, as usual, and attempting to write more and more picture books.  Also, I finally broke down and got a library card to take advantage of freebies.  This allowed me to do a lot of picture books studying, and I quickly learned how different the picture book market is compared to when I was small.

These days, picture books are much more bold.  I see PBs featuring monsters (I guess all the parents got together and decided it was okay to admit to monsters being real), zombies, and other freaky story lines that parents would NOT have allowed back in my youth.  But, we live in a changing world, and that's just how it is.

Although it is always disappointing to get a form rejection (that's the only rejections I have received), I will keep pushing.  I'll keep writing, reading, and finally one day I'll make it there.

Starting Up With Queries Again

Ten minutes ago, I submitted another PB query to an agent.

I chose this agent because he represents children's picture books (duh!), and last time I queried him he replied within nine days.  I was quite happy with that response time, plus he gave me a tad more feedback than the typical form rejection letter that most people receive.

I chose to only query this one to see if he provides different feedback, or any insight.  Why?  Because this time I queried a book that features inanimate objects as the main characters.  So, if I'm way out of my league here, I hope he'll tell me, and maybe I can work on the revamp of the query.  Not a revamp of the story.  I really like the story, but sometimes it's all in the way you present it.  Or, I'm just crazy.

I remember starting this blog early this year, setting a goal for myself, then getting totally burned out on obsessing over the queries.  No more.  It'll either happen, or it won't, but either way, I'm keeping my sanity.  But I reeeeaalllyy hope I get an agent soon :)

On Track with Queries

It looks as though I've changed my mind... again.

In a previous post, I mentioned only querying publishers.  Well, the problem is that MANY picture book publishers will only accept queries from agents.  So, for a better chance of getting published, it looks like I HAVE to query agents first.

So, here's the new game plan:  I am going to query EVERY agent I have ever queried before.  This is about 35 agents.  If I give all of them time to respond, that will mean I must wait until early December to query publishers.  That's exactly what I am going to do.  You know, my 2013 goal was to get an agent, and I must remain hopeful it will happen before January 1, 2014.  But, there's nothing wrong with getting an agent next year either :)

I'll be honest, though.  I really don't want to query agents, and it's because agents are only one step of two very important steps (those steps being 1) get an agents attention and 2) get a publisher to agree to publish it).  But, whatever, I guess I need to just be patient and get in line like every other person who queries agents.

Before I query, I am going to make a promise to myself.

I PROMISE that when I begin querying agents, I will only check my e-mail twice a day.
I PROMISE not to lose sleep over wondering if an agent is going to contact me or not.

Two promises should cover it.

Is anyone else out there as fickle as me?

Dealing With Rejections

Today I received two picture book rejections via e-mail, and you know what?  Not even those will slow me down!

Before I ever submitted a manuscript to agents, I researched everything about the picture book market.  Part of that research included comments from other writers stating, "You WILL get rejected.  A lot."  I, like many others, hoped I would be different, but in reality I knew rejections would come my way.

My first rejection came via e-mail, as I've only submitted via e-mail so far.  I remember reading the e-mail, and feeling my heart sink a little.  But, just a little.  I think I really prepared myself for rejections, and none of them have EVER made me feel like I should give up writing.  As a matter of fact, with every rejection I think I hold my head a little higher.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I keep hearing, "That's okay, Jessica.  Some will reject you, but there's one smart agent out there that will take you all the way to the bookstore."

I know some people get really mad when they get rejected.  They curse their inbox or the mail man, and blame everyone else.  I've never been like this.

What's your reaction to rejections?

Do Perfect Query Letters Exist?

Writing query letters are not very fun.  Why?  It's because there is no consistent advice on how to write query letters, except for the rule that you must type it. Ha!

When I became serious about getting published, I began researching how to write query letters.  I, of course, did a Web search and found site upon site with advice on how to write them.  Here's the problem with query letters:

You see, some agents post submission guidelines along with specific instructions as to what they want in the query letter.  The problem is that many do not and you must know how to write them without guidance.

In my research, I found many inconsistencies.  Some Websites state that if the writer is unpublished, they should say so specifically in the query letter.  Other Websites say not to mention being unpublished.

Another inconsistency is including personal information about the agent I query.  For example, if I query Mrs. Rogers, do I state in the query letter that I have read books by her clients, and I believe my book would interest her as well?  Duh, right?  The reason I am sending him/her a query is because I believe it will interest them.

Other random inconsistencies are that some sites say to always use Courier font, while others say you should always use a sans serif font.  Some sites say you should put your name on every page of your manuscript, while others don't even mention doing that.

Why can't there just be a universal query format that every agent MUST follow? (Ha!)

Happy Friday everyone :)

Queries: E-mail versus Turtle Mail

I can't help myself, but when I query agents, those that accept e-mail/online submissions are at the top of my list.  It's easier to submit online as opposed to turtle mail (snail mail is overused, so I changed it to turtle mail.  Turtles are slow, too.).

Luckily, the agent I desperately want accepts e-mail queries, but I have some agents I have not queried yet because they only accept turtle mail.  I'm not too busy to query by turtle mail, but I try to avoid buying stamps or using turtle mail at all cost.

Wouldn't it be easier for agents to accept e-mail queries?  Or are agencies trying to support the USPS?

How do you prioritize your queries?