Hello,

I posted a few months ago that I finished the second draft of my novel. Since then, I've quietly been chugging away and finished drafts three, four, and five (in much less time than draft two took, for many reasons)! Now, I'm querying my work for the first time. (Querying is the process of seeking an agent, a requirement for almost everyone who wants to have their work traditionally published in the United States.)

I'd heard from writer friends that querying is brutal (it's often referred to as "being in the querying trenches"), but so far it's even more intense than I expected. Every agent has a different submission process, asks different questions, requires different formats and even different documents entirely. I will say it did get better the more folks I queried, because I started saving so many different file types that I often had things ready I needed, such as the first 10 pages, first three chapters, a short synopsis, a longer synopsis, and multiple variations on my query letter that includes my pitch for the novel.

A few rejections came in very quickly, and I instantly saw why some writers recommend not using your main email address for querying so you don't get discouraged by constant rejections. An award-winning author whose session I attended at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference said she and most agented authors she knew received 75-100 rejections (!) before landing an agent, so I still need way more rejections before I reach that level. It's enough to make someone want a drink! (In my case, I went for a strawberry cream mocktail.) If you're interested in more about the nuts and bolts of querying, I recommend the book The Modern Guide to Querying by Alyssa Matesic and Patrick McDonald. It's a fabulous resource!

Although I've received rejections, I also received a few manuscript requests (meaning some people requested the whole novel draft and will decide whether we move forward after reading it). I currently have two full manuscripts sitting with agents and two full manuscript requests outstanding with editors I pitched at the writers conference (which I can explain in more detail in a future post). I've started drafting my next novel, as some of the best querying advice I received is to work on the next project so you aren't just sitting and waiting on feedback for your current one, as publishing is a years-long process even in the best case scenario of getting picked up by an agent and then an editor.

Wish me luck!

Nicole

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