This isn’t news to anyone who’s ever been in the query trenches. Suffering from this very process is one of the most inclusive clubs there is.
For those who haven’t been here (or never will) querying is the process that authors take to attempt to get their book(s) into the hands of literary agents or maybe publishers. It involves sending a query letter that takes your 100,000-word book and trying to get its pure awesomeness across in a matter of a couple hundred words.
We authors build a list of agents who work with their genre of book. We personalize each one and send with that agent’s specifications. Most want a writing sample, but the length always varies. Three chapters, ten pages, etc. And many want a synopsis: the most painful document an author can create.
Then, once you’ve stared at your query letter for far too long, you hit send a hope you haven’t made any stupid typos. Spoiler alert: you probably did. But typos are impossible to see before sending, and very obvious after the fact. Then the waiting begins.
Querying is taking something extremely personal, putting it up on a pedestal and saying, “Here. Judge me. Harshly.”
It’s the act of offering your heart to someone and then having to wait months to hear an answer.
It’s being told “no thank you,” and worse, over and over again. Exclusively.
It’s not much fun for literary agents either. These people are drowning in query letters. They never stop coming. There’s no such thing as catching up because, for every one they read through, three more have arrived in the meantime. And those that respond to all their queries are burdened with stepping on someone’s dream with each response, even though their responses are friendly and professional.
Among the many rejections, every writer eventually gets a “full request” arrives. This is when an agent likes your query letter and requests to read the entire book. It’s one of the most exciting responses a writer can get. And I can tell you that it feels like a big step forward. However, this is just the next stage and the odds are still that you’re going to hear a “no thank you.” It doesn’t matter if you go into this stage knowing the odds. A “no” at this point is crushing. More crushing than a standard query rejection. It usually requires a little me time after getting one of these bad boys.
So why do we do it?
Well, there aren’t that many other ways to publish traditionally. There are non-traditional ways, but that’s a whole other post.
Every writer wants to have a New York Times best-selling book. Every agent wants to discover the author with the next big book.
Querying requires persistence and an eternally-springing sense of hope. There are lots of success stories out there. People are signed to publishing contacts all that time. I’d love to tell you that it pays off to stick with it, but I’m still waiting for my success story.
Despite the odds, despite my personal experience, I look at every query I send potentially as “the one.”
