Monday Querying

In the words of Garfield, look on the bright side -- Mondays only happen once a week. Really, I shouldn't complain. Overall it's been a good Monday. I sent out a full that was requested over a year ago. March 2011, way before my manuscript was ready. I apologized for the delay, explained that I had trunked it and done quite a bit of editing. Kind agent replied immediately not to worry about the wait, and she was looking forward to reading it. This reiterates what I heard many agents say at the conference I went to recently; THE 'YES' DOESN'T EXPIRE. Good news for people who query too soon, and important to remember before sending something out that isn't ready.

Now the tortorous waiting begins. The advice I see all the time is: start a new writing project and forget about it. Difficult to do, especially in an age that makes it possible to stalk literary agents via twitter. I've got vacation coming in 3 days and I can't wait--the only place I would be able to ignore my deathly quiet inbox would be somewhere without internet service.

I also sent out four other requests (3 chapters x 3, 10 pages) and have sent material to every agent who requested it at the conference. Oh happy day! They say in this business, which involves so much waiting, it's important to celebrate the small sucesses. So today I'm celebrating five more requests in the hands of agents.

Take that, Monday.

Riding the Query Go-round

So much has happened at lightning speed in my writing career in the months of July and August. In July, I went to the conference put on by Pacific Northwest Writers Association. I felt like, at last, I came out of the closet as a writer. And not only did I make a new tight knit group of writer friends, I also got eight (count them, eight!) requests for Gargoyle Moon.

I have sent out one ten page request (that garnished a very kind "I see potential but not for me, query these two other agents at my house" response) one twenty-five page request, and two fifty page requests. Now I play the waiting game. In the meantime, I'm doing some final editing with a fine-tooth comb, reading, and planning to start my next novel in November. September I am dubbing "Septnoreadmo" (errr something like that) because I plan on doing mass quantities of reading in preperation for starting my new novel. For me, nothing sparks a desire to write like reading good books.

Goals have always been very important to me in achieving most of my successes. And there's nothing so satisfying as achieving something that you set out to do, a long time ago.

1. Send out three more partial requests and one full. Next week, send to two other suggested agents
2. Mass reading in September. New Orson Scott Card, Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty Books, 50 Shades (yeah, yeah), rest of the mortal instruments series
3. New Novel begun in November, first draft complete by February (Oooh, it'll be like a Valentine's Day present for moiself!)
4. GET AN AGENT IN 2012

Things I've accomplished lately:

1. Sent out four requests
2. Started using Twitter (@_octoberly)
3. Wrote a synopsis and agent bio
4. Gave life

(I'm resuscitating this blog. If you're a writer, you can say you kill people for a living. Or that you're telling lies for fun and profit, Lawrence Block style. Now I'm giving life to this blog too... :) )