Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Query-Wh*ring: You're Doing It Wrong!

Okay, so I lied.

Between sleeping, sniffling, and hacking my lungs out, I've been more than a little occupied with things other than my writing. I figure that recovering will give me a bit of a break- at least long enough until my submissions can be considered 'exclusive' again.

Being off from work, of course, I've had time to think about things like query-letters- and the different, conflicting advice that everyone and his/her cat is hitting me over the head with. Looking back on my previous submissions, I've followed each agency's individual guidelines- I even used a template from a bestselling-author's website as a base- and not done anything more or less than what's required: synopses, keeping my rants to less than a page... You name it, it's there. But my novel-writer's-market guide tells me one thing; then, Writer's Digest says something else, and the Writers' Union of Canada, and so on... ad nauseum.

Naturally, I'm beginning to despair more than I should at this point. I realize that it's only 3 weeks into the new year- this means that I still have another 49 (or thereabouts) to find a home for this book, but it's hard not to be disappointed when no one seems to be checking their emails. I was tempted to take my Wall of Awesome/Wall of Rejection signs down today, but I didn't- it would feel too much like admitting failure, and it's too early for that.

As "E" (M's girlfriend) might say: "You can either get a grip on yourself and see this through, or let the negative energy eat you alive- your choice."

Way to go, E.

-

I choose all of the above.

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