Tag Archives: querying

Back to “Plan A”

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I’m not sure I can pinpoint the exact time when my writing adventure began. By adventure, I mean beginning with the “moment I got serious,” whenever that was.

I know for a fact is was May 1st, 2021, when I typed the first words of the first draft of my first novel. That immediately followed five months, give or take, of completing a detailed (28K word) outline-slash-DraftZero. I honestly can’t remember how long I did the prior research and character and universe design.

I did a lot of writing before all of that, mind you. I’ve been writing for over thirty years, and I even occasionally showed some of it to people. But it was late-ish 2020, exact date unknown, when I finally got “serious” about becoming a novelist. So I’m approaching the four year mark, say.

My original plan was simply to self-publish, for a number of reasons. The main reason was that I have several friends who’ve done that, and one of them even has a successful romance platform of mostly self-published or hybrid-published novels. It’s helpful to have real examples to draw from, especially when they are happy to talk to me and give advice.

But like any good scientist, I deep-dived into research before embarking on a substantive project, and in so doing I learned all about agents and querying and blah blah blah. I also learned that if I was going to self-publish a series that begins with a trilogy, it would be better to release the first three books no more than six months apart.

When it took me five months just to write a good first draft of Book 1, I realized I wouldn’t be self-publishing for a while. In order to pull off the six-month-or-less gaps, I realized I’d need to have the first two books in the can and a solid outline of the third before beginning the self-pub journey. In the mean time, I figured, I might as well try to land an agent.

There’s a tiny part of me that wishes I’d just self-published quickly, so that my father could have seen it in print, with his name on the dedication page. He’s still to whom I’ll dedicate Book 1, tentatively titled “Blood Game.” But he wouldn’t want me to do something important in a hurried or slapdash way. That’s not how he raised me. He’d have wanted me to do it right, and I’m glad I did.

What I did was query Blood Game (I called it “Burn Card” back then), and more recently its sequel (tentatively “Crying Call”), for about two years. The first time I queried, I got five full manuscript requests, and two offers of representation from agents, but they were both schmagents. I held my nose and picked one, and … long story … he held it for a year, made negligible effort, and nothing happened.

The second time, I turned away a schmagenty agent’s offer, refusing to make that mistake again, and my other two full manuscript requests didn’t lead to offers (though I did at least got encouraging feedback from one of them). I still have a handful of queries pending, but I’m reaching the point where I’m not expecting much.

It’s easier to write a good novel than to get a half-hour of an agent’s time. Not to knock agents, who are only just trying to their jobs, but I’m sick and tired of asking for other people’s approval. If being published through one of the “big five” publishers was really important to me, I’d persist with traditional querying. But it isn’t. Never has been. I queried agents because it was the sensible thing to do under the circumstances.

So back to “Plan A,” my original plan of self-publication. I have a sixth-draft of “Blood Game” that is miles better than the one I originally queried. I toned down the analysis. I’ve infused more action to maintain better pacing.

But most importantly, I’ve found a good “voice.” It took me three years and about a quarter of a million words to find it, but it was worth the effort. I feel much better about the book now, and anticipate just one more draft and then copy editing before it’s ready for the world. I no longer wish Dad could have seen that book in print. I now wish he could have read what it’s turned into in the year he’s been gone.

I queried the third draft of “Crying Call,” and everyone who’s read both agrees it’s better than the first. I’d found my voice by then, it seems. Probably several more drafts ahead, but it should be ready before the end of the year. And I’m currently researching and outlining Book 3, tentatively “Drawing Dead,” and I expect I’ll have a solid outline for it by the end of the year as well. The end of Summer, I hope, but that may be optimistic.

That means my self-publishing journey will begin toward the end of the year, so think February 2025 for “Blood Game,” August 2025 for “Crying Call,” and February 2026 for “Drawing Dead,” if all goes to plan. Unless I suddenly garner the interest of a good agent or a small independent press, in which case they’ll surely remake all the plans.

One of my research projects for the rest of the year will be self-pub platforms and marketing. I’ll have to learn how to make a better website. I’ll probably start developing a TikTok presence and maybe some other social media. There are some specific target demographics I’ll need to make in-roads with. Working with cover designers will probably be fun. Asking prominent and relevant people for book cover blurbs. Et cetera, et cetera.

Lots to learn yet, but that’s cool. I’m a quick study.

Many Phases

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It’s been a moon since my last blog. Partly because I’ve been busy, and partly because when I find time to write, I generally prefer to be writing a book. 🙂

How long is a month? A flower grows, then withers. A woman’s hope of childbearing fades, then later reemerges. A child’s tooth wiggles, falls out, and a new one comes. The sympathetic crowds stop coming over every day, leaving the widower finally alone.

It depends on whose month.

In my last month I’ve been taking care of a lot of personal business, which has had the benefit of distracting me from my tendency to obsess over the book-querying process. I went back to my hometown for probably the last time in a long while. I closed up all my late parents’ remaining financial affairs, visited a few places that were meaningful to them and me. Tears were shed.

I stopped by my parents’ grave on Monday. My father was always my first reader, and my first book when published will be dedicated to him. One of the last things he did before going to the hospital for the last time was read Chapter 25 of Crying Call. I sat by the grave Monday afternoon and read him the rest of the book. I think he would have liked it, particularly the climax. His love of smart action heroes is what inspired me to create my own. My hero is no Jack Reacher (Dad’s all-time favorite character), but he does kick some ass this time around. And there’s a particular line spoken by the hero’s father during the climactic scene that would have Dad howling with laughter. I can still hear him sometimes.

Now I’m back in the Detroit area, enjoying Spring Break while I can, before my mathematical work picks up again soon. Becka, my love and my new first-reader, is in town making the break even more enjoyable. My real life enters new phases and mirrors my literary life.

I’m researching and just beginning to start the outline of Book Three, tentatively titled “Drawing Dead.” Becka and I continue to jam on the first draft of a spicy romance novel. I continue to DM my kids’ Dungeons and Dragons campaign, and they’re currently experiencing the gothic horrors of the original “Ravenloft” module featuring Count Strahd von Zarovich.

So many creative outlets, and so little time. I’ve always been more of an artist than a scientist. It feels terrific to finally be living like one.

Cry Havoc! let slip the Queries!

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And they’re off! My first small batch of queries for “Crying Call” are in the agents’ hands. Or at least their Query Managers and emails. Some will look at them soon, and some will look at them a month or more from now. This isn’t my first querying rodeo, so to speak, so I know what’s in store. But it is my first time using the QueryTracker website. Wow. Insightful. Like peeking behind Oz’s curtain. Perhaps more like peeking through Alice’s looking glass.

There will be more query volleys, probably. Only a sudden burst of agent interest from the first volley would change that. It’s an extensive process. A lot of hard work goes into querying, because the writer does a lot of (online) research about agents to pick the right ones. And then we personalize some of the query letters because it increases the chances of being given an honest chance (and also because it’s just good manners). And every agent wants a different bunch of things submitted with their query, such as a certain amount of sample pages, maybe a synopsis, maybe a lot of other assorted information. And we do all these things, over and over again for each query, and it takes a while.

But that’s not what makes querying difficult. It’s not the work that makes it a rough experience. After all, writing novels is a lot of work. Editing is a lot of work, several times over per novel. If large amounts of work on the same project for months or years is a problem, you’ll never make it as a writer.

The hard part about querying is that you put a lot of effort into sending everything as best as you can to an agent, putting your work in front of them in exactly the way they want it with as much painstaking detail as you can … and then you hit “SEND” … all the while knowing that the agent is unlikely to give you an actual chance. They might read your letter and dismiss you immediately, because they aren’t interested in your premise. Or your blurb didn’t titillate them. Or they have another project too similar to it. Or you just caught them when they were distracted or in the wrong mood. They’re human beings, after all.

It’s a numbers game. No matter how good your story is, you have to query a boatload of agents, because the majority of them, through no fault of their own, will just not be able to see your talent for what it is during those brief moments they first encounter it. And that’s a difficult reality to cope with. Having to hope you get a fair chance. All writers have to deal with this at some point. Most writers, as I understand it, never stop having to deal with it.

So deal with it.

In my opinion, what you have to do is see it from the positive, bottom-up perspective. You can always self-publish. There are many advantages and disadvantages to that, and it’s a helluva lot more work if you plan to do it right. But it’s an option. If you really believe in your book, and if you know it belongs out in the Literature Space for the betterment and enjoyment of our dear readers, then it will be so. You’re going to tell your story. You’re going to be an author. In fact, you will surely be someone’s favorite author someday. It is already written.

Feel better? Now for the tough love. Querying is arduous and most querying authors never land an agent let alone get traditionally published.

But it’s free. It costs nothing but your time and effort. And like a lot of other things that require effort, the effort itself improves you. At a minimum, the act of querying will teach you a lot about the industry, which is a Very Good Thing (TM). It puts you out into the space. It makes you an active entity. You’re involved. You start to be noticed. You start to gain respect, even if your work is rejected. As long as you’re honestly doing it the right way, nothing bad can happen to you. Worst case scenario: no agent recognizes your talent, so then you just self-publish.

Just make good art. And then do the query thing the way it’s supposed to be done. And don’t worry about it. Your mental energy is better spent moving on to your next good art.