Query Me This

So I jumped back into the saddle today.

Actually, I had planned to tackle queries on Saturday. I sat outside and pulled up all my find-an-agent websites. I started listing names, query requirements and contact info. And the longer I looked, the more depressed I became.

I went inside to do laundry, thinking as I switched clothes from washer to dryer about my other options. I could just ditch the whole agent idea and start working on self-publishing. I could just publish it as an e-book.

Glumly I went back outside and clicked over to Facebook, where I saw that Anne Rice had just posted something. Her status read, "It has always been hard for new talent to break into publishing; but people are as hungry for new voices, new stories, and new ideas as they have ever been. The arts have never been easy. One has to be willing to try and try again."

Try and try again. Okay. So I took a deep breath and decided I would. . soon.

And today was soon. I found a new listing of agents, and then on one of my regular group sites, I saw a new agency. One of the agents seemed promising, so I worked for quite a while on a new query and emailed it off.

Each time a writer sends off a new query, it's like sending a little piece of her child out into the world. We all know the world is a hard, cruel place.

This particular agent prefers exclusive submissions, so I won't be sending another query out until I hear from him. . .or three weeks, whichever comes first. Some agents don't bother to send rejections anymore, so I don't hold my breath.

But it's a beginning. . .a new one.