The querying process is one of the hardest steps for a writer to face — even more so than the daunting editing process. A finished manuscript, after all, is our baby, and it’s hard to kick your baby out into the cold cruel world. And trust me, it can be a cruel world.
I’ve been in the midst of querying since February, with a few breaks in between when I’ve been overly busy. And I have been met with rejection after rejection, in some cases where my name couldn’t even be copied and pasted — I have a new appreciation of “Dear John” letters, ha!
However, I keep plodding along in hopes that my book will eventually find the right agent who will click with it and be as passionate about the project as I am (which is extremely important in your agent). Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to keep going, especially when you continue to receive form letters without any feedback — no idea if your pitch is failing; if it’s something to do with your book or your writing; or if the market is just over-saturated in the genre.
Still, no matter how disheartening, a writer must press on if they are to have any hope of finding an agent or publisher. Here are some of the things that have kept me going during the process.
#1 BE REALISTIC
It is okay to picture success and instant luck, an agent snared! That’s all fine and good, but you need to remain largely realistic; if you don’t, you will be crushed by the querying process and more likely to give up. When I set out querying, I entered the process with very realistic expectations: There would be rejections and plenty of them.
I had some previous experience with rejection, which helped develop a harder skin. My fantasy novel Passage had been rejected a few times before I decided to shelve it in favor of Heritage Lost, which I felt was the more marketable novel.
Along with that realistic expectation of rejection, writers need to expect and accept impersonal rejections. Agents receive hundreds of queries so enters the form letter. These little things give you nothing, just that it wasn’t the right fit for the agent and that you should not give up. You will get a collection of these things, which brings us to Part Two:
#2 DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY
The quickest way to spiral and stop the querying process — and develop a chip on your shoulder — is to take things too personal. Agents don’t know you; they just know that your book is not a good fit for them. Take a deep breath. Do you really want someone who is not passionate about your book representing it? The answer is no! So let rejection and the form letters slide off you and keep going until you find that agent. Additionally, I’ve found it helpful to have a bit of a sense of humor about rejection letters, but then again, I have a rather dark sense of humor.
It is okay to get upset; that’s only human. Vent to a friend, your cat or dog, your paperback journal/diary, a pillow, etc. However, whatever you do, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT take your frustrations online and single out an agent in a blog post or social media. (Don’t be this guy!) There is no quicker way to get blacklisted than doing that. Additionally, once you have been rejected, do not angrily respond back to agent: That is not going to get you anywhere! Just move on.
#3 WORK ON OTHER THINGS
While querying and waiting, start working on other projects. Currently, I’ve been working on a few short stories and on Heritage Lost‘s sequel. Writing is a positive, productive distraction during the querying process. It also allows for further development of the craft — so don’t just stop and wait! If you just stop, you will feel like you are stuck in the mud, which makes for some dark thoughts when the rejection letters come in.
#4 HAVE A PLAN
Finally, like a cylon, I have a plan. I know that throughout 2016 I am to submit to agents because that is what my writing business plan dictates. Since I have the plan and I aim to stick with it, I keep dusting myself off and sending query letters. After
2016 wraps up, I will re-evaluate where I am and determine if I should extend my agent search or query publishers directly — as my business plan commands. Self-publishing is another option my business plan allows. As technology forces the publishing industry to change and evolve, self-publishing is losing its stigma and is emerging as a more viable option. I should be gaining more knowledge of the pros and cons after I attend a series of writing sessions at GenCon in Indy this coming weekend, but I digress.
So when you are launching your querying process, sit down and consider a writing business plan: Nail yourself to a strategy. How long will you query for? If you continue to receive rejections, what is your next step? Do you shake up your approach or do you look to new projects/manuscripts? Is self-publishing acceptable? And so on…
I hope this will be helpful to fellow writers who are also trudging through the querying/submission process. Good luck everyone!
Blood & Ink 
Throughout your querying adventure, have you learned any tips to share with others who are beginning the querying process? Have any agents given you specific feedback regarding either the query letter, what they are looking for, or your novel?
Truthfully, none of the agents I have queried have provided any specific feedback; it has all been the basic form letter, though one did call my manuscript “creative.” However, I still can’t decided if that response was the agent’s basic form or if it was a tiered form letter. Since I am aiming at some of the larger agencies, I think their agents are just overwhelmed with queries and can’t write personal responses. It could also be that I’m querying during some high influx periods.
The biggest things I’ve learned is to always be on the lookout for new angles to sell your book in query letters. I constantly retool my letters (often targeting them to specific agents) and feel my pitch gets stronger each time I do so.
Definitely do your research on the agent, maybe even stalk them on social media to get an idea what they are looking for. Also sometimes agents will offer special feedback for a certain period of time. For instance, I was one day too late to take advantage of one agent’s offer to provide personal input on my query, which sucked, but was a lesson learned.
Some writers are also using #PitMad to make connections. I’ve tried it, but each time I’ve tried I haven’t had much luck, so it is now low on my priorities.
Hi SM!
Per your earlier permission, I scheduled this article to be featured as a guest post on Oct 8th. As usual, it has your credit, bio, and link back to your website. Thanks!
Thank you for letting me know, Ryan, and thank you for sharing the post.
My pleasure.