Choices

I am at that stage where I am starting to look for agents to query.  The MS is sitting, waiting for some final feedback, before I read through again searching for those typos and grammar errors (I never seem to find them all!) and I am formulating my list.

A CP asked me who was on my list, and made some suggestions to me for people to add, and it got me thinking--how do others create their agent wish list?

I've been looking at Publisher's Marketplace and then checking out the sites the agents work at (or their own sites in some cases), learning what I can about their likes/dislikes to see if my story is one that will interest them.  If I like what I read, and they show an interest in my genre, they go on my list.

What about you?  How do you create your agent wish list?

Ready or not?

Last night one of my CP's asked me when I was going to send out my MS for querying.  I replied, I want to look through it again to make sure I haven't missed something--there is something off with the ending, but I don't know what (Note:  I figured out what just before bed last night, now have to fix it).  She laughed and reminded me that I could keep going over it and tweaking it forever.

And she's right.  I could.  I try to read through and make only the necessary changes, and find myself line editing instead of reading for flow and only stopping when I get pulled out of the story.

So, how do you know when it's time to put down the editing (and the track changes) and polish up that query letter and send it out into the world?

Short, sweet, and to the point

I'm giving a big shout out to Tammy from TC McKee to say THANKS for the wonderful words on her post Friday.  If you've never read her blog, check it out-- she always seems to put a smile on my face.

Friday, while waiting to hear back from my CP's, I decided to start working on my query.  I forgot how difficult these things are to write.  Wanting to use just the right words in just the right way to get your story across without telling too much or making the person reading it go "What???"

It's getting it to be short, sweet, and to the point that was evading me.  By Saturday morning I had thirteen versions, and while each was an improvement over the previous version, something was still missing.  I decided to let it rest (send it to a trusted friend to look over and comment on) and come back to it later.  That was the best thing I could have done.  That second (and third) set of eyes helped me find what was missing, and clarify those murky spots.

Have you written your query yet?  Did you find any secrets you care to share that made writing it easier?  I know Elana Johnson has a great book on it here that was very helpful for me.  What resources have you found?

WCC Wednesday

Thanks for the helpful comments yesterday.  My opinion is you should always have someone who has read your work tell you if it is similar to another author, as they are much more objective about your writing than you are.  I'll let you know in the future what I've decided to do in the query letter.

On to today's post.

Over the weekend I sat down and did some plotting for my current WIP The Ruby Dagger.  I have a hard time writing without any plan of where I am going.  I will say I made it 6 chapters without an outline, but I hit a wall and needed the guidance the loose frame I created will give me.  I know where I am going, but haven't sat down to write out the scenes yet.  Work and life have been keeping me busy this week.  I will get to them in the next few days, though!

Trisha is continuing on with her WIP's and I am enjoying reading her writing and learning from her as I read.

Fiona has listened to our comments (we're doing a weekly internet chat with Trisha and my friend Jackie) and is considering how to adapt them into her WIP.

I've let the ball drop again with Katie.  I missed last weeks chapters, but hope to get two out to her this week.

How are your WIP's coming along?  Are you making progress?  Is life interfering with you?

It was a cold and snowy day!

It's cold and snowy here, but that's January in New York for you.  This week has gone by quite quickly.  I started back with my walking (a bit more consistently) and am doing the 100 push-up routine.  (I am at level one, and resort to girlie push-ups as I do not have the ability yet to do normal ones-- my goal is to be able to do at least 1 real push up by the time I'm done with this routine.)

I worked on my query letter following the worksheets from Elana Johnson.  They are a great help, so if you are having problems, be sure to check out her book From the Query to the Call.  It's a great resource.  Trisha and I exchanged comments on it last night, and I have some more work to do, but I feel like I am getting closer.

For those of you who might have missed it, WriteOnCon is having a chat Monday, January 24 at 5 PM.  Holly McGhee, Elena Mechlin, and Joan Slattery of Pippin Properties, Inc. will be there to discuss query writing do’s and dont’s and what they’re looking for!  Hope to see you there!

Have a great Thursday!

That Dreaded Query

After writing and editing and tweaking some more, it is now time for me to tackle that dreaded query.  Why dreaded, you ask?  Because it's that one chance you have to WOW the agent of your dreams.  The one chance to say, "Hey!  You really want to read this!"  And you only have one page to do it in. One page to sum up the 40,000 (or more, if you write YA or Adult fiction.)

I've ready many samples at Query Shark, and had a round of critics done on a former query at Writer's Digest's Query Critique.  I read a book over the weekend, and I've read interviews with agents about the subject.  And what have I found?  There are a wide variety of things that make a query work and that make it go straight to the slush pile.  What works for one query may not work for another.


So, what's a writer to do?  Well, I am writing mine out, tweaking it, sharing it with my beta readers, tweaking it again, until it shines and conveys my story to the best of my abilities.


How about you?  Do you dread writing the query or look forward to it introducing you to that perfect agent?
What key have you found for writing your query?