Hi my name is Aaron Cole and I am a queryholic. This is my
first time to Query Anonymous and Today I had multiple relapses.
4 days ago Tamara and I sent out about 10 queries. I now
realize Fourth of July week was probably a bad time to send the queries in
question out. It is not like I don’t love the query, In fact I think I love it
more than I should and we have been working on it for months, the problem is
this is a week many people want to spend with their families. I’m not sure if
the agents who received them even have had the time to subjectively read the
query given their already busy schedule. (This is my excuse for some of the agents
who have not gotten back to us.)
The response to the query has been…..I will share that info
in a few weeks when the future of TGOP is known. (TGOP is the current abbreviation
for the Title of the book, from here on out that’s what I will call it)
During this time I have learned that I am not a very patient
person. Between watching Gidget reruns with my mom and trying to live a query
free life style my mind somehow always drifts back to it. Often I have self-diagnosed
panic attacks as a result of this query epidemic. In the event that these panic
attacks cause my death from my query withdrawal I have composed a list to help
other writers going through the same addiction.
WHAT NOT TO DO AFTER QUERYING
PROBLEM #1 DONT REFRESH YOUR EMAIL
Do not, I repeat DO NOT refresh your email every second
after logging in. 5 seconds logged in to
your email is not soon enough to refresh your email and it will not make much
of a difference , trust me. To me it is a good thing that the emails aren’t pouring
in. I feel if an agent isn’t super snappy with a response to your query they are
carefully reviewing other queries. I would rather have a carefully reviewed
query with notes (If said agent provides them) then a rushed response.
Solution: Check your email a few times a day.
Chances are if you have that shining email with a request
for a partial or full manuscript the agent will still be equally as interested
when you do get a chance to read and response .You sent to them, they know you
are interested in working together. The saying ‘distance makes the heart grow
fonder’ is true in this example. You will be more excited when the shining email
is less expected.
PROBLEM # 2 DONT GO ON QUERY TRACKER
Stay far away from this lovely site .You are welcome to post
that your query has been sent, but besides that don’t log on until after the
agent you queried has responded to you. Both Tamara and I are Guilty of
checking on agents that we queried on QT. In a specific example we were creeping
on (anonymous agent's) page and saw that
(she /he) sent rejections and request for fulls 2 days after we sent the query,
and right now the agent hasn’t gotten back to us. This particular agent responds
to every query received as well. The
most recent query that the agent responded to on July 3rd was one from the end
of June so anonymous agent was probably, and still may be backed up with queries.
So all is well.
Solution: Find other places on the internet to vent, ex .a
blog :)
Now that your baby manuscript and query are all grown up and
going to find that perfect college (aka agent) you have realized you have more
free time then you expected. Instead of checking on your query every second
(give it space to grow overbearing parent!) You can pick up other hobbies. This blog has
been a wonderful escape from QT and all of the mixed emotions I feel when
viewing.
PROBLEM # 3 DONT STAY TRAPPED IN YOUR HOUSE
Do not pass up an opportunity to do actives outside of your
home. I’ve done this in the writing process a few times and vowed not to anymore.
I almost didn’t do a few fun things while querying like going out to eat with
family today or swimming in our pool that has barley been used since we moved
here. When you skip out on fun things the work starts to feel like, well work. It
puts stress on you that no longer makes the writing process fun. Think about
why you wrote in the first place, it most likely was to experience a fun new
world and dive into the characters you so beautifully created, don’t lose that mentality.
Drop the idea that query time has to be boring because that is the furthest
from the truth
Solution: Go out and have fun!
During revisions/querying I went to a Miley Cyrus concert
that I almost missed because I was afraid I would finish the revision/query on time.
If you are a writer without a deadline one day of frolic and fun won’t hurt
anything. In fact it may actually help you. After the Miley concert I had a lot
more FRESH Ideas.
PROBLEM #4 DONT CALL THE AGENTS
Do not call an agent whist querying. During this query
process I have learned that I have crazy mood swings, One day I feel confident
about my work, the next I feel like I have no idea what I have gotten myself in
to. On the unconfident days I
tried to look up agents who I think would be a good fit for TGOP (Incase some
of the agents on the list hate the idea).Many of these agents have been
overseas. Because I know not to call agents in the USA I figured why not call
someone in the UK? It was a bad Idea and the agent who I called wasn’t even
accepting queries or enquires as they call them in the United Kingdom. They
were very sweet and thank the heavens I didn’t leave my name.
Solution: Read or watch interview with agents.
This is a much better
option than stalking the agents. You can get to learn more about them without
them knowing .Currently I am watching a Literary Agents: Full Uncensored
Interview by the Hollywood Reporter, it’s amazing and I recommend it to
everyone reading. (Click here to watch)
PROBLEM #5 DONT PICK APART SENT QUERY
Do not pick apart your sent query. Step away from the query,
I repeat Step away from the query! The query you sent has been worked on to the
absolute best of your ability. You spent months working on your query and it is
as perfect as you could get. If it wasn’t you would not have sent it. At this
point there is nothing you can do to make the query better. Even if you do
tweak it the query has been sent and it is not a good idea to send this hypothetically tweaked query to them.(You
could but you most likely will get a swift rejecting for double submission, so
this is for the best.)
Solution: Wait.
Wait for the agents to email feedback to you, with their
information you can tweak your query, if necessary. Hopefully your dream agent
loves your query and you can move forward in this crazy world of publishing
journey.
May the Force be with all your queries!
~Aaron
Side note I will copy this blog to word and count how many
times I said query.
Guess 38
Answer
Query was said 36 times
