Saturday, July 6, 2013

Queryholics Anonymous

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