Monday, January 10, 2011

A Writing Milestone

Well, it's official! I sent off my first 5 query letters this weekend (2 on Friday, 3 on Saturday). And I've also received my first rejection letter! While I of course would have preferred that I had 5 agents on the phone this morning offering representation without even reading the full manuscript (which is TOTALLY realistic!) I am actually glad to have my first rejection out of the way. I have been telling myself for months, even years, that every writer gets rejected. After I've heard from my first five potential agents, I will re-evaluate my query letter and go from there.

So, in the spirit of revising query letters, I wanted to share this awesome post on the Guide to Literary Agents site. I enjoy reading this site because I think it's a great way to get a glimpse of what agents are really like, aside from their offical profiles. I have also found invaluable advice on writing and querying and pretty much every aspect of this whole aspiring-author thing. Cory Jackson, who recently sold her first book, posted this great article about how she found her agent.  And you can see more info and her actual query letters here. Well, reading the "before" and "after" letters helped me immensely in writing my 4th query. I'm sure I'll be reviewing the letters to rewrite my query again.

Cory's final query is fabulous, and my mom gave it the best praise of all: "Now I can't wait for her book to come out so I can read it!"

1 comment:

  1. Good luck with the queries! And don't let the rejections get to you. Keep at it, work hard, and spend lots of time with loved ones who can take your mind off the agony of the wait. :)

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