Maintaining sanity during the querying process

So, number one, absolutely, above all else, write the next thing. I cannot emphasize this enough. It will give you something else to focus on, and if things drag on with the querying, it won't matter, because you'll know that in X months you'll be able to start querying something new, which you'll be convinced is even better anyway.

Next, find amazing critique partners. This is so important. I know it's easier said than done, but it's not that hard. You just have to be willing to reach out. I found mine in a variety of sources, but all by reaching out to people I'd meshed with here, on Twitter, on blogs, in contests. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. But find your people. Because they're not only essential for critique of your work, but they are essential for sanity.

I have around 6 people I consider critique partners, but a couple who are truly close friends (though I've never met one of them in person). When I went through a really crushing rejection after a prolonged R &R, one of my really close CP's sent me a dartboard.

And third, don't do it unless you can't not. My first year in theater school, the head of the department told us, if there's anything else you can do, anything else that would fulfill you, get out of this program and do that instead, with our full support and blessing. Because surviving this business is not possible unless you have absolutely no choice in your soul but to do theater.

I think the same is true of writing. I was about to start querying my sixth middle grade manuscript. I was SO frustrated. I had told my CP's that if the sixth one didn't get me an agent, I was done with middle grade. But I knew that I wasn't done with storytelling. I won't ever be. I wasn't sure if I would go back to plays or try something else, but I know I'll always tell stories, because I can't not.

So that's my two cents. I'm not an expert in much, but I sort of have a doctorate in surviving the querying process.

I'm adding to what Joy said -- When a rejection comes in, know where the manuscript is going next. Give yourself one day, maybe two, to cry over the rejection and then get that baby back out there. If you can get it out without the day to grieve, so much the better. As long as it is out, there is hope it will be picked up. Hopelessness will depress anyone.

Like Joy said, keep writing. Switch gears, write a short story or a play, or start another novel. Having something else to focus on while your other baby is out in the world will keep your feet on the ground.
That being said, I always console myself with half a bag of Twizzler Pull & Peels. Maybe not the healthiest of advice, but they've helped me cope in the past.

Definitely write, write more and keep writing. Time will fly by, and you'll be more of a busy beaver than a wide-eyed goldfish, gasping down each nervous breath as you stare at that inbox xD

D

I have a somewhat related question regarding queries and the waiting process. I debated starting a new thread, but as this is somewhat related, I decided not to clutter the board.

I'm querying a MG book right now. I've been pretty good about working on non-related projects (which should be mandatory when querying) and trying not to let the string of "no's" get me too down, but I've been obsessing over something for the past month to the point where I need uninvolved neutral parties to weigh in.

Here's my background:
I broke my query process into four rounds where I send out one round, wait for the responses and then see if I need to tweak anything before starting on the next round. Each round is about equal in terms of number of queries sent and a mix of agents (regarding their preferences and mine).

The first round netted me a request rate of 5 percent, so I reworked the query. The second round jumped up to over 20 percent plus a handful of personalized rejections for my query that boiled down to "it's not you, it's me." The third round, however, came in at a whopping zero. A couple of agents still have the manuscript, but before I begin the final round, I'm starting to wonder if I need to rework my query again. Overall, I've now dropped to a just barely sub-10 percent request rate. Not awful but at the line of making me wonder if it could be better.

I considered posting in QLH, but since some agents currently have the manuscript, part of me feels like that's bad form. My bigger concern is that my MG is fantasy (although different than most of the fantasy that's been recently published) and I've detected, over the past few months, a slight cooling off in MG toward fantasy.

My questions are: If you were me, would you rework the query? And am I alone in feeling like the interest in fantasy is on the downswing?



Oh, and one other thing for SuperKate: Find non-writing activities to occupy your time. It doesn't have to be anything over the top, just activities that get you far away from your computer / notepad / whatever it is you use to write. Do other creative activities (bake, sew, woodwork, whatever). Watch a Ken Burns documentary. Finally do that thing you always say you're going to do but never do. Spend meaningful time with family and friends. Do volunteer work. Anything that reminds you of what a big, wonderful world is out there, beyond the world of writing.

Gin and first-person combat video games.

Seriously, there's a lot of Do Something Else, (especially working on the next book!) and if you can pursue a hobby that does not leave your brain time to worry over the query, that's good.

@bagels: there's definitely nothing wrong with posting in SYW even once you've started sending it out. Either way I'd at least get another set of eyes on it even if its just one or two writer friends. Specificaly people who don't know the story yet.

bagels said:

I considered posting in QLH, but since some agents currently have the manuscript, part of me feels like that's bad form.

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It's not. Agents with the full know that you are still querying, and continuing to make sure your query and/or manuscript are in the best possible shape for that is not bad form. Put it on QLH. Make sure it's the best it can be before you send out another round.

As for fantasy cooling down...try not to worry about that. Even if it's true, what possible good does it do you to fret over that? You've already written a fantasy. So put it out there and see. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this story about Heidi Schulz, who was told by a respected agent at a conference that she had wasted her time and girl pirates were completely unsaleable. Yeah, look for HOOK'S REVENGE later this year. It sold in a 5 house action.

bagels said:

I have a somewhat related question regarding queries and the waiting process. I debated starting a new thread, but as this is somewhat related, I decided not to clutter the board.

I'm querying a MG book right now. I've been pretty good about working on non-related projects (which should be mandatory when querying) and trying not to let the string of "no's" get me too down, but I've been obsessing over something for the past month to the point where I need uninvolved neutral parties to weigh in.

Here's my background:
I broke my query process into four rounds where I send out one round, wait for the responses and then see if I need to tweak anything before starting on the next round. Each round is about equal in terms of number of queries sent and a mix of agents (regarding their preferences and mine).

The first round netted me a request rate of 5 percent, so I reworked the query. The second round jumped up to over 20 percent plus a handful of personalized rejections for my query that boiled down to "it's not you, it's me." The third round, however, came in at a whopping zero. A couple of agents still have the manuscript, but before I begin the final round, I'm starting to wonder if I need to rework my query again. Overall, I've now dropped to a just barely sub-10 percent request rate. Not awful but at the line of making me wonder if it could be better.

I considered posting in QLH, but since some agents currently have the manuscript, part of me feels like that's bad form. My bigger concern is that my MG is fantasy (although different than most of the fantasy that's been recently published) and I've detected, over the past few months, a slight cooling off in MG toward fantasy.

My questions are: If you were me, would you rework the query? And am I alone in feeling like the interest in fantasy is on the downswing?

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Could it be that the agents for the first couple of rounds were those most suited to your novel? So as you got to the third round you had less of a chance of grabbing an agent's attention? Or it could just be that in the third round you had really bad luck? I'd say don't go too crazy with reworking your query. A 20% request rate is pretty great. You only need one person to say yes.

In regards to a fading interest in fantasy... There are definite trends that come and go with YA fiction, but at least from what I can see fantasy still has, and will continue to have, a strong place in MG.

I wrote a blog post about surviving the querying process here.

For me, what helped the most was...

1. Expect form rejects. The highest request rate I'd ever heard of was 40%. Even then, that means 60% of the time, the writer received rejections or no replies at all. My query received over 20% success rate in the US and over 30% success rate in the UK. It's a great response rate, but it still meant a shitton of rejections/no-replies. Learn to expect rejections so you can brush them off and move on. Form rejections aren't worth crying over because the reason behind the rejection could be anything. The only rejections I allowed myself to feel bad about were the close-calls. Those hurt like a mother.

2. Write a new book. I'm in the subbing process now, and it's the only thing keeping me sane. If you read stories from successfully pubbed authors, you'll find that many of them have trunked books that didn't make it through the querying round, or made it through the querying round only to die during the subbing process. One of the reasons they've made it is because they chose to move on to the next project instead of giving up.

3. Have a healthy support system for those times when a rejection makes you want to fling yourself off a cliff. You'll probably get some tough rejections. I received two during the process that made me curl up on the floor and moan because they were such close calls and they were from two of my dream agents. At times like these, your support system is priceless. Mr. Putt and my sweet friends were always ready to ply me with encouragement and chocolates and e-hugs. Without them, I would be stuck in a cave, probably eating my own hair.

Good luck on the querying process, and yes, I'd like to echo those who suggested popping over to QLH to hone the query. It's definitely worth a go. Before QLH, my success rate was around 10%. I don't know what I would've done without the squirrels there.

Putputt said:

I wrote a blog post about surviving the querying process here.

For me, what helped the most was...

1. Expect form rejects. The highest request rate I'd ever heard of was 40%. Even then, that means 60% of the time, the writer received rejections or no replies at all. My query received over 20% success rate in the US and over 30% success rate in the UK. It's a great response rate, but it still meant a shitton of rejections/no-replies. Learn to expect rejections so you can brush them off and move on. Form rejections aren't worth crying over because the reason behind the rejection could be anything. The only rejections I allowed myself to feel bad about were the close-calls. Those hurt like a mother.

2. Write a new book. I'm in the subbing process now, and it's the only thing keeping me sane. If you read stories from successfully pubbed authors, you'll find that many of them have trunked books that didn't make it through the querying round, or made it through the querying round only to die during the subbing process. One of the reasons they've made it is because they chose to move on to the next project instead of giving up.

3. Have a healthy support system for those times when a rejection makes you want to fling yourself off a cliff. You'll probably get some tough rejections. I received two during the process that made me curl up on the floor and moan because they were such close calls and they were from two of my dream agents. At times like these, your support system is priceless. Mr. Putt and my sweet friends were always ready to ply me with encouragement and chocolates and e-hugs. Without them, I would be stuck in a cave, probably eating my own hair.

Good luck on the querying process, and yes, I'd like to echo those who suggested popping over to QLH to hone the query. It's definitely worth a go. Before QLH, my success rate was around 10%. I don't know what I would've done without the squirrels there.

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Putputt, you are sweet and wise and so effin' funny. Adorable.

Putster pretty much said what I was gonna say, which makes me similarly sweet and wise and funny. Not half as adorable, though. I shall add to that by saying I also fawn a lot, especially when the hippo is around. Can't seem to help it.

Right now, I am in the preliminary stages of querying my latest novel, and in a holding pattern relative to the one I wrote prior to that. Oh, one thing I want to mention relative to querying: if you don't get a good response rate, DO SOMETHING about that. Rework your query, something. I did that, not easy but at least I got proactive, took control a little bit, took some chances. Not only was it empowering which is great for morale, but I got some immediate and positive responses from agents and indie publishers. Very exciting.

But now I'm waiting again. . .

Right now, I have three other novels I can tweak whilst waiting, and more queries I can send out to agents, which means more researching for me and meanwhile, I'm checking my list, seeing when/if I should nudge anybody. In fact, I did just that, nudged an agent who has a full and she emailed me back right away. . .

That's something else that helps a shit ton, getting some kind of response from an agent or publisher, something to give you hope. Hope is key, not giving up and Putster's right, support from friends and family is crucial, at least, for me it is. Without that, I could easily get sucked into that black vortex of despair and who wants to get sucked in there, my God, the humanity. . .

I hope you don't mind me asking some questions about terms. I've found this thread fascinating, as well as terrifying, since I plan to subject myself to this sometime in the near future. What does "subbing process" mean? What is an R&R?

erikafabulous said:

I hope you don't mind me asking some questions about terms. I've found this thread fascinating, as well as terrifying, since I plan to subject myself to this sometime in the near future. What does "subbing process" mean? What is an R&R?

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Subbing process usually means the process wherein your agent submits your MS to acquisitions editors at publishing houses.

R&R means revise and resubmit, which happens when an agent or editor thinks your work has potential but is not quite there yet.

Welcome to AW!

Thanks for translating. I also loved your blog post about the process, especially since it had such a happy ending.
Is it that obvious I'm green? I feel like I have no business even being here. Everyone here is a real writer, and for the moment I am strictly a wannabe. I suppose we all need to start somewhere though, right?

erikafabulous said:

Thanks for translating. I also loved your blog post about the process, especially since it had such a happy ending.
Is it that obvious I'm green? I feel like I have no business even being here. Everyone here is a real writer, and for the moment I am strictly a wannabe. I suppose we all need to start somewhere though, right?

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Oh wow, I am nowhere near being a "real writer"! I'm not published and I'm pretty green myself, but AW has taught me a LOT about the industry. Don't worry about it, stick around and participate and before long you'll feel a lot more comfortable and ready to plunge in.

You all are so kind. So maybe 'real writer' is a strong term. Who knows what it really means, right? Your blog post was entertaining and engaging though, so that seems pretty real to me.
Thank you for being so welcoming.

All I can really recommend is keeping yourself busy. Write more stories, and keep sending them out when you think they are ready. Try to have more than a handful of submissions out at once, a dozen is even better. Always keep your eyes to the horizon so to speak.

This is a great thread. I am going insane with waiting on queries and the series of unfortunate rejections. I am on my second book that I am querying and I am using the standard send ten queries, wait, adjust, send ten more. There are some days I just want to send out two hunded queries and just be done with it. I'm going to start researching and outlining my next book and continue researching on possible leads for agents.