dascmom, I hope you don't mind me responding to Old Hack.
Old Hack, really appreciate your comments. I have a lot to learn about the business of getting a novel out there and sold. I believe that's true. And a lot of variables come into play, not the least of which is talent. There's luck. Subjectivity. I'm betting more than a few really fine novels fall through the cracks. Of course, chances are better for a fine novel than a crap one.
Then again, "crap" is subjective, sooo...
I'm talking about using available sources to get one's novel out there, noticed, sold. I know indie presses have limited resources but percentage-wise, wouldn't a publisher who prints 3 novels a year dedicate more of its resources to each of the 3 than would a publisher who takes on 30 novels a year? Or 300? And in this digital age, isn't the playing field leveled a little bit?I don't want to complicate matters but on the same token, I don't want to limit my chances. Janet Reid encourages writers to 'query widely'.
I've queried 109 literary agents so far. I chose those 109 with care, seeking agents who sounded like they'd be most receptive to a novel like mine. When I look at P&E, I see hundreds of agents/agencies I
haven't queried. But how many of those would want to rep my novel?
Of the 109 agents I queried, 4 requested fulls. That's just shy of 4%.
Compare that to the indie publishers I've queried. 13 indie publishers, 4 full requests. That's about 30%.
I'm running out of agents I think would be most receptive to my book. There are some left, so yeah, I want to keep trying. Meanwhile, three indie publishers are considering my novel right now, three out of 13. To me, it just makes sense to go that route, a surer bet. But I don't want to quit querying agents because you never know. . .
Ugh.