I devoured this book series on vacation! It reminded me of Graceling (one of my all time favorites) and made me remember how much I love fantasy books.
Great series that I highly recommend!!
An end to querying – for now
So recently, I have revisited my manuscript for a particularly exciting reason!
It’s been fun getting back into these lives that I spent so much time with. These voices that once lived in my head for a year.
It’s made me think about a lot of things, but the main thing is my manuscript is just not ready yet.
So I’m taking this incredibly opportunity and am going to stop querying until I can get this MS in tip top shape!
So for my wildly unsuccessful stats for my first time ever querying:
Queries sent: 48
Requests: 11 (10 fulls and one partial that upgraded)
R&R: 2 (one I accepted, one I did not as it was too far from my vision)
I wasn’t ready this time, but I’ll be ready my next round!
What I learned during round one?
- Only send 7-10 queries out at a time. and WAIT. Yes that means this process is slower, but it will be more precise.
- Wait to start getting feedback on requested materials before you start sending more queries out. For me, I started getting requests trickling in, so I got excited and blasted like 20 queries in one day. But then within a few weeks, I started getting passes and they all listed a very similar reason. If I would have waited, I would have been able to revise before continuing to send out queries.
- Don’t get too excited and start querying before you’re ready. How do you know you’re not ready? Oh. You know. And I really did if I was honest with myself, but I told myself it was just nerves. It wasn’t. It was too soon and you only get one chance with agents. Don’t screw yourself by querying too early.
In the end, this is all a learning experience and it might be super weird to say it, but I’m actually really enjoying the process.
PS. rejections suck.
How to decide what to write next…
Since I finished revising my YA book and started the query process… I’ve had the hardest time focusing on my next story.
It feels strange to leave my “friends” that I know so well and start up with someone new. It’s also hard to pull my head out of that world. Those back stories that I crafted, but will probably never tell. Character idiosyncrasies that I find endearing.
But then, I remembered what my old professor told me:
So I started a story… then I started another story… the problem is now I just can’t seem to choose between them. Which one should I flesh out first?
Regardless of how my journey to publication evolves, I’ve discovered the joy of losing myself in a story of my own making. It’s an addiction I don’t think I’ll ever be able to shake.
A New Project and Revisions
So I am starting on revisions of my YA thriller and I’ve been having some trouble trying to get into a rhythm. I am a part of an awesome YA Writers Reddit and I posed the question of how people tackle revisions and I got so many great responses! Here is the thread I started if you’re interested. I love this Reddit because it’s such an eclectic mix of publishing professionals, published writers and those in the process of writing their first novel and everyone writes YA.
So my CP Ashley and I have been exchanging a few chapters at a time and helping each other out. Actually, I really should be working on my stuff to send to her instead of writing this blog, but oh well! 🙂
Then to complicate my life to the extreme, I’ve started a new project. It’s a young MG novel about a 9 year old girl who meets a time traveling horse who has been sent back to help her set things back in place.
A new book AND revisions? It sort of makes me go:
But then I am finding that it is actually inspiring me as well. When I get stuck on revisions, I flip over to my MG book and vice versa. I’ve completed a detailed outline and the first three chapters, so it’s moving right along.
I guess the old mantra is true
Destiny Cole 