The Grief of Querying

Soon I'm going to start on that potentially long and arduous journey of querying. I haven't even started yet and it's already giving me grief so I decided to devote today's blog post to querying and the stages of grief.



Denial

I sent out one query letter an hour ago. Any minute now, my top agent will email and ask for the full. A few hours later, my top agent will email again asking when is the perfect time to call. To offer representation. Yeah, I'm that good.



Anger

I've sent out ten query letters so far and I've heard back from six already. All form rejections. Are you kidding me? What kind of hack agents are they that they don't know what a literary genius I am? Well, it's their loss. They'll be crying every night once I get a bazillon dollar deal.



Bargaining



A full request is a step in the right direction. Even if it does result in a rejection. Just ask for the full.



Ok, fine, a partial. Just read the first three chapters.



The first ten pages.



Read something besides the query letter.



Just respond to my query letter!



Depression

I'll never get an agent. I'll never find a publisher. I'm not a writer, I'm just a wannabe. I should cover my head with a paper bag. I couldn't even write my way out of a paper bag.



Acceptance

All I can do is write the best novel I can write. And tweak my query letter until it shines. Give myself every opportunity to shine. A lot of publishing requires perfect timing and luck. If I never put myself out there, I'll never become a writer.



Stratch that. I already am a writer.