Can an Author Query Too Much?
My special guest on the Creative Differences podcast, Nicola Whyte, debut writer of 10 Marchfield Square, reveals that her biggest mistake may have been querying too much…
TRANSCRIPT
MARK: What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in your writing career?
NICOLA: Probably querying too much… like, querying a book too much. When I knew the market wasn’t ready. But I kept querying because I was so sure that somebody would see the potential. And then, of course, what happens is the market shifts and everybody’s already seen it, and you can’t send it out again. So I think that definitely that happened to me with a cosy crime novel I wrote in 2019, and everybody was going ‘Cosy? No, we don’t… nobody publishes this. It’s got to be really dark. That’s what we like dark, dark, dark, dark. And I’d sent it to everybody and got the same (response): I really enjoyed this. I love the pitch. I love the title. But, no, we don’t publish this at all. Ooh, Richard Osman? Hello! And I had literally sent it to everyone, so it’s currently in a drawer awaiting its time.
MARK: Maybe it will have its time at some point. I still think your biggest mistake was not finishing the robot silent witness book, you know?
NICOLA: Oh, you’re gonna love it, Mark.
MARK: I am first in line. First in line for that one.
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