Submissions

When I am ready to query agents (and even some editors), I compile of long list taken from several sources, both online and in print. (I love JEFF HERMAN'S GUIDE TO BOOK PUBLISHERS, EDITORS & LITERARY AGENTS, and got a 2010 copy as a birthday gift last month.) And among the online sources, I particularly love AgentQuery, though I also view others.) I rank each agent according to a purely subjective set of criteria that can change from day to day, and I pour over their websites for every hint or clue as to what they are looking for. (But what they say can be so obscure, which I hate. I was just looking at a listing for an agent in a well-established agency in New York who stated that among her areas of interest were "exceptional fiction" and "anything outstanding." What does any of that mean? And who would be looking for 'unexceptional fiction'?)

After I do the research, I start sending queries -- e-mails first to those who accept them, snail mail later.

I have A, B and C lists of agents, with, of course, the A-list as the top. But I don't always start with the A-list. When I send several queries at a time, I try to pick someone from each list.
In a sense, I suffer from both a fear of rejection and a fear of success. If I haven't sent a query to an A-list agent I particularly hope to attract, I also haven't been rejected by them. It's stupid, I know. So sue me.

Today I am at the top of my A-list and I'm about to send a query to by No. 1 draft pick. I really want this agent, though she has rejected me before (for DEATH AT THE JUNGLE-BUNNY JOURNAL). She has editorial experience and says she likes to help a new author get their book in the best shape it can be in before it goes to an editor. She represents a number of mystery writers and is a member of MWA. I love her blog. It is informative and witty, as well as well-written. And I have gone over and over her website, writings and blogs for just a little something to help me get her attention.

Right now the book is as a good as I can make it. I have poured over every word of my query numerous times and it is as good as I can make it for this agent. Now it's time to let it fly.

Like most writers, I hate sending out query after query with little hope of a positive response. But I know I will never get this agent (or any agent) unless I willing to risk rejection. Am I ready for a response from this agent? I don't know.

Maybe I will sit on it one more night and send it tomorrow morning. And maybe I will just have the balls to send it now.

Who knows?

In any event, thanks for reading and don't give up.