I now have a spreadsheet of almost 30 agents. Almost at that stage, you guys. I've been ready to start submitting to agents for years, just not actually ready. But now...almost.
Yesterday I said I'm waiting on my last few beta feedbackers, and I still am. However, in my typically ridiculous impatience, now that I'm so...freaking...close...I'm starting to wonder if it would be totally inappropriate for me to start querying anyway. It may move things along, and will feel wonderful, even if I get rejected. However, the last thing I want to do is jump the gun and shoot my chances.
Now that I have a list, my plan is just to go down probably six or seven at a time. If I should be so lucky to get a call, I have Chip MacGregor's awesome list of Questions to Ask Prospective Agents at the ready.
I have my query letter just a few tweaks away from being ready. It's been looked at by some way smart, awesome and experienced people, which gives me hope. I have my list, my tentative plan.
So. Does that plan sound like a good one to you? Am I missing anything? And do I start now or wait until I get the last of the feedback and put the novel through one last round of edits?
Where are you in this process? Have you done this before, and what advice would you give?
Sarah Allen
16 comments:
Good luck! It's scary but there's nothing to lose. You've already done what I didn't do, which is have other people look at it! My wife read the first draft when it was halfway through, and an editor (friend of a friend) gave some very general advice, but yeah. It wasn't ready. Wish I'd been blogging then and got better advice! If in doubt, I think you should wait to hear back from your last betas. I think you owe it to them, and they might have amazing suggestions.
Ooh, good luck! Sometimes, you have to just dive in and do it. Take that plunge off the cliff into a bank of fog and hope there's a cushy landing below. And, while your queries are winging their way to prospective agents, you can still put a final polish on your pages. Or not. Fingers crossed! :)
I'm not at this stage yet (hopefully by the end of the year!) so good luck! And let us know any advice you have after you finish :)
Dive in, dive in! If you get requests you can always hurry and finish up any last minute edits. My advice would be to start with 5 or so, and see how it goes, instead of pushing it out to everyone all at once. That way you'll know whether or not your query is working.
Also, save the most important agents (to you, anyway) for the second or third round. If you get requests in the first round, you know your query is working, and you can go ahead and send it to them then.
Good luck! Querying is nerve-wracking...but also very exciting.
Best of luck! I'd wait, just to be absolutely sure. You want to make sure it's the best it can be - once the query is out there, you can't get it back.
Good luck! It sounds to me like you are ready to get out there and see what happens. You really seem prepared for anything!
the-creationofbeauty.blogspot.com
I won't feel comfortable querying until I have the ms completely finished, like to the point where I wouldn't change a word. But that's just me. Do whatever feels right to you. Good luck. I love your enthusiasm!
Your plan sounds like a good one to me! I think you are completely prepared. Good luck!!
I agree with Jen Chatfield. It would be good query five agents to begin with, see what kind of response you get, and if you get any nips, you know your query is working.
The time it takes to hear back is a decent window (although, this isn't always predictable--2-3 weeks, from my experience).
I'm in the same stage myself. I stopped querying after the first round, because it was clear my query needed work. Plus I wanted to get the synopsis perfected. (Currently still working on the synopsis).
Best of luck! I'm blogging about my progress on this as well, feel free to see my progress via the link below.
Cheers,
Anna Soliveres
I say go with your gut. If you think the manuscript is ready, then start querying. But if you think these last beta readers might have some advice to make the MS even better, maybe waiting is the best course. Good luck!
I remember whipping together a query letter last year, fully prepared to assault tons of agents until I found one that said yes. Sadly (or fortunately?) it wasn't meant to be, and I ended up self-publishing that particular book. I know how you must feel right now and I wish you the best of luck with the path you've chosen to follow.
P.S: Guess what? You've been nominated for an award.
http://michaelabayomi.blogspot.com/2012/05/kreativ-blogger-award.html
Wheee! Good luck and have fun jumping into the querying pool. Sounds like you're close! Yep, great idea to test your query on no more than a half-dozen agents first. Then tweak as necessary. I'd definitely make sure you have your novel as polished as possible before going out. The market is tight!! An extra 2-3 weeks of honing is well worth it sometimes. :)
From someone who suffers from the same impatience and who has been through this process and has some regrets: WAIT. Wait. They will be there when the beta readers finish, when you make your edits. They will be there.
My advice is to query when the MS is the best it can be, in your opinion. If that means waiting for the readers, wait - a couple more weeks won't hurt!
I'm kind of conflicted on this one.
On one hand, I believe that querying the first five would be beneficial to see if you would get any nibbles and to see if your query/synopsis/first few pags are any good.
In my experience, the turnaround has been about a month or so for a response.
As for the other side of the equation, waiting until you get feedback to make final edits can be a good idea as well.
But why not work on the edits and make the queries at the same time? If you get a nibble, at least you'll have the manuscript at the ready because you won't be sending it back out to your readers to proof yet again.
Good luck! I'm just about at this point too. Getting my agent list together, polishing my query. I hope both of us hear wonderful news soon! :)
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