The Hunt Is On...
It's difficult balancing writing with agent-hunting with story-submitting with reading to stay on top of the game. And to do all that while still working 40 plus hours per week. But it's also a lot of fun. I love being busy! And I love writing this blog!
As far as the agent hunt, I've been averaging two queries per day. You'd think you could just look up an agent and hit send, but it's not that easy. Each agent has slightly different submission requirements.
For example:
Agent A wants a query (basically a cover letter asking for representation, a brief description of your book, as well as a paragraph highlighting your qualifications and why the agent should represent you), a three to four page synopsis (a summary of the novel), and the first three chapters (50 pages).
Agent B wants a query (and specifies that it's a good idea to mention another author whom your style resembles), a ONE page synopsis (any more than that and the agent will toss the whole submission), and the first five pages of the novel.
Agent C wants a query (and gives a caveat: Please don't say my book is similar to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, or any other established author, for that matter!), a chapter by chapter outline--no more than ten pages, and no request for pages.
Other agents want you to include what sort of marketing plan you have for your novel. Others require that you be an already published author before submitting.
Can you see the dilemma?
And I won't even get into the whole "is your novel marketable" crap. For those thinking of writing a book (I know KTS and Rooney mentioned the possibility) it's a wise idea to research what's hot before you dive in.
For example, right now paranormal romance is selling like hotcakes. But, in all likelihood, by the time you finish your novel something else will be hot. So I guess my advice is to write what you like to read. And write what you know. And read a lot so you don't end up thinking you have this GREAT idea that--unbeknownst to you--a million people have already done.
As far as the agent hunt, I've been averaging two queries per day. You'd think you could just look up an agent and hit send, but it's not that easy. Each agent has slightly different submission requirements.
For example:
Agent A wants a query (basically a cover letter asking for representation, a brief description of your book, as well as a paragraph highlighting your qualifications and why the agent should represent you), a three to four page synopsis (a summary of the novel), and the first three chapters (50 pages).
Agent B wants a query (and specifies that it's a good idea to mention another author whom your style resembles), a ONE page synopsis (any more than that and the agent will toss the whole submission), and the first five pages of the novel.
Agent C wants a query (and gives a caveat: Please don't say my book is similar to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, or any other established author, for that matter!), a chapter by chapter outline--no more than ten pages, and no request for pages.
Other agents want you to include what sort of marketing plan you have for your novel. Others require that you be an already published author before submitting.
Can you see the dilemma?
And I won't even get into the whole "is your novel marketable" crap. For those thinking of writing a book (I know KTS and Rooney mentioned the possibility) it's a wise idea to research what's hot before you dive in.
For example, right now paranormal romance is selling like hotcakes. But, in all likelihood, by the time you finish your novel something else will be hot. So I guess my advice is to write what you like to read. And write what you know. And read a lot so you don't end up thinking you have this GREAT idea that--unbeknownst to you--a million people have already done.
posted by Grant-Will-Rant at
12:18 PM
2 Comments:
Okay, I was really going to scoff and laugh at the paranormal romance thing until I looked at the website and saw it included time travel and vampires. Oh yeah. I read books like that. :) I just never thought of them as "paranormal romance" before.
By
mamashine, at 8:44 PM, July 09, 2006
Time travel, yes. Vampires, no. I just figure I'll write the book I want to read and someday maybe someone will buy it.
By
Kate, at 10:22 AM, July 11, 2006
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