Queries, Requests and Other Impossible Things

Despite the title of this post, catching an agent’s interest is not an impossible task. “But J.G., you don’t even have a literary agent.” Yes, I know, but let me explain:

The first query I ever sent out, I was not ready, but I sent it out anyway because the agent, who had an impressive fantasy roster, was closing soon and wouldn’t be opening again for a long time. Even so, you should never send a query before your book and pitch package are finished, but I was young and dumb. (Exhibit A: I didn’t even know what a pitch package was.) Still, I wanted to test my “chops,” for lack of a better word. And to my surprise, I got a partial request! The agent asked for a synopsis — which I scrambled to write because, again, I wasn’t ready — and the first 50 pages, which were very much ready. Or so I thought.

I got rejected flat out. No feedback or personalization. All I received was what I would come to know as the standard agent reply: “This isn’t a good fit for me.” A year and a half later, I still don’t know what that means, but agents love to say it.

Now, of course, I wasn’t expecting my debut to be picked up by the very first agent I queried, so my spirit was still alight and, although I was disappointed, I was in no way deterred. So a few months later, after really getting my pitch package together, I sent six more queries and  received another request from another top choice. This one was a full, and I nearly jumped out the window in excitement. But a few months later, I wanted to break that same window in frustration. According to her, I had talent, but the book read more YA than adult.

That one hurt. A lot.

After that, I didn’t get another request, partial or full, for seven months — and just like the first two, it didn’t pan out.

In nine months, I went from feeling on top of the world to feeling utterly faithless, entirely sure that no agent would ever want to represent my novel. I quickly learned that getting an agent’s interest is easy but keeping their interest is a whole different battle.

Why did they keep baling on me?

I went back into my sample chapters — the first three — and got my answer.

The opening of my book was garbage.

That’s putting it harshly. They weren’t bad, but they didn’t reflect the writer I had grown to be since crafting them. And that’s when I learned, there is a huge difference between your book being done and your book being ready.

So, I put my editor’s hat back on, and reworked, reshuffled, and revised those opening chapters. I cleaned up the line editing; I dove deeper into Jaara’s narrative, her psyche. I fully immersed myself into the world I created, and when I was finished, my book wasn’t just done. It was ready. Ready to be in front of agents. However, I was already 80-plus rejections deep by the time I had my epiphany, and I wasted a lot of time time querying a book that did not showcase my best work. In layman’s terms, I utterly shot myself in the foot.

So, where am I and my wounded foot now? Well, I’m 18 months and 100-plus rejections deep (probably more, but I’ve stopped counting).

I’m still fighting in the query trenches, but now I’m fighting with a novel that is truly the best it can be at this point in time. It even has a few requests out at the moment. In fact, once I revised those chapters, the requests sort of flew in one right after the other. The rejections did, too, because there’s just no ever getting rid of those. But even my rejections are getting more detailed, more thoughtful, and they, too, have a way of motivating me. If an agent is taking time out of their busy schedule to write me a thoughtful letter on how much they love my writing but it’s just ultimately not a good fit for them, then maybe they’re actually telling the truth. The writing is good, the story is compelling, but it’s just not a fit … but it will be for another agent. That’s something else they like to say: “I’m sure someone else will feel differently.”

For the first time in 18 months, I’m sure, too.

An encouraging rejection I received from an agent. This agent was technically closed to new submissions, but invited me to query by liking my post during a pitch contest. I’m grateful to have been given the opportunity to submit, and I’m even more grateful for her thoughtful response.