Okay, so I spent the summer revising, revising and more revising. And querying, querying, and more querying. Hmmm, I have to say that I’ve learned quite a few things, but I will save that for another post. Because today, I am going to focus on the numbers, some official and some subjective.
This summer,I have done three major re-writes. I am talking major changes, people. Why? Well, the lucky few times I received actual feedback from agents, they all mentioned that while the writing is good, “there is no sense of urgency or what is at stake. Both are absolute requirements for a thriller.” That was the last feedback I received and I was disappointed, but grateful for it because I wasn’t sure what was wrong. So, it sent me back to the keyboard and I think I finally got it right…Here’s hoping.
Queries.
This is one of the hardest things about writing because you rarely get feedback and are left to guessing as to what caused the rejection. Was it the query letter? The few sample pages? The characters? The plot? The reasons are endless. But as of today, these are my numbers:
Queries Sent: 45
They weren’t all sent at once, but in batches. The query season started with me sending two partials to the agents who requested them from the conference. On that same day, I submitted two queries to other agents. After I received feedback from one of the agents (in 2 days, I had no idea that was unusual), I stopped and made changes before submitting again. This time I received a request for 50 pages and sent them off, expecting the best. Hopes were dashed and I figured that I hadn’t quite nailed it. So some more revising and another batch was sent. A few quick rejections arrived but were based on the query letter only (which has been revised multiple times too). It wasn’t until another agent gave me the last feedback that I realized that I hadn’t gotten it right, not yet. With fingers and toes crossed, I revised again and sent out another batch.
Rejections: 16–that includes one no answer means no (namn). Minus the namn, thirteen of them were form rejections, leaving only two with feedback.
Partial Requests: 2 from the workshop, 1 from the query letter.
Full Requests: Still waiting for this elusive step.
Requests to have an agent represent me: Can’t get here without the step above being completed. So it’s a big fat 0.
However, as of right now, I am not giving up, but I am starting to wonder at what point should I put it aside and work on my other WIP?
What do you think?
That’s a hard call to make. Most of my manuscript is revisions – 5 months original writing, 1 year revising (with a couple months’ break, when it was in my editor’s hands). How hungry are you to tell this story? If this is the one you want to make your debut with, stick with it, keep reading, keep writing. If it’s at the point where it’s no fun anymore and you’d rather kick a puppy than change one more thing, it’s time to move on.
Sorry to hear it’s been a rough ride 🙁 Keep at it!
Thanks for the positive thoughts. I have to say at times I felt like the kicked puppy and yes I lost my joy through a lot of the revisions, but I worked through it. Still working through it. Like you I’ve spent most of my time revising. Yikes, who knew huh?
Are you querying yet?
Yeah, I started querying again just last week… though I don’t know if it counts yet, because I’ve only sent off one note. I did a ton of querying last year with hardly any responses (1 full request out of 50+ queries, which was promptly rejected), so I’m taking it slow. This first agent is the one I really, really want to represent me, so I’m going to wait to see if she’s interested before I start sending batches.
Actually the fact that you got one full request is awesome. It means that you have a great concept. Good luck with your dream agent. I hope she requests a full, but let me know your progress. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you too.
Keep blogging Rachael. I love this site.
Thank you