Just hit SEND...

I hope you guys enjoyed the little synopsis of my book. I'm really excited about the sequel that I've already started!

For those of you who don't know, I sent my first query two days ago. And, in celebration--or maybe a bit of venting--I want to touch a little bit on the awesome subject of such letters. (I apologize now if this gets to be long.)

When you think about it, a query is a good way for the publishers and agents who choose this route to dial down the amount of reading their eyes handle; instead of thousands of submissions of 100+ page manuscripts, they get thousands of submissions of 1 to 5 page glorified cover letters. Sounds good if I had to do it!

However, I really believe it to be the most daunting, mentally-crazy challenge I've come across so far in my short life in the writing world. First off, each publisher/agent may have a list of format demands: What type font? What size? How many pages? Then, a list of criteria: Author bio? General idea of story? List of awards? Then, they leave you to the thousands of pages on the internet that argue the actual ingredients: Provide the end of the book? Or, no, keep it to yourself. Be thankful, but don't suck up. Be unique, but remember: it's still business. And, then there's the argument over business letter format (which I'll be nice and spare you on). On the flip side of all of that, there are publishers/agents, who either honestly don't care how you format the sucker or they just want to test your imagination and skill because they really request no format at all. Just: "We're taking submissions; send a query!"

The worst part for me was the end result. I spent a day combing through craziness to find a couple of opinions that seemed good enough to draw from: a girl who had actually been acknowledged by an agent for her "best query" and a woman who was an actual editor. Of those two, I made like a buffet line and picked what I thought pertained to my needs. The major reason behind this was the very fact that my chosen publishing house was a relatively small one that had pretty loose demands. All they provided was a request for a synopsis and bio and they stated who to send the emailed info to. So, one would think it would be easy, but NO--which gets me to my point. Even after all is said and done and each letter is written and glossed over by spellcheck, it still takes a lot of cojones not to read the finished product and throw it out. 

Personally, I reread the thing--we'll say--twenty times (although, I wouldn't doubt it to be more), argued with Microsoft grammar rules, let it sit in my j-drive to recoup, and then edited the paragraphs until I could nearly see my reflection. But--in my head--it wasn't good enough. It wasn't going to be what they wanted. My luck would drain and I would pick a day where spellcheck didn't work or I had mistyped a word in a way it wouldn't catch. The draft would be too short to their liking. They wouldn't be able to get passed the second sentence of the atrocity.

Now, I'm not saying all of this to be buttered into believing the opposite; my sane brain is aware that the submission was just fine. I just want to illustrate the struggle that I think happens to anyone who creates something from scratch: It might look good in my brain, but the target audience might hate it.

In the end, I clicked send with my eyes closed and felt a nice rush of pride that I had done it. I bit the bullet and come what may, in 3-4 weeks I'll find out an answer. So, I suppose that's my new lesson regardless of whether I wrote my last query ever or if I have to write five more. I atleast know that I can do it. I can hit send. And, it isn't a failure if they don't like: I'll find someone else who does. Even if it means I have to start all over.

:)

*Kayla*