Weekend Problems

Hope everyone spent some time this weekend remembering our fallen heroes.

Since I’m on bed rest, we didn’t do too much.  That was until Sunday afternoon when we got a knock on the door from the city.  The city and house calls on weekends – much less a holiday weekend – isn’t a good sign.  Even worse was the city wasn’t after us, but our neighbors.  Our neighbors who were off on a relaxing vacation.  The neighbors who had a waterfall on their driveway.

Yep, that’s a bad thing!  After a call to our neighbors, my husband broke into their house (with permission) and the water rushed out of the house.  Literally, the water rushed over the tops of my wedges and my husband’s boots.  This would be a great time to mention that wearing a long maternity dress to a flooded house isn’t a great idea.  Very, very, very bad idea!

The good news is the damage doesn’t look too bad.  It seems the pipe that runs from the wall to the toilet’s reservoir busted.  That pipe sprayed water all over the bathroom, and that water filled the house.  The electronics that were plugged into the wall still worked.  The floor is tile, so hopefully it’ll be easier during the cleanup process.  And, the neighbors got ahold of one of those flood cleanup companies that came out Sunday afternoon.  Lots of calls to our neighbors so they were in the loop.

To end the day, I got a rejection!  Urg!  On a holiday weekend?  Couldn’t agents wait until Memorial Weekend was over?  I guess not!  Oh well, life goes on, and rejections aren’t the end of the world.  Today I’ll send off my submission to Glimmer Train Press’ May contest and begin revising the next month’s competition.  A few runner-ups or wins should help my case with agents.

Snail Mail Rejections

I guess I should mention lack of rejections when I want rejections.  I got a couple snail mail rejections this week.  For the heck of it, I’m keeping the rejection letters.  After all, when I look back at all these letters I’ll laugh.  Right?  You know, after I’m a bestselling author?

The rejection letters have all been short and sweet.  One was just a handwritten “Not for me” on my query letter.  I’m gonna take that as totally not for that agent.  One of the rejections is on a full sheet of paper, but just a sentence saying that the agent has passed.

Oh well, life goes on after rejections.  I’m four days from the Glimmer Train Press May Short Story for New Writer’s contest deadline.  The submission is in the final stages of revisions.  I should make the deadline with time to spare.  Making the May deadline should bring my spirits up.

Not Really An Agent Update

I haven’t updated on the query front for a bit. There is a simple reason. I haven’t heard anything from agents lately. Yesterday, I went through the agents I’ve queried and closed out a bunch of queries as “No Response.” Yes, I know agents are busy. Yes, I understand the whole “No response means a rejection” thing. Yes, it still stings slightly as I close out the query because it means another rejection. The other thing you have to wonder when you get no response is if the agent even got your query. Let’s face it. Things happen a lot to emails. They get sent to spam all the time. Plus, I am using my website email. That could add another level of spam. (This is why I really love the “We got your query” automatic emails.) So, did the agent even get the e-query? I don’t wanna query again with a whole “Hi, I was just wondering if you got my last email” only because every agent interview I see hates that in a wannabe. Add the snail mail queries, and things get interesting. Yep, I know they supposedly take longer. After all, said letter must go from the Mexican border to New York. That’s three or four days right there. And then the agent (or the agent’s assistant) must open the envelope, glance at the query letter, and then toss a rejection in my SASE. What do you wanna bet that takes a day or so? My SASE goes in the mail, and travels back to me. Most of the time this process takes roughly a week and a half from start to finish. Not this time! Nope, I am still waiting for rejections from three of the snail mail agents. And it’s been over two weeks. This sadly gives me hope. I’ve looked at how long the agents take to return “We’re passing” letters, and shockingly it takes about two weeks. But the “Send me some more” takes more like three to four weeks. I wonder if they are sitting there at their desks deciding if they really like the query letter. That’s why there haven’t been any updates lately on my progress with agents. Kinda hard to update when there is nothing to report. Hopefully, I’ll have something to report soon.

Forgotten Queries!

I’ve got a great mail carrier.  She’s always smiling when she shows up at the door.  And, like most of our local post office, my mail carrier is hopeful that I’ll shortly mail manuscripts out through the post office.  (I’m sure there are dollar signs in someone’s eyes.)

Anywho, my lovely mail carrier knocked on my door to mention a minor issue with ANT’s QT.  Yeah, I’m not kidding.  It seems someone (me) forgot to tell the tracking software at QueryTracker that I submitted some snail mail queries last week.  That meant little ol’ me forgot to include all four snail mailed queries in ANT’s QT’s numbers.  Yep, silly ol’ me totally messed up my numbers.  And my mail carrier is certain this all happened because I was on the phone when she picked up the queries.

She might be right.  I was too busy talking, dealing with pups, figuring out ways to ignore my health, and handing over queries to record said queries!  I did in the blog post last week, but not anywhere else.  Silly me!

That means ANT’s QT and my submission records at QueryTracker (which aren’t public but let me know who I have queried) weren’t up-to-date.  Right in time for me to work on the next bunch of queries!  Yep, that could have been bad.  Very, very, very bad.  Just what I need; bugging an agent twice within a month about the same manuscript.  That sounds like a way to go from “slush pile” to “blacklisted.”

Needless to say, ANT’s QT and QueryTracker were updated immediately.  (Luckily for me, USPS sent me an email about who I sent queries to, since I purchased the postage online.)

And as long as I had the email opened about the query letters, I figured I should check out the delivery status.

Agent 45 received the query on May 7^th.

Agent 20 received the query on May 7^th.

Agent 29 has not received the query.

Agent 59 hasn’t received the query.

(The last two should have been delivered Saturday, but for some weird reason USPS has this funky insistence that they deliver mail 6 days a week, so all businesses should be opened six days a week.  If you aren’t there on Saturday, USPS will hold your mail until you come get your mail.  Yeah, see this is usually when I complain at the office that gang at USPS know we’re closed on Saturday, but insist on making a first attempt on Saturday!  In an office building filled with other closed offices.  So, Agents 29 & 59, I am sorry about the whole thing where you’ve gotta go get my query.  If I had known the queries would show up on Saturday I would have waited until Friday to send them.  And, yep, I know I just found the slush pile for the extra work.)

Everything is now up-to-date.  I can concentrate on the submissions I have scheduled for next week.  Fingers crossed that someone, somewhere picks up my query and likes it.  And that I don’t accidently double query an agent!

A Look At The Roller Coaster of Emotions

After one of those weeks where I had a multiple doctor appointments and queried agents I wonder what I ever did wrong in life.  Why?  Well, strangely neither the doctor appointments nor querying agents is much fun.

Querying is nerve wracking.  Before I hit the send button I am convinced that this agent is the one.  This agent will see the diamond that’s my manuscript.  They’ll take a chance on a slightly controversial topic and sign me as a client.   All my hopes are up, and my dreams are gonna come true finally.  I’m gonna get that agent of my dreams.  (Which, sadly, is just an agent who loves my manuscripts as much as I do.)  I dust off my questions I’ve come up with for anyone who offers me representation.  I make sure I’ve got tweets and blog posts ready for the partial request, full request, and the offer of representation.

Then I press the send button and the doubts creep up.  Is the query letter the best it can be?  Why the heck would anyone take a chance on me?  Who do I think I am?  No one wants to read my stuff.  (Present company not included in that statement, but these doubts do run through my mind.)  Was the query enough to wet their appetite?  Is my query buried in the slush pile?  Did the agent or his/her assistants even read my query before it landed in the slush pile?  Should I redo my query?  Is my book title strong enough?  Why am I even querying agents?  How dumb can I be thinking I can get an agent and become published?

As those doubts swirl in my mind, I start obsessing over my email.  Only a few people use that email.  It’s mainly for agents.  Every time I get an email I jump thinking this might be the moment.  Someone realized I’m a writer.  And then the crash comes when I realize, no, it isn’t an agent.  It’s my daily post on the blog.  Because little ol’ me thought I should make sure the daily post updates were going out and so I signed up for a copy.  Uh huh, smart idea.

But that means I might get an agent still.  Off to Query Tracker and a glance at how long it took others to hear back about their chances with an agent.  More obsessiveness happens as I write down the average and compare the time it took the agent to respond with “Yes” versus “No.”  (It is usually less time with a positive response for some stupid reason.)

A full hour hasn’t passed, and I get my first rejection from the batch of queries.  Depression sets in for a bit.  (Can I blame it on pregnancy?)  The agent didn’t even take an hour to reject me!  How bad must I be if I get rejected in less than an hour?  My query must suck!  It’s horrible.  No one in their right mind is gonna ever take me on!  And that agent usually doesn’t respond if they don’t like you!  Yep, I’m an idiot for this whole “I can be an author” dream!  I can’t even get past the query letter stage!

This is where my general practitioner called me to mention that the OB/GYN is a (redacted word) and I shouldn’t listen to the idiot.  My fever wasn’t low grade.  Low grade is 101F, not 107F.  Menegitis is indeed a problem for the pregnancy and the fetus, and we’re lucky that neither of us were lost.  What the heck does the SOB want my medical file for if he doesn’t f-ing read it?  And he wants to test my iron count?  His lab can’t even get my blood type right!  (I’m not kidding!  My general practitioner hates the OB/GYN, and then mentions he is the best in town, which is really, really, really sad.)  She also mentions that posting on Facebook how long it took the OB/GYN to show up for the appointment wasn’t right.  It should have been on Twitter with his name attached!  And I need to show up at her office, because the latest iron count was sad and pathetic.  Oh, and by the way, one of the old-folks doctors at the practice would really be thrilled if he could see my manuscript because he’s enthralled with the chapter I wrote last week in the office.  Please?

Yep, just what I needed.  A shot of confidence.  Who knew doctors stocked those shots?  Okay, so agents don’t like my query letters.  Someone actually likes my writing.  Too bad he’s a doctor, and you know just one of the book buying public, not an agent.  Though I do wonder if I could add that to my query letter?  “My general practitioner’s practice is all in love with Alexandria’s Odyssey and would love to see Alexandria’s story in print.”  Probably not gonna get an agent’s attention.

So starts the whole process of doctor appointments and querying agents once more with a brand new week.  And once more I am curious as to what I ever did to deserve such lovely treatment from both!

Possible Response Times

Here’s a breakdown of when I might hear from the agents I queried this week.  This is based off of QueryTracker’s response times in their handy dandy report generator.  I broke it up into snail and e-queries.

Once again, I did kinda randomly assign numbers to the agents.  It’s not a priority number, just a number to keep track of the agents here on the blog.

Oh, and this catches me up to where I was supposed to be on my query calendar.  It’s like I was never sick!

SNAIL MAIL (Including Transit to the agent’s office)

Agent #20: Average is 8 days.  Longest is 31.  Fastest is 5 days.

Agent #29: Average 8 days.  Longest 16 days.  Fastest is 3 days.  (I’m guessing someone lived close.)

Agent #45: Average 31 days.  Fastest 1 day.  (Really?  Someone sent a letter and got a response in one day?)

Agent #59: Average 21 days.  Fastest response is 6 days.

E-QUERIES

Agent #3: Average 29 days response time.  Fastest turnabout is 1 day.  Longest is 43 days.

Agent #16: 64 days for more material.  75 if a rejection.

Agent #11: Average response time is 14 days if requesting more material.  No response for rejection.

Agent #21: No response if not requesting more material.  Average response 14 days if requesting more.

Agent #23: 86 days is the average response.  Slowest time for a partial request was 226 days.

Agent #24: Average response time is 4 days.  The slowest is 19.  The fastest is 1 day.

Agent #22: No response if not requesting more material.  Average 2 days if requesting more.

Agent #25: 26 days is the average.  The fastest is one day.  The longest is 146 days.

Agent #13: Average response time is 3 day.  Fastest response is 0 days.

Agent #27: Average 4 days.  Fastest 3 days.  Slowest 10 days.

Agent #30: Average 50 days.  Fastest 0 days.  Slowest 186 days.

Agent #26: The agency accepts e-queries, but QT didn’t have response times for the e-queries.  Snail mail times were an average of 7 days, with 6 days as the fastest and 9 as the slowest.

Snail Mail Querying and Bumps in the Road

There I was yesterday, working the day away.  MSNBC played in the background while I switched back and forth between politics and my fledgling writing career.  Queries were sent off via email yesterday.  Three agencies sent back automatic replies.  (Dear any agent reading this: I think I speak for all wannabes that automatic replies that let us know you actually got our e-query.  Thanks those of you who take the time to set one up!)

I printed off the snail mail queries.  I placed everything in their flat rate envelopes.  Then I went to print the postage.  That’s when I realized my plan to send the snail queries tomorrow had hit a snag.  My mail carrier always comes at the same time every single day.  That’s great, except that specific time today will be while I’m at the stupid OB/GYN.  (Yeah, still gotta go because my General Practitioner says I gotta go see the idiots.  No, telling me I’m overreacting when I call because I’m bleeding and have a 107F fever isn’t the way to get me back in your office!)

Good news is I caught this little bump in the road before I paid for and printed the postage.  All four snail mail queries are going out tomorrow morning.  If my mail carrier is correct, that means the queries shall find their way to New York on Tuesday morning.  Yep, not too bad.

I’ve got a few e-queries that go off this morning.  Then off to the yucky OB/GYN and the General Practitioner.  And tomorrow I’ll send off the snail mail queries.

Next Batch of Query Letters

It’s been a month since I last sent out query letters due to some medical problems.  Today I plan on sending off my first batch of queries since April 4^th.  That means a few things are racing through my head.  First, I’m extremely nervous.  Second, I’m convinced I can’t do this and I shouldn’t waste an agent’s time with my feeble attempts at writing.  Third, I’m a great writer and someday someone will see that.  Fourth, my query letter is horrible.  Fifth, I can do this.  (Seeing a pattern here?)

Oh well, I will set aside my fears.  I will send out my query letter and if agents have requested some material attached, I will include that.  And I will cross my fingers that the right agent for me is in this batch of query letters.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be on my laptop sending out query letters.

Querying Doubts

Now that my brain is functioning again – that 107F fever didn’t do me any favors last week – I figured I could use this week as a “Let’s see what I was doing” week.  The only problem I saw was the fact I’m getting cabin fever between bed rest and being sick.  Cabin fever is still there, but that nice little red glow south of us near all of my favorite shopping is keeping me home!  Something about smoke, flames and a dislike of being near the vector where they intersect is keeping me home.  That, and the two dogs who aren’t communicating enough that they’d like to leave the vicinity.

Somewhere in the commotion of whimpers and leashes tossed in my direction, I managed to reconnect with my list of agents.  That list with names of people I intended to query over a week ago is back to actual people, not just names.  I actually remember why I thought these people were cool enough to approach in the first place.

You know the feeling of “If they reject me, at least I’ll know one of the best rejected me.  Why am I even thinking about this whole process?  I’m an idiot!  This agent is so cool they’ll never try someone like little ol’ me.  What do I have that I can offer an agent?  Well, besides a great manuscript that’s gonna be really controversial.  Yeah, exactly why am I doing this again?  Hum, I’ve got Book Five under way.  Maybe no one will notice if I just go write book five for a few minutes…”  Yeah, I’m feeling like that at the moment.

Yet, somehow, I do realize I gotta get out of this funk and on with querying agents.  Come Monday morning I’ve got a bunch of queries that go out.  That means it’s time to buckle down and do last minute checks on those queries.  There’s no time for cabin fever, fires or self-doubt!  All of that will just stand in my way on this journey to publication.

PS: Here’s what the Abrams Fire looked like in the morning from our front yard before the wind went from 20 miles an hour to really fast.  Again.  Don’t know why the dogs aren’t happy.  At least the fire’s crazy and likes moving against the wind, thus slowing its progress.  I can spend a few more days watching it come down the slope, doing little damage.

The Abrams Fire April 27 from North-Eastern Las Cruces.

Right at Dusk

First 250 Words…

Agents claim they can decide if they like a book on two things; the query letter and the first 250 words.  Way back when, I ran the first 250 words of the manuscript I’m querying.  But, let’s try this again.  Below, you’ll find a few things.  You’ll find the first 250 words to the manuscript.  On the blog you’ll find a cute little poll asking if you liked what you read.  After that you’ll see these great buttons that allow you to share the post with your friends.  Your job, as my faithful readers, is to read the 250 words, vote, add a comment (if you’d like), and feel free to share this post with your friends and family.  I’m kidding.  Y’all can just read it and see what you think.

James Westin smirked as he looked at the dossier.  The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms thought she was twenty-two.  The neo-Nazi, Hans Zeidrich, had accepted the cover story.  If anyone should have questioned the cover story it was Hans Zeidrich.

“Margaret” was easy to manipulate.  It was lucky for Westin that “Margaret” had spent years as a foster child, moving from one home to another.

Convincing her she was aging out of foster care helped, too.  Westin thought while he leaned back in his chair.  His fingers interlocked behind his head.  The look of pure fear when I told Margaret she would be on the streets if she turned me down was pure joy to my heart.

A satisfied grin settled on his lips.  Westin had spent a decade on this plan to take Hans Zeidrich down.  Using Margaret makes this just that much sweeter.  Westin tossed a look out the window.  She would be discarded when Westin got what he wanted.  Yes, Westin thought, revenge is best served cold and the girl is the key.

    Twenty-two?  I don’t buy it for a moment.  Chris Zeidrich thought as he looked at the young woman standing in front of him.  The windows in the rotunda of the drug rehabilitation facility let in enough light to study the young woman in detail.  Pa said she was twenty-two.  Girl can’t be that old.

    The young woman looked as nervous as she felt.  “You are with the Texas Aryan Nation?”

What did you think?  Like it?  Love it?  Take the poll and/or comment below.  Feel free to share with your friends, or an agent you think might like it.  😉  Just kidding about the agent!