#am querying

[aurinavenir]

Things that DON'T make you a bad writer:

Terrible first drafts.

Being rejected by agents.

Not being able to write every day.

Taking some time off from writing.

Deciding to drop a WIP so you can write something else.

[patticalkosz]

Not much snow in NYC this winter… but there’s magic all around, if you look.

With illustrator @xiaostudio17 on Instagram. 

[breakfastteatime]

As I am once again a querying writer™️, I thought I would share some general thoughts, feelings and tips about how to cope with what can be a long, drawn out, and incredibly hard experience.

With every query I send out, I expect rejection but hope for the best. Pessimistic perhaps, but I've found it really, really helps. To be clear, rejection never feels great (not even the personalised ones), but by expecting agents to pass on the submission, even from those who seem so perfect for the book, takes some of the sting out of it.

So, here we go: Breakfast Tea’s querying advice!

Ignore stories about other people’s querying journeys. You’ll hear about people who get signed by the first agent they query with the first book they ever wrote. Good for them. A friend of mine won a competition and agents came to her begging to represent her. Amazing for her, but those examples are also highly unrealistic for the majority. I’m on my sixth attempt (4 YAs – three of which were not good enough to be submitted in retrospect, and 1 adult thriller I’m still kinda bummed about but oh well!) and though I’m feeling really, REALLY good right now, I also don’t expect to get anywhere. I’m gonna shout from the hilltops if I do, buuuuut I also don’t expect to land an agent (as explained above). And if I don’t, well, onto attempt number 7!

Start writing something new as soon as you can. Ideally original fiction because agents will ask you what else you’re working on – and sometimes even ask you to outline this in the query letter (although I don’t think I’ve submitted to anyone like that in *years*). That friend of mine from above says agents also expect you to be in the same genre with the next project, so don’t query an adult thriller and tell them you’re now working on a picture book for toddlers.

If you can't write something new yet, find other distractions. Anything to take your mind off waiting for responses.

Have a rejection coping strategy in place. I find the first few don’t really bother me because of the whole ‘expect rejection’ mindset I try to have, but after a while they really, really, REALLY start to bring me down. Mine is usually eating cake and/or other little treats. Something that just reminds me I exist beyond my writing.

Accept the loss of control. Oh man, I hate this. I haaaaaaaaaaate this. Once that query package is sent out, that’s it. You’re out of control of the whole situation and you’re waiting either for a rejection, a full request, or just eternal silence. Thankfully most agencies are better now at specifying that silence = rejection. Patience is essential. I’ll let you know if I ever get any better at it.

You will get silences on full requests. You shouldn’t, but you will. I’ve had several. It is incredibly rude and exceedingly frustrating, but that’s querying for you. Even after chasing some agents just will not respond.

You may also get really rude rejections. Back in the 2010s I had one post about my story ON HER TWITTER PAGE after she rejected me. Like literally, I got the rejection and then I saw her tweet. Arsehole. And no, I can’t remember her name because I would publicly shame her. I’ve had rejections that were a sentence, I’ve had rejections that made no sense, I’ve had multiple rejections from the same agent on the one book I sent, I’ve had agents reject me by the wrong name, I’ve had agents reject me using the wrong pronouns (my name is traditionally masculine so my pronouns are in my submission). If you get something like that, blacklist them from any future projects. You deserve better.

I prefer form rejections to silence unless the agency specifies a timescale for ‘silence = rejection’. I personally prefer the certainty of a rejection. I know, weird.

Always chase agents who say it’s okay to chase them. You never know!

Personalised rejections are nice to receive. Oh, they still suck, but it’s a sign you’re on the right lines. And if an agent says ‘please submit your next project to me’ take them up on it.

If an agent forwards your work onto another agent who ‘may be more suited’ get excited but stay realistic. Many years ago, I had a project move between three agents (one of whom I’ll be submitting to again with this project). None of them signed me, but oooh it was so thrilling for a while! It was my second project – a YA sci-fi that actually got the most amount of requests of anything I’ve ever sent out. It will never see the light of day.

Don’t be disheartened if you submit to a contest and don’t get chosen – still query traditionally. Same if you submit to a course and don’t get selected. Agents don’t tend to read the submissions – readers do – so the agent won’t have seen your work yet.

You’re absolutely allowed to feel like shit and to cry about being rejected, but you gotta get back up and keep querying and keep writing.

You’ve got to be in the right headspace for querying. The last time I did it, I had to stop because I’d just started a new job with a huge new learning curve, and I couldn’t manage queries and new job at the same time. I resumed querying a long time later once I felt more settled.

Do not lie to agents. Now, this may be more specific to the UK, but agenting is a really small world and they all talk. So if you try to nudge an agent by going “Oh, another agent has a full request” or “another agent has offered representation” and that’s not true? You’re fucked.

Celebrate a full request – but stay realistic.

Agents will reject the same book for totally different reasons. I had one agent reject a horror novel because it wasn’t scary enough, and another because it was too scary. It’s all very subjective.

Agents are not rejecting you as a human being, they are saying no to what is essentially a business proposal. It’s a really strange way to look at it, but you are more than your writing!!!!!

Okay, I think that’ll do for now! Feel free to drop me an Ask if you wanna know more!

[lilly-writer]

SHRIKE'S EYRIE

CARMILLA x THE CONJURING While exorcising a deadly ghost promises fame and fortune to the young spirit medium Agnes, what she truly desires is companionship. Her wish is granted, but the identity of her newfound love casts Agnes into a deadly conflict of interest.

🗝️ Haunted houses 🌹 Slow-burn romance 🗝️ Gothic horror 🌹 Love triangles 🗝️ Toxic relationships 🗡️ Plain bad heroines

[nosferwriteu]

This is my first attempt at a new blog :) I’m not pretentious enough to become some huge content creator but I hope you follow me because I’m cool and also sort of a nerd ✨

<3 you can call me Hayden or Kat (my real name) or whatever you want, unfortunately I have the same name as a murderer so I’m banished to an alias for forever and eternity

<3 I’m Nineteen-and-a-half, and in undergrad (hopefully, eventually, law school) what I really, really, want is to be a writer, but there are no writing schools or programs with any meaningful connections where I live- unfortunately, in America’s butthole (Arkansas). I’m going to keep writing anyway but unfortunately I must have a day job (insert sad face)

<3 I’m writing a silly fantasy novel atm about twin princes who trade their souls for each other, and power, and love, and sacrifice, and all of the magnificent chaos that goes along with it. You may never get to read it but i hope you like the snippets and head canons i choose to share 😙

<3 I have three kids; more specifically two cats and a goldfish.

If you read all of this!! I love you !! Let’s be friends :)

[corvidarcana]

A quick guide to my seafaring fantasy debut, BLOOD OF THE GODS, book one of The Divine Archive duology 🩸⛈️

[overcaffeinatedjomarch]

Hey! I admittedly haven’t used tumblr regularly in years but I’m curious what the novel writing community is like over here in the midst of platforms like formerly-known-as-Twitter and TT reaching their demise.

I write mostly YA Fantasy and am eternally in the querying trenches. Let me know what you’re working on!

xoxo, A

[novlr]

Lots of people have told me I should self publish, but I think I still want to try to go through traditionally publishing my book first. I've got a finished manuscript, so how do I go about querying agents to find the best fit?

Pitching your manuscript to literary agents is a length process that requires lots of dedication, and a great deal of research. To get the most out of your querying, you definitely need to go in prepared.

We've put together this walk through for how to pitch your novel to literary agents, including some helpful do's and don'ts at the link below!

[swansongofalyre]

A reminder that the Lit for Lebanon auction is live! Below, a fraction of the very cool things up for bid thanks to the generous support of these fabulous authors, editors, and agents, with all proceeds going to the displaced people of Lebanon.

Signed and dedicated UK and US first editions of Hera by Jennifer Saint:

Signed copies of Zachary Ying and Iron Widow by THEE @xiranjayzhao:

For anyone who is interesting in trad publishing, lots of opportunities for full manuscript and query critiques, including from Sami Ellis and Esme Symes-Smith:

More signed books, including (stunning) The Jinn Daughter by Rania Hanna (@readingbetweenthedunes), one of the organizers of the auction and also one of the loveliest humans I've met in real life. And of course Memento Mori by yours truly:

And also!! A custom illustrated fantasy map by Jessica Khoury, which makes me wish I were writing a fantasy novel:

You can bid on all of these items and more here, and also learn additional information on the group's Instagram page.

If you are not in a position to be able to donate, but would like to help, a reblog here or a share of the group's Instagram posts over there is immensely appreciated!

[goodrenwrites]

That querying author mood, amirite?

[elumish]

If anyone is in the querying trenches and feeling down on themselves, please know that I just got a rejection in an hour and 17 minutes on a Friday night.

[aurinavenir]

Your book is good enough.

Your book is good enough.

Don’t give up on your book.

Don’t give up on your characters.

Don’t give up on your dream of being published.

Someone will love your book.

Be kind to yourself and keep writing.

Your book is good enough!

[writerslittlelibrary]

As promised, here is the first scene from my book I found appropriate to post. I hope you all enjoy and would like to thank you  for reading in advance. I’m hoping to grow a collection of readers who would be interested to read this book when I publish it

The books itself is already finished, and I am currently in the process of querying (which is brutal fr)

I have changed the names of the characters, countries, and ethnic groups, as will I change certain scenarios slightly to prevent plagiarism 

You do NOT have my permission to copy, translate, or repost my work. This is a work of fiction intended for publishing and it belongs to me.

|—————————— ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ ——————————|

Amelia sat there, on the cold, hard ground, terrified to move. She wanted to reach up and remove her blindfold desperately, but she was afraid it might upset the people that had captured her. She knew she should’ve never wandered about on her own…

She heard another set of screams, yet these seemed to come from right in front of her. In a haste, she reached up and ripped the blindfold from her eyes, squinting her eyes to let them adjust to the sudden light changes. 

The view in front of her frightened her, and it made her sick to her stomach. 

There was a man bound to a table, no doubt a Daemon. He had multiple markings on his 

arms, representing the earthly powers he was granted with. 

Amelia didn’t have any time to stare at the markings for long, despite her desire to admire them. Instead, her gaze ripped away from the man’s arms, focusing on the woman standing beside him. 

The man was begging. Begging the woman to let him go. Begging for “no more,” whatever that meant. Nothing good, Amelia knew.

A shiver ran down her spine as she took a good look at the woman. Her eyes roamed over her figure, eventually settling on the bloodied knife she held in her left hand. 

The woman was dressed in all black, a hood covering her head and a mask covering her face. All that was visible were her eyes, and from the way they stared at the helpless man, Amelia could tell there was no mercy in them. 

The woman scanned the man’s body, before settling her gaze on his right hand. 

She moved her left hand towards it, letting the knife settle on the man’s fingers. 

Amelia had read about this, yet she had always hoped that it were a myth, despite knowing that it wasn’t. 

She wanted so badly to cover her eyes. So badly to cover her ears and drown the screams out, but she was frozen. Frozen in place, and forced to watch. 

The man begged while the woman let the knife cut his hand, carefully yet skillfully letting the knife glide over his fingers. 

The sound of the flesh squelching as the knife moved through it, and the sound of the bones being cut made Amelia sick to her stomach, and she felt as though she might have thrown up if she wasn’t so frozen in shock. 

The man screamed and begged for mercy, struggling against his binding as he fought to pull free. However, the woman remained calm, her hand steady as she used the knife to cut off multiple fingers. 

After she finished, Amelia was finally able to pull her gaze away from the inhumane sight in front of her, yet she could still hear the fingers fall into a bowl. 

She didn’t know what the witches would use their body parts for, but she prayed to all the Gods that the same fate wouldn’t fall upon her.

sidenote, special shout-out to @multifandomer537 for basically motivating me the entire time. I appreciate every reblog and nice thing you say. thank you for being such a consistent reader of ever single one of my works <3

[breakfastteatime]

Upcoming rejection strategy: Post a new fanfic every time I receive a rejection from an agent.

Wonderful fanfic reader comments remind me I can write <3

[patticalkosz]

An innocent ladybug? Or the reincarnation of Han Solo?

With illustrator @xiaostudio17 on Instagram.

[lpetersonwrites]

I've spent much of the day querying, and I'm really excited that I have a fully edited manuscript, a query package I feel good about, and the energy to actually send out queries! It's can be hard to know whether to query any individual agent (there are a few I think are great fits but there are also a lot of maybes), but I've decided that a hard no for me is any agent who lists anything by JK Rowling or Neil Gaiman in their favorites section of MSWL or as a desired comp. I know the Gaiman news is more recent and not everyone updates their MSWL page regularly, so I'm willing to poke around for updated information that omits him, but JKR? Hard pass.