Note: Don't Rush the Query

That's pretty much what I did last time, and I paid for it in the long run.  I was in such a hurry to get my manuscript out to agents and publishers that I rushed through the process of writing the query.  I felt like just because I had come up with a few different versions of query letter, that I had explored the best possibilities and arrived at the best result.

Surprise - I was wrong.

It's hard to imagine the scope of your competition in getting a reader to select your query letter and ask for more pages.  Let's put it this way, an agent who is gainfully employed can receive up to eighty queries a day.  A day.  And some of these folks don't have staff to help them wade through the slush pile.  Another way to get a good visual on it is this exercise:  Go to Amazon, get into the books section, and start searching for terms that describe your story.  Next, be amazed at the thousands upon thousands of books already out there.

The point isn't to discourage - quite the opposite.  Looking at all the works already out there, and understanding the sheer volume of queries and agent receives are ways to show the importance of making your story shine.  Why is it unique?  Why is it interesting?  How do you tell your story differently?  These are all things a query should highlight.

With that first letter, I didn't get any bites from the first fifteen agents I submitted to.  I knew something had to be wrong.  Now that a few weeks had passed after my 'final' draft of the letter, it was easier to spot the flaws.  I spent too many words trying to summarize the story, point for point, rather than finding interesting ways to get the reader invested in the story.  I kept in lines that I really liked, but that didn't work well with the rest of the text.  In short, I realized that I could've done much better.

So, I went back and retooled the letter.  With better perspective on my side, I produced a new draft of the letter and sent it out.  Within a week I had my first bite, and several more followed.  But, I couldn't help but think, who would've been interested had they not received that first, flawed query letter?

I'm trying to keep that lesson in mind, as I work - and try not to rush - through the query letter on my new novel.  It's difficult, I mean, it takes a long time to finish the draft of a novel when it's not your full-time job.  After typing "End" on the story, it's an exciting moment, and it's hard to temper that feeling with patience.  But, if I learned anything on my last go-round, it's that every bit of copy that gets submitted has to be tight.  If that takes some extra time, so be it.