YOU GUYS.
Right now…. as we speak… (erm, type? Read? Whatever!) … and, quite possibly, at this very moment…
A LITERARY AGENT IS READING MY MANUSCRIPT!!!!!
*squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
I can’t believe I’m finally, finally writing these words. I thought this freakin’ day would never come.
You all remember the query quandary I was in last year. Writing my first novel turned out to be the easy part, while crafting the “perfect query” has been a painstaking battle, one which I am still waging, despite my recent good news. (More on that in a bit.)
I’ve been querying literary agents since May 2018. That’s over one year ago. ONE YEAR. When I first finished my novel, I had visions of immediate publication dancing through my head: I’d query a few agents, and they’d easily see how brilliant and original my story is, as well as be captivated by my writing. Then, surely, an agent and a book deal would follow in quick succession, and I’d soon be planning my early retirement to write more novels and my blog full-time! Easy-peasy.
What is that phrase? “Man plans. God laughs.” ??? Well, let me tell you: God isn’t just laughing. He’s rolling down the heavenly aisles, gasping for breath and overcome with hysterics at my naive understanding of how this whole “I’m going to be a published author!” thing works.
When I first started querying agents, I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t even look stuff up about how to do it. I just wrote a nice little email to, oh, only the BIGGEST literary agencies in the market, saying something like “Hi! My name’s CJ! I wrote a novel, and I’d really love to send it to you for review!”
I managed to eke out a few other necessary details — word count, genre, title, etc. — but, for the most part, my first queries were a sad business. No one responded to me, and knowing what I know now about querying, I completely understand why. Those emails probably went straight into the trash. For the agents who actually stopped to read them, I’m sure I provided a hearty chuckle.
After this radio silence, I started researching what goes into querying a literary agent. I discussed this in my earlier post, so I won’t rehash it here. But, I learned, I considered, and I tweaked my query letter.
Many times. Numerous times. AN INFINITE NUMBER OF TIMES. Seriously, I’ve now lost count on how many revisions my little query blurb has undergone.
Advice from writing sites, other bloggers, published authors, and even my Zumba teacher all encouraged me to send out only a few queries at a time, then wait for feedback. This is perhaps some of the best advice I’ve been given about querying; you don’t want to burn all your bridges with one lackluster query template, resulting in no one being left to read your queries once you actually have your act together.
I generally submit queries on a rolling basis, contacting no more than five literary agents at a time. After I hear back from everyone with polite but disappointing rejections (if I hear back at all, because not every agent has the time to reply to submissions), I try to determine my query’s weak points and re-tweak my letter.
One day (notably after a particularly good tweaking session), the stars magically aligned, and I received THE REQUEST. I emailed a literary agent with my latest query letter and my first 10 pages, and…the agent responded with a request to review my full manuscript! This happened on my birthday, no less. A little b-day gift from the universe??? I think so.
So, what happens now, you ask?
Excellent question. I HAVE NO FREAKIN’ CLUE.
As I said before, the journey to become a published author is not over. It’s not actually even close. Getting a literary agent to review a manuscript is just another small step in what seems like a very long pilgrimage to a holy grail. Unfortunately, landing a request for a full review doesn’t mean you’ve landed an agent. The agent could love my book. Or, the agent could hate it. Or, the reaction could be somewhere in between, where the agent likes it but requests revisions, and then I have to consider how I want to proceed.
Best case scenario: I’m offered a deal with an agent. (pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease)
Worst case scenario (for which I am, truly, fully prepared): The agent declines to work with me but provides valuable feedback as to why. Most agents requesting full manuscripts will give reasons about why they’ve decided your work is not a good fit for them, and possibly for the industry in general. I welcome any feedback that helps me strengthen my writing and my story, in the hopes of finding it a home with the right agent, and then publisher, in the future.
Really, I see this whole milestone as win-win. All that’s left to do now is wait. A literary agent typically takes 4-6 weeks to respond to a full manuscript. It’s been two weeks and three days. But who’s counting? In the meantime, I’m still allowed to query other agents, so I’ll just keep on keeping on.
Overall, though, I am totally celebrating my little triumph. Which, really, is a huge triumph, considering where I was not too long ago. I have worked SO hard to get to where I am now: having an agent respond positively to my query and asking to read my entire manuscript.
This request is validation that all my query revisions, all my query research, and all my time, energy, and hard work on my novel is paying off, and that it will pay off completely one day. Just before I queried this agent, I’d been having a serious writing crisis of faith, wondering if this whole novel thing is just a pipe dream. That email I received on my birthday was the lifeline I needed to be thrown, right when I needed it the most.
So! Send good thoughts my way, Tartlets! And, thanks for reading this exceptionally long post that has nothing to do with either book reviews or food. One of my goals for this blog is to chronicle my attempts to become a published author, and that’s why I’m writing this update, even though nothing publish-y has really happened yet. I hope you found it interesting, and I hope my fellow writers found it reassuring and helpful.
I’ll keep you posted either way about what happens with the literary agent. Fingers, toes, and eyes crossed, everyone!
This is amazing!! I’m sure it’s agony waiting but hopefully there will be good news at the end!
Thanks, Rachel! The waiting is definitely hard. Thankfully, writing this blog is a great way to distract myself!
Congratulations, Christina!!! I’m so happy for you. I can feel the joy you have right now. Stay the course my friend!!!
Thank you so much, Maria!! The same day I received the email, I opened a fortune cookie that told me now is the time for perseverance and determination, lol. Definitely keeping this in mind as I navigate the query world. 😊
OMG congratulations!!! And it was so special, it coming on your birthday! 🥳🥳
I can only imagine the mixture of joy and terror you must be feeling right now! Like you say, writing the perfect query letter is awful; even worse, the synopsis. You expect to have to edit the book half a dozen times, not the query as well! It’s really useful to hear you queried for a year before finding success too; give me hope 😊 I’ll keep my fingers crossed you hear more good news soon!
Thanks, Nicola!! A writer I follow on IG recently landed a book deal, but I know she queried agents for *gulp* four years before she finally secured an agent!!! Now she has a US book deal and several translation deals lined up, before the book even published! It’s a long road, my friend. Keep at it and dont give up! Are you querying right now?? I hear ya about the synopsis, too. That was another PITA.
I had a very short spell of querying, and only to a very few agents, a while ago. But the rejections made me a bit shy of querying, and I’m also in the process of ‘inserting’ another character into my book, who has suddenly become very important to the plot! But I will start querying again, and soon! 💪
I hear ya! The query process is brutal. It’s like dating! Put yourself out there and brace for rejection. 🤣 That’s great about reworking your book, though. Good luck with querying once you start up again! If you ever need to commiserate, you know where to find me.😉
Omg this is so exciting! Congrats–have you head anything yet? I will have to scroll through your other posts to see if you updated. Let us all know of the outcome ASAP, and thanks for letting us know your process too. I’d love love love to write a book one day.
This was hilarious. You will make it, I’m sure. I actually learned a few things from your article, thanks.
Thanks, Michele! Are you querying agents right now, too?? The process can be so daunting! I’m glad you found some helpful in my blog post. Any little bit helps, right?? 🙂
Good luck!
Thanks so much! It’s a long road, but I’m hanging in there. 😊
Thanks for sharing! I’m in that questioning phase right now: wondering if I should change my letter or my first 10 pages, or if I’ll live long enough to get published… To success in 2020!
Definitely don’t be afraid to make changes if what you have isn’t working for you. I’ll be writing another update soon, but I’m in the process of changing my query letter yet AGAIN (this time, after receiving valuable feedback) and *gulp* possibly revising my work. All in the hopes of better catching an agent’s eye. Don’t give up! Yes–to success in 2020! Wishing you tons of luck!
I’m going through this exact same process so reading your post was the validation I needed to not feel like I’m going insane waiting, or that I’m wasting my time, doing this wrong, or living with my head up my butt thinking I can actually land an agent and get my book published. Congrats to you (on your birthday no less!) for receiving the full request. I hope by now (since this post was two years ago), you’re further along in your quest to land an agent and get your novel published!
Hello, and thanks for stopping in! Wow…yes, yes, it’s been two years since I posted about this. That’s quite a reality check. 🙂 I’m a bit further along in my writing adventures….but also frustratingly around the same place as last time, lol. Congrats to you on having an agent request your manuscript! That’s so great, and you should absolutely celebrate that milestone, regardless of the outcome. Every step forward we take in this process is worthy of celebration. Finger crossed for you that you get good news soon!
Congratulations! I just got a request for a full manuscript a couple days ago, and am excited, but know it’s not remotely a done deal. Good info. I was wondering what the timing for a typical return is, and what the etiquette is for continuing to query other agents.
Congrats, Kurt! That’s such great news. I hope you’ve taken time to celebrate this milestone; regardless of the outcome, it’s another step in the right direction. 🙂 I’ve found agents typically take 4-6 weeks to get back to you after you send a full manuscript for review, though keep in mind it could take longer, especially over the summer (August is The Dead Time in the publishing world). I’d give them up to 8 weeks before sending a little nudge, unless the agent has told you differently about waiting period (some specify this when they get in touch with you). Meanwhile, you’re free to query other agents during the waiting period. In fact, this is the best time to do it — you know your query is good because, hey, it worked! You got The Request! So I’d recommend querying a few others while you wait. This way, if the reviewing agent comes back to you with an offer of representation, you can then go to the other agents you queried and let them know you have an offer, giving them a chance to offer, too, if they are agents you really would like to work with. I have my fingers crossed for you!! Keep us posted on what happens.
👏 CJ and Kurt! Good luck! Like CJ suggested I am patting myself in the back, too. On January 3, 2022 sent in my query along with first five pages. On the 4th, received request for synopsis and full. Sent in requested material on the 22nd evening! It’s a literary novel, 99k long. All best to all here.
Hi Rohini! Congrats on your milestone! Looks like they wasted no time in asking to see more. That bodes well! Wishing you so much luck. 🙂
Thank you, CJ. You are a real inspiration. While waiting for agent to get back, I am touching up the mss. It has grown to 100K. Making the changes in red. Also, continuing to query other agents though not maniacally:) Enjoying your book reviews as well. I am a newbie on your site. Hats off to you for the wonderful service and friendship. Ro.
Thanks so much, Ro! Always happy to make new friends and followers on here. 🙂