Wednesday, June 2, 2010

On Querying

Shannon Messenger did a great guest post on the Query Tracker blog last week - read it here - about knowing when you're ready to query.  I'm at that crossroads right now.

Her three main points to consider are:

Your Draft:
Mine's been read by family and friends and my critique partners, and parts of it have been read by industry professionals.  The concept is unique and fresh, the writing is good (if I do say so myself), and I've tweaked and tweaked until I feel like I can't tweak anymore. 
Check.

Your Query:
I've got a good one.  It's been critiqued by an agent and my critique partners, and gets the thumbs up.  It has already garnered me a bit of interest.
Check.

You:
Am I ready to face rejection?  Is this the best possible manuscript I can write? Hmmm.  I think so.  I love the story.  I think it's the best work I can possibly produce at this point in my life.  Could it be better?  Well, probably. Things can always get better (isn't that a song?  Yup, Howard Jones). 
Check.


I've got a few beta readers still reading - and their feedback will be helpful in making my final decision about when to actually send the query letters that are burning holes in my hard drive.  I'm contemplating sending to my top 6 or 7 agents and evaluating my response rate.


Check out Shannon's guest post, and tell me: How do you know you're ready?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think she hit the nail on the head. When cpartmers are just sending line edits. When you feel it's the best it can be. And you're right, it can always get better or change. Good luck, Kris!

Aubrie said...

Great points! I just started querying my manuscript. It's been read by several people, I've written the query over and over again as I wrote the book, and had 3 of my critique partners look at it.

What I wasn't ready for was the first round of rejections! Ouch!

Anita said...

Send your queries, send your queries! :)

Kristine Asselin said...

Thanks Laura!

Aubrie - great job, and chin up! Rejections are part of the process. (I keep telling myself that, too!)

Anita - Another couple of days...not quite ready yet. Thanks!

Talli Roland said...

Sounds like you've got all your ducks in a row! Good luck with the querying when you're ready!

Kristine Asselin said...

Thanks, Talli! Just making some final revisions - hoping to start querying next week!