Well. it happened. I had a #nightmare about #querying. On the bright side, I couldn't fall back asleep and now I'll have some extra time to workout this morning 😄

#AmQuerying #Writing #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #Writers #morning #workout

Oof, so the critique group had feedback on my query, and it was not "great job, no changes needed, get this fella a book deal!"

The feedback was very helpful, unfortunately ("unfortunate" because helpful feedback means I have to *do* something. If the feedback were bad, I could dismiss it, eh? Sigh. The writer's lot in life). Specific, actionable changes that make sense for what the letter is for.

I admit I'm frustrated: I'm not comfortable writing query letters. I'm not a natural marketer or persuader, and if I could write the story in 100 words it wouldn't be a novel. I also just can't *grasp* it? A novel has a particular shape in my head, a poem has a shape, a short story, a song, a personal letter, but query letters (see also job application letters) baffle me. I don't quite know how to "sell" my stuff or my work. My head doesn't brain that way.

Still, what is it they say? An author only has to write one good query letter in their entire career and then it's smooth sailing to the scrooge-mcduck gold coin swimming pool that every author enjoys, right? That's the saying?

So I can probably rework this query letter a little bit more, if I know I'll never, ever, have to write one ever again.

#writing #querying

Story wasn't coming along today - so I followed up on 4 short stories and 2 queries that have been out for far longer than they should be. #Querying #writingcommunity

my partner: did you print something?
me: yes. my synopsis for you to read.
him:
me:

#WritingCommunity #AmqQuerying #Querying #Writing #WritersofMastodon

RT @AngelaAckerman: 5 Strategies for Finding Literary Agents to Query – The Darling Axe https://t.co/CeqPgmLpKf #writing #agents #querying @darlingaxe @MBarker_190 https://t.co/mMyVDJP4m6

That bittersweet feeling you get awaiting answers from #literary agents when #querying your latest #newbook manuscript can be a bit much. I tend to let the time pass with quick and silly #music arrangements... and yes, that's a #kitchen #whisk as my hi-hat 😉

#billyjoel #bandgeek #recording #bluemicrophones #trombone #cajon #whistle.

#Writing #Querying

Can anyone suggest a good way to pick COMP TITLES from recent published books? I tried using https://www.bookbrowse.com/read-alikes/search/index.cfm but it literally just gave me titles that had the same words in them.

I'm getting ready to go bug a librarian.

I've always been impressed by JaneFriedman's column, Ask the Editor. This week's post by Allison K. Williams is an utterly frank & rigorous analysis of why a twice professionally edited book hasn't been picked up by agents. And kudos to Jane's follow-up where she nails the writer's assumption that it was because they *aren't* BIPOC.

https://www.janefriedman.com/your-novel-has-been-edited-by-top-professionals-but-you-still-get-rejected-what-gives/

#querying #submission #editing #entitlement #WritingCommunity

How #querying prep is going..😅

#WritingCommunity #Writing #WritersOfMastodon #Meme

I never allow myself to get very hopeful about #queries. Recently, I found an #agent (query #31) that seemed perfect for my MS and it sucks waking up to find a rejection letter from them. 😢
This #querying business is a heartbreaker.
#amquerying #writers #writerslife #writingcommunity @writers

Me, working on my spin-off #WIP: There isn't any scientific evidence that this could be true/how it works...

Also me, for the work I #amEditing (and will be #querying): ya, so, trauma can have mass & can open tiny wormholes, given the right Olympus mutation. obvi.

Just the reminder I needed to take myself a lil less seriously today 😄

#AmWriting #WritingCommunity #WritersofMastodon #Writing #Writer

I think the most frustrating thing about #querying so far is seeing the gap between the richness and complexity of the novel and what can fit in the space of the query. Rejections aren't about the quality of the book, but about the failure of a few hundred words to sell the manuscript.

#querying is growing ever closer...😅 #WritingCommunity

I will be at @eswc_conf 2023 as part of the organizing committee of the #KnowledgeGraph #Construction #Workshop!

However, I'm not alone! Check out the papers of #KNoWS at #ESWC2023: https://knows.idlab.ugent.be/news/eswc2023/

#RDF #RML #SPARQL #reasoning #streaming #querying
@hochstenbach

About to start the monthly rolling of the #manuscript up the #querying hill. How does #Sisyphus do it and not just give up?
i think this month i'll try wild and crazy letters.
#amquerying #writerslife #writingcommunity @writers

So, I am within spitting distance of finishing my current #edit on #PearlsOntheRoad , which means I will shortly be looking for #betaReaders to help me give it the consistency and polish it's going to need when I start #querying with it.
So, if you have been following last month's #writingWonders , or you are happy reading #scots (or even better, happy to give the #scots language a once over for consistency) then give me a wee #DM and I will be in touch with links when it's ready!

Just a #snippet, a peek, a mild leak from one of many #poems from my latest #manuscript 😉

Link in bio!

#wine #winetasting #poetry #newbook #itscoming #editing #querying #subversive #snarky #humorous #silly #shameless #nonpartisan #excited #booklaunch

I spent 6 hours today on my day off to pump out the final two stanzas of the last #poem of my latest manuscript. 🎉

Yep, #poetry

And it's #twisted, #dark, #snide, and I hope others find it as subversive as I believe it is.

😏

On to #editing & #querying!

Scott Reintgen (NYT Bestselling author of A Door in the Dark, the Nyxia Trilogy & The Problem with Prophecies) posted a thoughtful thread this morning on how a book of his almost didn't get published. I mention it because he's very matter-of-fact about it all. Intense moments but no questioning of self worth, just solid acceptance of how it is. And the promise to just keeping working. 👏

The post is on Twitter--he's not on this platform: https://twitter.com/Scott_Thought/status/1645741539144900608

#querying #WritingCommunity

At #writing group tonight, trying to remember the #epiphany I had at the end of #NaNoWriMo last year about the shape of my novel. I put it aside to focus on polishing my #spaceopera for #querying. Now, a handful of queries have gone out into the void, the first #rejection has landed in my inbox, and it's time to switch projects.

Last November was so long ago.