I bought a few books on writing queries and read countless
articles online. I gathered and implemented some very useful tips from those
sources, but still wasn’t getting anywhere. I began to wonder if my sample
chapters were killing me.
One day, a very gracious agent offered me more than just a
standard form rejection. Actual
feedback. Nothing Earth-shattering, mind you, but enough to help me see the
error of my ways. As it turns out, my query and manuscript didn’t quite match
up.
See, my original query focused too much on events that happen
in the second half of my manuscript. I merely glossed over the first
part—effectively making it sound like backstory that doesn’t actually occur IN
the novel, even though it does. I have no idea why I did that. I guess I didn’t
realize how it would come off.
The agent told me my sample pages need to start closer to where
the query describes the story as beginning. As it was, the query implied the
novel “began” halfway through. Cue the “OMG, she’s riiiiiight,” groan.
It also dawned on me that I hadn’t sufficiently set-up the
story. Thinking myself a genius, I had revised it to start smack dab
in the middle of the action, hoping to grab the reader’s attention. Maybe it
did, but starting that way also gave the reader no reason to care about the
characters or the consequences of their actions. No sympathy had been
established.
So, with the advice that I needed to start closer to the
“beginning” of the story, I gave my story a new beginning. I wrote a new first
chapter and adjusted the story’s timeline. The past became the present.
Then, I tossed my old query letter out the window and
started over from scratch—at the beginning. I also followed query writing
advice more closely. In my original letter, I explained my main character’s
goal, but only vaguely said what would happen if she didn’t achieve it. In the
new letter, I made the “stakes” higher and the goal clearer. My protagonist’s dilemma
is now much more imperative.
I sent my new query to a few agents to test the waters, and
you know what? So far, I’ve gotten one request. My first request. Obviously, I
was excited, but am definitely not holding my breath. I’m well aware that a request
doesn’t mean anything (and I'm probably totally jinxing it as I write). Besides, I still haven’t heard from the others, so maybe
it was a fluke.
Regardless of the outcome, I now know my old query sucked. Big
time. It was a stinker. I’m pretty sure my new query is more along the lines of
what I should have been shooting for all along. Too bad it took me this long to
figure that out.
Now I’m playing the waiting game. I’m holding off
querying more agents until I see if I get any feedback on my sample pages, which
would make me so very happy. I sent my original query (the sucky one) to too
many agents, meaning I lost my chance with them (for this novel, anyway). I don’t want to make that mistake again. Live and learn, right?
Is your query letter getting you nowhere? Maybe it needs to go out the window, too!
