Category: Writing

The subject matter of writing is endless. What we write, when we write, how we write, where we write… the answers are as varied as the people who do the writing. And some of those answers, as they pertain to me, will be the content for this blog category. Enjoy!

Writing

How to decide to query for agent representation or take the self-publishing route.

Volkswagen bug and tree

I am in the process of querying my manuscript. So, for me, the question is not about whether or not I query. It’s a question about how long I query?

I’ve only just begun to look for agent representation and I’m patient. But querying takes a lot more than patience. It takes time to prepare a great query letter, diligence to search for an appropriate agent, focus to research submission guidelines, and care to keep it all organized.

And sometimes, after all of that, some of us find only one or two agents that seem like a good fit.

Not so long ago, I was firmly set on traditional publishing. My plan was to query for a year, maybe eighteen months, and if nothing came of my efforts, I’d consider self-publishing. But I’ve become more flexible in my thinking. I’m not so sure that I want to wait that long, especially when I’m sending out fewer letters than I had hoped. I realize that many writers query for much longer than a year or two, but that’s not my preference.

My evolving opinion has been influenced by the ups and downs of my everyday life. As time passes, and I experience path-altering, life-changing events, I find myself with a much more simplified perspective.

I used to believe that traditional publishing was the only way to go. I regret to say that I used to perceive self-publishing as a negative last resort.

Admittedly, some of the self-published work I come across today can still spark this negative point of view. Too many self-published books seem rushed. They are presented with typos and grammatical errors, badly formatted, or have non-professional, clumsy covers. With so many glaring issues, it’s hard to imagine that these same books contain well thought out plots or engaging characters. Maybe they do, but the thing is… many people will likely never find out because they’ll have trouble getting past the mistakes and issues.

Now, having said that, it’s fair to say that even the most thorough among us can miss a typo or two, or overlook a grammatical error. But that reality is quite different from a so called finished book chocked full of problems.

Self-publishing is hard work. But to make one’s book the best it can be before putting it out there for all the world to read… is well worth the effort. A good self-published book gives the entire industry a well-deserved boost.

Okay, so, what about traditional publishing? There are indeed some truly great benefits to having agent representation. Here are a few of them:

  • Literary agents are positioned to take care of the business side of writing.
  • Agents know the publishing business and they have established relationships with major publishing houses. They know who’s who.
  • Agents know how to get an author a book deal because they know how to get the ear of the right person for a particular book.
  • Agents know how to negotiate the best deals possible. They know how to troubleshoot and how to fix problems.
  • Agents are the conduit between the writer and the editor.
  • They know how to talk the talk.

Knowing the above, why would anyone go it alone?

Well, because it can be really hard to get an agent’s attention… and then keep it… and then receive an offer of representation.

After a writer has slugged through the many drafts of a query letter, and finally settled on the version she hopes will work, the rest of the query process isn’t all that difficult… but it is definitely a challenge.

Finding the most appropriate agent to query is hard work and time consuming. The process appears straightforward: research agents, read their manuscript wish lists, read what they like and what they don’t like, read their submission guidelines… and when a writer finds an agent who’s seeking the kind of book he’s written… he’s sends off his query and can give himself a well-deserved pat on the back!

But I’ll be frank, not all agent wish lists are as direct as I’d like. Too often, I find myself trying to interpret what an agent has described… deciphering their character and topic preferences, or translating their colorful genre descriptions… and wondering if my manuscript fits. If I find myself wondering for too long… I’m off to the next agent… and hoping to find a clearer connection. I don’t fault the agent for this complexity. It’s the nature of the business! But I do appreciate when I come across a clear and concise wish list.

Added to the challenge of the query process is the fact that literary agents receive thousands of letters each and every month.

Agents are really busy. Weeks or months might pass by before a query letter is located and read. More time will pass, and then a letter of rejection will show up in a writer’s inbox. And when an agent does ask a writer to submit part or all of a manuscript, the request is certainly exciting, but the overall process remains relatively unchanged… time passes and the writer waits. The harsh reality for most of us writers is that more than not, absolutely nothing happens. We hope and we wait. And sometimes, as the days pile up, we writers have been known to wonder if our query letter was received at all! Odds are it was.

For most of us, we understand why the query process takes so long, and why we don’t always hear back from a potential agent. Agents are human beings too. Not only are they busy, but they have lives to live just like we do. But, what now? We’ve queried a few select agents. What do we do now? What if we don’t hear back? What if we do hear back and the news is negative?

Well, while we writers are waiting for a reply… we send out more queries.

And, if we do receive a rejection letter, it’s best to be genuinely grateful. A rejection letter is proof of receipt. And a reply from an agent is that agent taking the time to respect and acknowledge us. Sometimes, if we’re really lucky, we may even receive a rare and valuable critique, or a word or two of encouragement.

If we happen to receive a request for part or for all of our manuscript, fantastic! And, for some presumably talented writers, lightning does strike more than once. For them, it’s appropriate and respectful to inform all of the agents involved that multiple requests have been received. Oh, what a problem to have!

Okay. Great. Our book is complete. We’ve made it the best that it can be, and we’ve been querying. That’s good. That’s great. That’s amazing! Right?

But for how long? How long does the query stage last before a writer chooses to self-publish? I don’t think there’s a universal answer. But, here’s mine: I don’t know.

I really don’t know. It’s a personal choice. And I can definitely sense myself leaning closer and closer toward the idea of self-publishing. My increasing lean is less about the possibility of never receiving agent representation, and more about believing that I can create a solid self-published product.

I’ve been researching and studying the self-publishing option. Recognizing the hard work involved, I’m starting to see the potential for self-publishing success… and I’m discovering the benefits. I’m one of those people who enjoys marketing almost as much as writing… almost… certainly enough to enjoy the business side of the work. So, I just might give it a swing!

And another important aspect to remember about literary agent representation is that if we find an agent to represent us, the hard work is far from over. Many more months can pass before that agent finds a publisher interested in publishing our book. And sometimes, despite their best efforts, our agent can’t find a publisher for our book. Literary agent representation does not guarantee a published product. But, don’t let this stop you from querying. It’s just something to keep in mind.

In a future blog, I’ll share what I’ve learned about self-publishing. In the meantime, I’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date as to how the querying process pans out for my novel, REASONS.

Cheers and keep at it! Like fast ed in the image below… if you stay dormant for too long, a tree might grow through you… and then what?

Writing

And now a few words about my writing process.

Summer trail

In short, when I wrote REASONS, I didn’t have a writing process. It’s true, I didn’t. But my lack of a plan didn’t stop me from writing a novel. I wrote every single day… adding words, sentences, paragraphs and chapters bit by bit until I had a complete first draft.

That first draft wasn’t pretty, but it was a finished story. My lack of a laid out plan hadn’t made the act of writing any less satisfying for me. And for that particular novel, it hadn’t made the overall story any less worthy.

When I decided to write REASONS, I simply started writing. And I wrote as often as I could… squeezing writing into my day whenever a free moment presented itself. I added to the story as the ideas came to me. When I say, as the ideas came to me, I mean the ideas that connected the important parts of the main plot of the story… a plot that I had already formulated in my mind.

I knew the story that I wanted to tell, and I knew the message that I wanted it to convey.

The basic story line, and the lessons learned in REASONS, came from my own life experience. And because of this fact, the real-world characters in the story had been floating around in my head long before the actual writing of these characters became a reality.

Having said that, the story of REASONS is told through the genre of literary fiction/magical-realism, and all of the magical-world characters in the novel were created as the story unfolded.

The ideas would come to me at all times of the day and night, as they do for many writers. And the tiniest of observations could bring on the full development of a character or even a whole chapter.

I understand now that there’s a term for my kind of writing process (or lack thereof). I’m what’s called a pantser. According to The Write Practice: ‘A plotter is someone who plans out their novel before they write it. Whereas a pantser is someone who, “flies by the seat of their pants,” meaning they don’t plan out anything, or plan very little.’

That’s me folks… door number two: Pantser! And I didn’t even know it, which seems to prove just how committed I was to non-planning. But seriously, I simply wrote the story as the connections unfolded.

To be frank, I knew very little about the process of writing when I started writing REASONS. However, after editing the novel twice through, and then a third time while working with various critique partners… boy oh boy, I learned a lot!

And still, I wouldn’t have wanted to write my first novel any other way.

Now, in saying that, the writing process for my next book will be different. The new novel will involve more planning. But not because I’ve changed my ways. No. The new novel simply naturally requires planning. Unlike REASONS, the new story does not have its roots squarely planted in my personal life experience… where the characters and basic story line sort of had a head start. The new story line, and each character, event, and connection will stem from pure imagination… no drawing from my life this time.

So I’ll plot and plot and plot. And you know what? I’m excited about plotting.

I think it’ll be a nice change to have some stepping stones in place before I begin venturing across the river of brand new story building.

We’ll see. When I’m done, I’ll let you know how the two ways of working compare: pantser vs plotter.

Either way, I’ll keep writing and I’ll enjoy every single word… no matter how I come to write it. I believe there’s no right or wrong way to write. The important thing is to do it. Just write. Get that first draft done. Have a chuckle at how much work it needs, and then get to fixing it.

Like a new flower in the early morning light,
fragile and fleeting and full of life…
imagination blooms in all of its glory…
when words come together, and you write your story.