what i did differently this time
there’s not a textbook definition of what a publishing unicorn is (though there are some agreed upon guidelines, let’s say), but my last experience in the querying trenches felt pretty unicorn-ish to me. maybe because i’ve been querying on and off since the beginning of 2023.
i queried two books to their full capacity before, getting 100+ rejections on both. i queried two others for a very, very short amount of time because i got offers right as i was starting to dip my toes in with a new project. and then i queried A DELICATE HUNGER, and things went…differently.
so, why do i think it went better this time? emphasis on “think”, since there’s no sure way of knowing.
i wrote a better book.
while i love all of my book babies and intend on reworking them to eventually go on sub, i’d be in trouble if my writing skills remained unchanged in two years. this book was not only more marketable, but its prose had better quality. the plot was better thought out and outlined. i learned a lot from self-editing and working with other people’s feedback.
i read more books.
i started listening to audiobooks and it made it easier to carve out time for reading, and also keep my attention spam in check. reading lets you keep a finger on the market’s pulse, and also teaches you how to work on your own technique, even if you’re not consciously thinking about it. and it does wonders for your imagination/inspiration!
i had more beta readers.
needless to say, if you don’t get critiqued, you’re probably not going to get anywhere—unless you’re a genius, i guess, which i’m not.
it prepares you for working with an agent and, later, an editorial team. it thoughens you up for rejection, commentary, etc.
if you want to be a published writer, you must be writing for someone. that mysterious ideal reader who’ll pick up your novel and devour it. you must know what they want and how to achieve it—i know sometimes we say we’re writing for ourselves, but no, we’re not. if we were, we could simply write it down on a journal or publish it online for free.
if you’re going to be selling a product, spending people’s hard-won money in a capitalist society, i think it’s only morally correct (and finantially smart) to give them the best product possible. and you get that by working with other people!
i tried to make connections and share my work.
similar to the point above, but here i’m specifically thinking about agent guides, pitch events, etc. also, just sharing your journey online—i would, however, resist the urge to tweet out in frustration. group chats are wonderful places to vent, provided it’s a small, intimate group of friends. you don’t want to say something when you’re feeling fiesty and end up being portrayed as a diva after someone took a screenshot.
this is not to say you can never feel let down about the process. you will, and that’s normal, and that’s healthy. but remember, again, that you’re selling a product. you’re presenting yourself as the personality behind this product. would you go on a dating app and state all your romantic failures on your bio?
i revised (and rewrote) the hell out of it.
this book went through so many iterations—and it’s still going! it’s despairing, at times, but ultimately makes for a better book. there’s no reason to rush the process and lose oportunities because you weren’t ready yet.
i allowed myself to experiment.
it’s hard not to think of all the “rules” of querying when you’re drafting a new work. still, sometimes it’s good to take risks. i wouldn’t advise you to go completely against the current, but definitely try stuff out at least once! see what works and what doesn’t.
i wanted this story to be darker, i wanted it to be unashamedly polyamory (and not in a way that feels like i’m just checking a trendy box or fetishizing it), i wanted it to go into themes of consent without losing the fun, lighthearted aspects that i also wanted to touch on. i wanted to go flowery with my prose because that’s what i enjoy writing and reading, plus, it feels closer to my roots.
i did my research.
i didn’t query every agent under the sun, though i still got 85 queries out! this time around, i paid for two months of PM and curated my list based on sales and mswls.
i wanted an agent that could sell to the big 5/well established mid-sized publishers. i wanted someone who i thought i’d be able to work with, and represented the types of books i like to write. the rest i could figure out throughout our communication/calls.
everyone has heard this before, but no agent is better than a bad agent. and a bad agent isn’t just someone who’ll make ridiculous demands of you, cut out the heart of your story, refuse to give you a proper deadline to accept or refuse their offer, etc. sometimes, a well intentioned person simply won’t have the tools to get you the best deal possible for your career.
there’s a bunch of reasons why it’s not great to go super wide. pubtips usually has a few good posts about what a competent agent will or won’t do! i suggest looking those up to know what you should be expecting. some of the mods there can also be reached out to by dms and will tell you if they know anything shady about a particular agent/agency. writer beware and absolute writer are two useful resources for this, too.
i had a good query package.
i had friends who i know are good at writing query letters take a look at mine and help me with it. i thought a lot about how to make it catchy, loglines, etc.
this might sound like such a basic tip, but it really makes all the difference. it’s the first thing an agent is seeing. make it count! it won’t matter that your writing is great if the agent doesn’t even make it to the sample.
this is all for now, friends! i should add a lot of this was about timing and luck. you can do all these things and fail—but you cannot succeed if you don’t even try. we’re writers. we have an infinite number of stories inside us. if this isn’t the one, write the next one, and the next, and the next. time will pass regardless.