There’s no magic . . . I’m in the midst of querying literary agents. It’s hard work, painstaking actually. To do it right, authors spend countless hours researching, investigating, and tracking. Landing an agent can take months. Or longer . . .
Sure, we’ve all heard about the author who, by twist of fate, luck, and timing, stumbles into the open arms of her agent soulmate. It’s love at first read, and a deal is made that leads to speedy publication, sends her book into the land of bestsellers, and author and agent live happily ever after. I know it happens once in a while, but if I were holding my breath for such a scenario, I’d have passed out long ago. This is why I’m channeling my inner tortoise and committing myself to the process. I am in it for the long haul. Here’s how I do it: Step 1: Find agent to query Step 2: Look up her literary agency Step 3: Study her website Step 4: Read her blog posts Step 5: Search her manuscript wish lists (#MSWL) Step 6: Stalk her on twitter (creepy, I know, but hey, she’s tweeting for a reason) Repeat! How many times? Not sure. As many as it takes.
Lately, I’m attracted to one particular agent who very well could be my agent soulmate. First, she appears to be a nice person. Second, we have certain things in common. Third, and most importantly, I saw on twitter she is interested in book club fiction. I’m pretty sure we’re perfect for each other. But I haven’t contacted her yet. I will, just not yet. I kind of feel like I’m back in junior high, avoiding the cute boy I have a crush on. If I never talk to him, he can’t reject me. And the chance that he might like me still exists. Likewise, no query equals no rejection. Of course that mindset won’t get me anywhere. Here’s the reality – even if I do everything right and send the best query possible, I still might be rejected or, even worse, ignored. But my skin is thick and getting thicker, and one day my query will fall into the right agent’s hands at exactly the right time. Meanwhile, I work hard. I don’t give up. I do my homework. Because writers can write fairytales – we just can’t live in them.