Getting Published, part 1
Posted on April 15, 2006
Filed Under Books, Getting Published, Publishing, Writing
This morning, I sent out my first batch of agent queries.
They were all e-queries, thankfully, so there was no printing, paper-folding, or envelope-licking involved — just cutting, pasting, and sending. This was refreshing, as the process of finding potential agents and crafting a personalized query for each had been pretty arduous.
First, I’d checked sites like Publishers Marketplace and Agent Query to find agents interested in representing the types of books I wanted to write (nonfiction books on parenting). Parenting is a popular topic, so there were hundreds of agents to choose from.
Once I’d whittled my list down to about 40, I began writing my query, which consisted of a hook, a description of the book, a mini-bio, and a conclusion with contact info. It was formatted like a typical one-page business letter.
Researching agents and perfecting my query took weeks. My friends and family (all of whom I’d forced to read the query multiple times) were getting impatient, asking why I hadn’t sent the letters out yet.
Finally, today, I looked it over and could find nothing to change. So I sent out the first batch of 10 (figuring that a rate of 10 per month would suffice).
Now, all I can do is cross my fingers and wait. In the meanwhile, I have a manuscript to edit and a book proposal to write…
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