Finding outlets for your writing requires taking scads of chances, consuming the output of others – inside and outside your medium/genre – active networking, and making sure you practice your craft every day.
I was not prepared for how much work it would be to query agents.
Once you find an agent you want to query – which takes thoughtfulness and time – you must pour over their website and read the submission guidelines and re-read and re-read them to make sure you haven’t missed something.
Every agent wants a personalized letter with slightly different content as well as a varying set of documents to accompany the letter.
I’ve read where some authors queried forty and fifty agents before finding their match.
Since July 26th I have queried 13 agents in search of a home for my first novel.
I have received 4 rejections.
This is success.
Why?
The only path to acceptance is amassing a rejection collection. Every rejection is a step closer to signing with an agent. That is the math. That is the work.
Oh…and I’ve started writing my second novel.