Dear Writer,
It’s exhausting, isn’t it? It’s soul-sucking and draining and you wish there was some magic wand to give you an amazing agent that cares about you and your story. I’ve been there—I’m still there. If you’re reading this, it’s because you haven’t given up hope and we can work with that.
Let’s say an agent receives over a thousand queries every year. One thousand stories… One thousand writers wanting the same exact thing you want…representation. Not just for your story, but for yourself. That’s why it feels like bearing your soul. If everything aligns, it should be a lifelong commitment. It’s not just, “Hey, can you sell this book? Thanks.” It’s a partnership. In the moment, you’re just seeing your dreams of becoming a published author go down the drain, but that’s not the case. It’s just misalignment.
I recently thought of querying as car shopping. If you’re shopping for a car, you know there are certain brands that you hate, certain models that have atrocious amounts of recalls, and some you flat out love, but can’t make it make sense for your lifestyle or wallet. Is that going to stop every dealership from constantly bombarding you? Absolutely not. Are agents any different? They know what genres they can sell, they know what they’d have a harder time selling. They can tell the types of writers who might have more than a few books in them and are open to learning. For the most part, they know what they’re looking for and can spot it in seconds.
That’s why it’s important to pitch your story in the most accurate way possible in order to increase your chance of an agent saying, “I need more.” Get feedback, query widely, try pitch events, hone your voice,make those first few chapters (and the entire story) undeniable, but more importantly, you can’t give up. You can take as many breaks as you want, but you can’t give up. Pivot if you must, but your story deserves a chance to be told. If you believe the traditional publishing route is the route for you, you owe it to yourself and your story to keep going.
If you feel the need to do something, make your pitches visible if you’re active on socials, pin them to your profile, add a page dedicated to your wips to your site, talk to anyone and everyone about the story you wrote and are shopping around. You never know who’s watching and you never know who knows who. Come up with a marketing plan, brainstorm people and book clubs to send advance copies to, pour yourself into the next project, and always be prepared for the call or email. Have questions in a document. Know what you are and aren’t looking for in an agent and publishing house. The passes on your manuscript don’t define you. I strongly believe if you want it and work toward it, it’ll happen.
Hold the belief, release the timeline, stick to the plan, and just keep writing.
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