I did get my Heirs synopsis revised, though. Friends gave me some very good and valid suggestions for improving what I sent out a few nights ago. Tonight I edited it for clarity, explaining some things and taking out others, and reducing the instances of passive voice where I could. My beta readers will probably be a bit annoyed when they see how many versions of the thing I emailed tonight, over a period of a couple of hours. But I think the results are worth it.I also collected and sorted about ten loose chapters from my Mages of Mâvarin printout. These were in three different rooms. Now they're in one. I'd like to use my notes from those pages, and from my Mages notebook, to start revising Mages, as I just did with Heirs. But that way madness lies. One thing at a time, Karen!
Next task: the cover letter and query letter for Heirs of Mâvarin. Which one I send will depend on the guidelines of the specific agent or publisher. I have no clue yet where I'll send it, but I will submit my first novel somewhere, very soon, once I've done the necessary research. Many thanks to Sarah, Sara, Becky, Julie and Linda for helping me get to this point!
Oh, by the way, I also posted Chapter Two, Part Two of Heirs tonight over on Messages from Mâvarin. If you're curious about all this Mâvarin stuff I'm always going on about, this is your chance to read part of it. I'm up to the bit where Del finally learns what really happened to Rani. You can, too!
Tomorrow I'll be in church, and taking a couple of friends to see Narnia, and doing the stuff at the office that I didn't get done today. So I'll probably just have a short entry. You never know, though; I might get inspired!
Speaking of inspiration, it's time to start getting inspired about the next Round Robin Photo Challenge. The topic, as chosen by Celeste of My day and thoughts, is "Silly Animals." I think we all know at least one animal that's less than dignified sometimes. Does your dog, cat, horse, pig, bird, of other pet look or act silly? Are you plagued by a silly squirrel, or dive bombed by a silly starling? What about the antics of animals at the zoo? Photograph your silly animals, and post the result on Wednesday, February 1st. Check out the Round Robin Photo Challenges blog for details. I look forward to seeing your pictures!Karen
2 comments:
Hi Karen,
It appears that in the short amount of time that I have been lax about reading my favorite journals, you have managed to get your book to the point where you are ready to send out query letters! Dear girl, I am so happy for you!
This is the really FUN part! I am telling you that I really enjoyed sending out query letters and waiting for a response. I found Publisher's Marketplace a great Online place to find agents who were willing to accept query letters by email instead of snail mail. It was so great to cut out some of the waiting time.
When I wrote "The Trip" a few years back, I think I sent out about 30 to 40 queries. Of them, I rec'd about 12 to 15 responses from agents that wanted to see more. From that number came the 3 agents that were interested in the entire novel, 2 of them offering me contracts.
I am truly sorry I never completed the final task, which was to edit the very last 7-8 chapters of a 42 chapter book.
In the end, I simply lost interest but also worried about the fact that I had disclosed far too much personal history within the story itself.
At any rate, I wish you the very best of luck with Mavarin, and although I hardly have time to even read my emails, I'll try at some point to delve into the story when I have a moment.
Maryanne
Got it! Not had a chance to read it yet. :-) Time to sit, read and concentrate is at a premium around here.
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