Update on the Query process.

As most of you know, I'm trying to find a literary agent. I'm not one to ramble with nothing to say, well at least I try not to. So I'll keep it short. I was rejected for the 3rd time. No biggie. I've decided to continue to keep working on my book, and each rejection pushes me to make the book better, and the query letters better. I could kick myself though, with this last query. In my opening statement I didn't put an "S" on the end of a word, so I'm pretty sure from the get go, they decided that's a big NO. Sometime I read, re-read, re-re-read, but I miss it. So I need to make it a regular practice to print it, and check again. I know that the "S" was probably not the kill shot for the query letter, but it doesn't help to start off on the wrong foot.

Most agents now seem to only want the query letter, and the first 5 pages of your story. That doesn't give you that much time to grab their attention. I had about 2 pages of build up before I reveal it's a zombie invasion going on, but I removed that and started with the action. If the name of the book doesn't give it away then it must be zombies reading it. The beginning did nothing to advance the plot, or build the main character in any way, shape, or form. So I ditched it.

Also, another big change; It's been going out at a 100,000 word manuscript. Although I think it works at that length I did a little research. Okay, so I asked a literary agent on Twitter if 100,000 was too much for my first story and she said probably so. So now I'm editing it down to 80,000 words. I don't think this is the main issue either with not getting representation, but I think this will help. Plus by editing down to the essentials drives the story forward more, adding more tension, and it seems to be more humorous this way.

The rejection letter didn't give me a lick of information to go on, and after reading a lot about them on Query Shark, I don't expect their help either. But, and it's a big BUT... I'm moving forward, progressing, and getting better. So one step forward, is a step in the right direction.

I read an article today that said Zombies bring over 5 Billion to the economy... I'm just asking for a small chuck of that.

God Bless you all... and Happy Halloween!

Helpful Literary Query Info

In my search for a literary agent, I've found a couple really good resources I'd like to share with you all.
1. Would have to be Query Shark: This is a site run by a Literary Agent that will actually look at your query letter and give you honest to goodness feedback. Plus there's a crap load of previous ones on her site. She prefers that you read all of the ones on her site, and in her archives first, which may answer your questions. Just check it out, I think it's very helpful. I really thought I had a pretty good query but after ten minutes there I picked up a few tips, pointers, and necessities to improve my queries.

http://www.queryshark.blogspot.com/

2. I found another literary agent who gives great advice. She's currently not taking queries, which seems silly, because you never know when you might find the next great author, but I guess she knows more than I.

http://www.rachellegardner.com

Enjoy!!!

My Quest for Literary Agent Continues...

While writing a short story for the Writer’s Digest competition I found two literary agencies that I was real interested in working with. One of them deals with a lot of YA novelist that seem to write about the paranormal or supernatural. I really liked the selection of authors they represent, and I now follow several on Twitter.

If you’re just starting out as an author like I am, I encourage you to get up on the web, try Twitter; you’ll actually learn a lot. It may take a few attempts but before long a web of information will surround you. It seems if I let it happen I’ll read one thing, which leads me to another, and then farther down the rabbit hole I go with useful information. Best of all it’s free.

So…  I have two more agents I’m waiting on, with the 4 others I’m still waiting on to reply. One of the agencies said it’ll take about 2 weeks, the other it’ll contact me if they’re interested. Meanwhile I’ve learned more about dialog, and have been tweaking my story.  I still think you’re never done until it’s published.

Also, I was reading the Strunk and White book, The Elements of Style and read a little tad bit about the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. A co-worker looked it up for me on line and I read it. I encourage everyone that’s into ghost and zombies and stuff to read it. It’s really creepy, but it’ll take a few reads to comprehend what’s going on, well it did for me.  I also found the tune by Iron Maiden, and their retellings pretty good. The poem, which honestly I thought it was a book before yesterday, is in six parts. It’s long but worth the read. Even the Iron Maiden songs 13 minutes long, so it’s just long, but way good.

Tid bit for thought. I'm not even getting paid for this. I went to Wendy's today to try their new Cheese Steak almost knowing for sure it wouldn't be near as good as the commercial. I was even prepared to talk about false advertising, how it wouldn't be anything like what they said, blah, blah, blah... but it was actually pretty good. Shock. Shock. And I've been to Philly and had a real one, so not bad Wendy, not bad.

Grammar Rules

I’m not an expert of the subject but hopefully this will help other writers. Commas are killer, especially when it comes to writing. Most teachers I’ve had just say, “Put a comma when you want to add a pause,” that is not entirely true.

One easy thing I’ve learned, when you replace ‘that’ with ‘which’ is a sentence, you always need to put a comma. For example:

There was a long nail driven in a wall, which was rusted from tip to tail.

Easy enough, right? If you know the rules then you can do it the right way.

The other thing I’ve learned about writing is that it’s similar to playing music. You have to know the rules, so you can break them.

One thing I really like in some of the modern novels is how they emphasize a thought, or maybe an action with one word sentences.

I ran all the way to the store, but before I made it there I hit the ground, which hurt. Bad.

(Maybe not the best example, but you get the point.) It’s definitely not grammatically correct, but I like the way it reads.

Literary Agent update!!!

Hey!

I received my second literary agent rejection. It was a form letter but it apologized for being one, so I guess it’s okay, right? The form letter was nice, but seeing how it wasn’t really personalized I had nothing to learn from it, so if I was disappointed about anything, it’d be that I had zero opportunity to grow.

     I have four more query letters out, if my memory serves me right, and I have two more agents selected, and after doing some research I really like who they are, and who they represent so I think I might be a little disappointed if I don’t at least get some good feedback.

     The last few days I’ve been inspired to work on short stories. I have written four in the last two weeks. ‘The Escape’ which was for a Writer’s Digest competition, and then ‘Grimly’ which is aimed at children, then ‘The Shriek’ and ‘The Bait.’ I’m trying to decide if I’ll put any of them on the web. 

   We’ll see!

The Shriek!

Today I wrote a new short story inspired from reading one page of Neil Gaiman’s short story book, ‘M Is for Magic.’ It’s a short story named ‘The Shriek’ that you’ll either love or hate. I think I’ll post it for Halloween. Maybe. It’ll be my gift to my many readers. Hehe!

     I finished the Hunger Games Trilogy last night; probably the fastest I’ve ever read that many pages. Great story, great writer, wished it would have gone a different direction, but it wasn’t my story. I can’t wait for the movie. I saw the trailer today and it was so awesome, can’t wait for a longer one.