Did I Start Querying Too Soon?

Reflections on the Querying process

In June, I attended a writing conference, where I had the opportunity to pitch my manuscript, Rememories, to an agent. My goal was to dip my toes in the water to see if my query package was ready.

The agent asked for my first thirty pages, and a couple of weeks later I got my first rejection. The agent said the pages lacked the spark they were looking for.

While I was licking my wounds, I received additional feedback on my manuscript. I really wanted to ignore what everyone was saying. But the more I sat with it, the more ideas I had for reworking the beginning and the parts I didn’t love. However, the work required an entire manuscript read-through.

Reworking

Revising Rememories was so hard because all I want is to be done with this manuscript and move on to my next one.

I could have just ignored their comments and listened to the advice that you don’t need to change anything until 10-15 agents give you the same response. But I know everyone is trying to help me and make my manuscript better. I couldn’t send it out to more agents knowing that I could have done something else to improve it.

So far, I am really happy with the changes. I like that my Female Main Character (FMC) has more agency and that her motives and character arc is stronger. I like that the villain appears in the first chapter. I simplified things in my world so that it wasn’t too much of an information overload. I want the reader intrigued, not confused.

Overall, I’m pleased with the direction my manuscript is headed. I sent it out to Beta Readers earlier this month because I changed it enough that I wanted to make sure it still makes sense. After I integrate their feedback and polish it, my goal is to have it ready to be sent out in September. Fingers crossed everything goes to plan!

Patience

I often forget how much patience and trust the writing process requires. Creativity requires space, boredom, and free time. When I overpack my schedule and say yes to too many things, getting it all done becomes stressful, and I lose the joy.

Don’t get me wrong, I have done some really cool things this summer, like leading a Q&A with author Lindsay Marie Morris at Thirst Bookstore for Historical Romance Book Club and having our second author on the podcast. (We have authors lined up to be on the podcast each month for the rest of the year! Be sure to listen in.)

With lots of super cool, amazing happenings, it’s been tricky to give myself the time and space to do the work that’s required for my manuscript. As a result, I have had to say no to more things. But the extra time has been good because I have a new book idea that I hope to write sometime soon if I ever finish Rememories. More motivation to get it done!

Conclusion

Testing the waters was a helpful exercise to see if my manuscript is ready. While I’m bummed that the agent wasn’t the one, I’m glad I fixed some things before sending it out to even more agents. I know the right agent is out there!

Although I have paused querying for the moment, I hope to resume very soon!

Book Talk

I had to know whether the hype for the Off Campus series was warranted. I’m usually not a big fan of sports romance, although I loved the Game Changer Series. But I wanted to give this a try. I learned so much about hockey and a world I knew nothing about. I kinda love that it’s set in college, so the problems were simpler. They do cover heavy topics like domestic abuse and sexual assault, but they’re handled very well.

I haven’t watched the TV show yet, but I’ll probably check it out once I’ve finished the series. All in all, they’re easy reads, and I get the hype.

P.S.

Today’s my grandpa’s 94th birthday! Happy Birthday Grandpa Ralph!! So I thought it was the perfect day to send out this post. It’s been a while... I don’t know where this summer has gone.

Sending you lots of flowers and fun,

Liza