Why my opinions might interest you?

I have written one manuscript: The Seven – Journey to Sanctuary. This means I have:

1. Conceived an idea;
2. Developed that idea;
3. Developed my writing skills;
4. Completed a draft;
5. Edited that draft until it sparkled.

That is what I know. Obviously, I’m missing the key ingredient – getting published. I can’t speak with authority until I do. That being said, I feel I’ve gone about things the right way. I can share my experiences and help those going through what I have been through.

I won’t preface everything I say. I will assume you are all savvy Internet surfers who question everything they read. You should question everything I say. You should challenge my opinions, because I’m not done learning.

Introductions

Why am I here?

I don’t mean existentially. Why am I here, with this blog, sharing my thoughts with you?

The answer is simple: I want to be an author.

I have tried traditional querying – throw a gazillion queries at like-minded agents and hope one requests a full manuscript – with no success. This blog is a small part of my new strategy – build an online profile that brings an agent to me.

I am convinced I’ve written something worth buying (because enough people have told me as much). I am also convinced my ideas are nearly impossible to sell with a one page query letter. Agents are busy and I’m nobody. I get it. So what am I to do?

Getting published is not the goal. If it was, I would write something new and try my luck next time. The goal is to publish this specific book. These ideas, these characters, they’ve lived in my brain so long that, to me, they are alive. I need to share them with the world. If people get to know them like I do, they will fall in love with them too.

So, I created this blog. I have a website. I will eventually figure out how to exploit other social media mechanisms. In time, I will hopefully grow an audience and an agent will find me. And if that doesn’t happen, I will at least build relationships with likeminded people. Win. Win.

I encourage everyone to follow me, talk to me, yell at me, whatever you want. The first incarnation of my website is online and you can see what I offer.

Check out my new pre-author website: www.johnwthorogood.com

I’m back! Sorry I’ve been away for so long but I’ve been working on my shiny new website (and going to school). Check it out: www.johnwthorogood.com

I call it my pre-author website. Let me know what you think. Help me make it as awesome as can be!

Querying: Reason #3 My Book Will Never Be Requested by an Agent: My Start is Too British

There is a British way of starting a story and a North American way.

North Americans like stories to start with a bang then ease into some exposition before kicking off again. British authors tend to let their stories build from the first sentence. Neither is better. Both have challenges.

Agents want to quickly establish:

1. Do they like your premise?
2. Do they like your voice?
3. Do they like your main character?

A British beginning does not always establish all three in the first ten pages. Consider one of the most famous British stories Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (No, I am not saying my book is the next Harry Potter! Stop trying to get me into trouble!). The first chapter is split between Uncle Vernon being silly and Dumbledore and McGonagall talking. We don’t meet Harry until Chapter 2. Only 2 out of 3 questions are answered in the first ten pages, and it is debatable whether we really get to know the premise in that time.

For a reader, this is not a problem. They know a story has been vetted by dozens of people before reaching a bookshelf. As long the beginning is reasonably competent, they can safely assume it will lead to something worth reading.

Agents do not have that luxury. Everything is new. If their immediate concerns are not addressed quickly, they much decide whether to invest the time to find out. Usually, they will decide to pass in favor of something quicker to assess.

My beginning is the best beginning my story could have, but not the greatest for querying.

Querying: Reason #2 My Book Will Never Be Requested by an Agent: Too Many Characters

When I was first learning how to write, I found many an advice saying, “Stick with one perspective. Only a rare talent can successfully pull off multiple perspectives.” Most would see that and say, “Sure, ok.” I saw it as a challenge, more like “Ooooh, I want to be a rare talent.”

I didn’t think beyond my own need for uber-awesomeness. Now, I can figuratively hear agents eyes roll as they read my query letters (not literally. I can’t stress this enough. I can’t literally hear anyone’s eyes roll, though that would be uber-awesome, so I’m thinking I should learn how). “Not another one of those people,” I hear them think (again, figuratively not literally).

And maybe they are right. Because sometimes the uber-awesome are actually the uber-sucky who only think they are uber-awesome. Which am I? That is not for me to decide.

All I know is I’ve given agents one more reason to reject my manuscript.

Querying: Reason #1 My Book Will Never Be Requested by an Agent: Agents Don’t Know Me

As hard as it is to accept, to an agent, I’m nobody.

I’m not the type of person who likes to speak just to be heard, but agents don’t know that. I also don’t automatically think everything I do is awesome, but agents don’t know that either.

As an aside: There is nothing wrong with these people. The world would be a boring, quiet place without the first type, and confidence is the main ingredient for success. It’s just that they, more often than not, tend to waste an agent’s time.

Now, I’m not saying agents would love my work if they just got to know me. It is possible I’m not self-aware enough to recognize my faults. All I can say is I feel like my risks have been calculated, deliberate and in the best interest of my story.

Now try and convey that in a query letter. To an agent I am an average of every query letter they have ever read. Nothing I can write will change that. All the agent will see is a bunch of reasons to reject my work and yet another person who thinks they are the exception to the rules.

Maybe they are right.

Querying: Empathy for Literary Agents, Part 2: Playing the Odds.

Agents are gamblers. Except, they don’t gamble money, they gamble time. I liken them to a prospector panning for gold at the side of a creek. Authors who publish are their nuggets.

The visual feels apt – sifting through pans-full of silt desperately hoping for a gold fleck to shine through. The analogy ends when you compare an author to a gold nugget because a gold nugget likes to sparkle in the sunlight while an author likes to wrap itself in a layer of silt and hide. An agent must examine each rock and decide whether to crack it open to see if the gold is inside. Every time they do so they invest of time.

Through experience, they develop a checklist to improve their odds of finding worthwhile manuscripts. Wonderful manuscripts might slip through the cracks, but when you have limited time to invest, the checklist improves the odds. 1 in 100 manuscripts that satisfy their checklist might be feasible, while maybe 1 in 1000 manuscripts will be feasible otherwise.

Can we blame an agent for reducing their workload by 90%?

Querying: Empathy for Literary Agents, Part 1: Crunching the Numbers.

I would guess that a moderately successful agent likely receives around 6,000 queries a year. Probably more, but let’s go with that number. 60% will be a genre they don’t represent/not follow submission guidelines/be written in crayon/have some obvious reason to be rejected. That leaves 2,400 legitimate queries.

Let’s pause here for a second and consider that number. 2,400 legitimate queries = 3,600 silly queries. You are an agent. You have a couple dozen clients to take care of. Publishers to talk to. Contract to negotiate. Conferences to attend. You are stretched thin and stressed. Now, add 10 people a day wasting your time. What is your mindset?

Now, just because 2,400 people know how to follow instructions does not mean they know how to write. Maybe 4 in every 100 will be worth the agent’s time. Out of that 4 maybe 1 will peak their interest enough to request a full manuscript for a total of 24 a year.

We still haven’t factored in time.

Let’s say it takes 30 second to weed out each silly query. 30 seconds x 3,600 = 30 hours.

Let’s say it takes 10 minutes to weed out each of the 2,376 rejected queries. 10 minutes x 2,376 = 396 hours.

Conservatively, that is 1 hour 15 minutes a day, every day 365 days a year weeding out bad and marginal queries.

It is tempting to become frustrated and angry with the agents who reject my work, but I don’t. This is one of the reasons why.