This has been a productive week search-wise. I sent out about a dozen query letters to agents, so we’ll see what happens. More interesting to me, however, has been the evolution of my own process.
Like a lot of writers who are looking for an agent, I got myself worked up into a frenzy … at the beginning. Trying to land an agent can be like dating or job hunting. Because you want something that someone else has to offer you, they’ve kinda got you by the short hairs.
I’ve been to writThis has been a productive week search-wise. I sent out about a dozen query letters to agents, so we’ll see what happens. More interesting to me, however, has been the evolution of my own process.
Like a lot of writers who are looking for an agent, I got myself worked up into a frenzy … at the beginning. Trying to land an agent can be like dating or job hunting. Because you want something that someone else has to offer you, they’ve kinda got you by the short hairs.
I’ve been to writers conferences and read books and articles about landing an agent, and they all tell you different things. Half the agents say to write a query letter that gets right to the point. Something like, I’ve recently completed a 100,000-word murder mystery about a 10-year-old boy accused of accidentally killing his sister while eating a fruit roll-up.
The other half say, don’t write a standard query letter. Wow me. Surprise me. Dazzle me. Be different.
So what’s the right way to go?
And then you hear and read over and over about your query letters needing to be "perfect." They normally mean, no spelling mistakes and such, but the word "perfect" gets thrown around an awful lot, like there’s such a thing as perfection.
Like I said, like many writers looking for an agent I got myself all worked up and stressed out, until I finally just said, you know what. I’m going to do my best, adjust my letters as much as I can to the style of each agent, and then not worry about it. One of these days I’ll land with the right person, and for anyone who’s isn’t interested in my work because they didn’t like a phrase in my cover letter, then I probably don’t want that person in my life anyhow.
One agent I met was actually very cool. I liked his attitude. He said, I’d rather have a great story that’s written only okay, then to have an only okay story that’s written really well. You’re writing doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has pull me in.
I’m not sure how many agents are like him. A lot? A few? Time will tell. Either way, I’m sure there are plenty of agents who will want to represent me once they see my work, and as long as I stick with it without driving myself crazy, I’ll be just fine.
