A New Outlook on Querying

When I was a freelance parenting journalist, My livelihood came down to one tool: query letters. I considered myself an expert. Why? In seven years I landed every assignment I queried. So when I started querying Anathema in 2010, I thought querying would be a piece of cake.

When the rejections started pouring in, I was stunned. I didn't expect every agent to want to rep me, but I did expect far more partial and full requests than I got. I ended up with an offer of representation - but it was too late. I'd already decided to self-publish. You'd think with all the rejection I'd endured, I would have liked turning her down. I didn't. It was scary as s£|!. But I knew I was taking the right path. I have loved every excruciating, horrendous, soul-sucking moment of self-publishing. Hey, no one ever said it would be easy.

Yet here I am, preparing to query again. I have this YA contemporary I wrote. It took me four years to finish it. No, I wasn't working on it that whole time, but it was one of those books I kept revisiting. It wouldn't let me move on.

Self-publishing isn't my juvenile way of giving New York the finger. It was the best path for the books I'd written (and thousands of ebooks purchased supports that theory). But this contemporary isn't the type of book that does well in ePub. The audience isn't teens and their moms. It's just teens. And I'll tell you, there aren't that many teens who read more ebooks than paper books. They are still discovering through their parents, libraries, and friends. This is the audience for my book and I need to do my best to reach them.

More proof self-publishing isn't about me - its about reaching my readers the best way I know how.

So here I am, entering a time warp, preparing to query again. This time, things are different. I don't expect every agent to request a partial or full. I hope they will, but I don't expect it. Truth be told, I don't expect an agent to take me on at all. It's not a lack of confidence, it's understanding the realities of the quickly shrinking publishing world combined with the lust for an immediate blockbuster. These are factors I can't control. All I can do is throw Tabitha and her story out there. Maybe it'll get some bites.

If it doesn't, I'll self-publish it. Not as a consolation prize. I'm only querying eight agents - chances aren't good I'll succeed. For me, it's about going with the best or taking my book directly to the readers. It has nothing to do with giving up. I could query hundreds of agents if settling was my goal. It's not. Writers have so many options these days. I'm simply pursuing the best options for this book.

And as a side note, my next fantasy will be self-published. I have no plans, at this moment, to ever query fantasy again.

Choices: The New Frontier

Everyone wants a concrete answer in publishing.

Should I pursue traditional publishers?
Should I pursue an agent?
Should I e-publish?
...and then should I pursue an agent?

Which is the RIGHT way to go?

 Now, lean in close. I'm going to whisper the answer to you.

Closer...a little closer.






THERE IS NO RIGHT ANSWER!

(sorry for yelling in your ear, but I want to make sure you hear me)

It's like those Kia hamsters rap, "You can go with this, or you can go that."

In today's publishing world we have choices. Amazing, wonderful, crazy, risky choices! Make the choice that is best for YOU! I did.

Am I making mistakes along the way? Of course. But I'd bet there's a few traditionally published authors out there who've made poor choices too.

What I'm really getting tired of is seeing a writer attacked for the choices she or he has made. Amanda Hocking signed a traditional publishing contract! So what? Just because she started out indie doesn't mean she has to stay there forever. This past week, Joe Konrath announced that he was working with his agent - the agent he's had all along - on his epublishing. Suddenly the people who'd worshiped him were frothing at the mouth! Really? Get over it. He's allowed to make his own choices.

If I ever announce I have an agent, I hope people will be happy for me. If I ever announce I'm traditionally publishing a book, I hope people will be happy for me. Neither of these is something I'm actively pursuing (though I am talking to an agent, I have nothing interesting to say about it yet). But if I decide to, then I decide to.

Why? Well, my mom told me the perfect answer to give: Because it makes me happy.

I want you to do what makes you happy too!!!! Remember, one hamster's toaster is another hamster's Kia.

Peace out peeps!!!!

Worshipping at the Altar of the Agent

In 2010 when I was searching for an agent that was me:

<----------

That's how I looked at agents. Me, a respected freelance journalist who dealt with editors on a regular basis under a purely formal guise. Those magazine editors were my employers, not objects of desire.

Yet for some reason when I began to query, I got all foamy at the mouth, googly-eyed, and starstruck. I look back at myself and I get embarrassed, for me and for the agents.

How do agents feel when they realize they're being pursued, even worshiped, by hordes of zombie writers? I say zombie because we're all exhausted, falling apart, and have only one thing on our minds - not brains, agents. ;)

Since I told myself last December that I would no longer query and I would take my career into my own hands, I've mellowed, A LOT, when it comes to agents. Do I still want one? OF COURSE. What self-respecting writer wouldn't? Yes, it's awesome to be an indie writer, but there are things we just can't do. Who's going to show your book to the movie execs? Who's going to sell it to other countries? Who's going to help you move up the ladder? Even Joe Konrath has an agent. Authors may be turning away from traditional publishing, but they aren't, and shouldn't be, turning away from agents.

I, in fact, have one novel that I still might query. The great part about all this is that in the meantime I am selling books and gaining readership. I am doing what I've always wanted to do. From now on, when, and if, I deal with an agent I want it to look more like this:

-------------------->

Writing is a business and I want an agent to work with me. Of course there will be plenty of laughter and sarcasm, because who would I be without it? But I no longer worship at their feet....and I think any self-respecting agent would probably appreciate it.

What about you guys? Do you still want an agent? Are you dying to find one or is an agent another cog in your business plan? Fill me in!

Peace out,

Megg