Selling My Soul (In a Good Way) is a weekly journal
about my efforts to get a debut novel published.
BEFORE
I’m writing the first part of this week’s musing before my big date on Tuesday, June 24. After finding what appears to be a reputable website for writers (Manuscript Academy), I decided to take the plunge and schedule a Zoom meeting with a literary agent. Talk with a real, live agent! Ask questions! Get answers!
10 minutes.
$49.
The topic for the experience is: Hey, why are my query letters getting rejected?
On Manuscript Academy’s webpage, there are about 60 potential literary agents available for some form of brief Q&A with writers with at least a little bit of discretionary money to spend. Since I did recognize many of the agents from previous searches, and always crave feedback, shelling out the semi-big bucks for 1/6 of an hour seemed a worthwhile “investment.”
What do I hope to get out of this Zoom rendezvous? I have two questions to ask . . .
Am I labeling my novel for its best success with a potential agent? As I’ve mentioned in a prior Selling My Soul, I do wonder if FINDING JOHN MUIR should be identified as a commercial or book club or a contemporary novel. I know it’s a debut and a coming-of-age tale. But is it a commercial debut or . . .? The related question is: does having my novel in the correct literary category even matter?
I’m an old guy with a professional religious background . . . how much does who I am negatively influence an agent’s openness to work with me? After all, all agents want to make money from a long-term business relationship from a writer/client. I ain’t gonna be around for many more decades! And being a person of faith . . . hmmm? How much of a red flag is that?
Finally, what I hope to gain beyond my two questions is far more important: to listen and learn.
My 10-minute “blind date” requested to see my query letter, any rejections so far, and the opening page of my novel. What will her advice/feedback be?
AFTER
I will not deny that, as the time approached for my Zoom contact with a real live agent, that I fantasized that she would demand to see more of my brilliant novel. She would tempt me with wanting to be my literary agent. She would praise my distinctive style of writing.
Nope. Didn’t happen.
Fantasies aside, it was a helpful sixteen (yes, 16!) minutes. I mostly listened, and felt good when the Zoom screen went dark.
The agent emphasized one thing above all else for my query letter: be clear that this is not a young adult (YA) novel. With my two primary characters being 15 and 18, a prospective literary agent—overwhelmed with the scores of query letters they receive every week from hopeful authors—may too quickly “reject” me because they don’t handle YA material.
I will make changes to my query letter. On the journey continues . . .
I sent out no new query letters this week. I did not get rejections (or communications) from any of the “outstanding” letters I’ve already sent.
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“Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”
― Neil Gaiman
Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash