Quinn Blogs » queries

It’s Like Kill Bill Meets Good Omens, but Completely Different

Quinn — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:48:57 +0000

Yesterday I did it, months before I thought I would: I actually wrote a query letter pitch for Hubris.

Charlie just wanted to reconnect with his adopted sister, Adriana. Adriana just wanted to avenge her birth mother by killing the six Gods and ending their tyrannical reign over the universe. But then things got complicated. Charlie has met the Gods, and though they’re rattled and threatened, they don’t seem much like tyrants. What’s more, they claim that if Adriana succeeds in killing all of them, she’ll wipe out the universe in the process. Adriana thinks they’re bluffing; the godishes, impish immortal beings that are not quite gods but not quite anything else, are in her corner. But even Adriana is starting to suspect that she’s being manipulated.

As Charlie races from New York to the Tian Shan mountains to the bowels of the earth to stop her, Adriana must face the anger that drives her, and decide whether she’s willing to risk everything-literally-to finish what she’s started.

And already I’m finding faults in it. This, folks, is my least favorite kind of writing. I’d rather churn out a dissertation on minor property disputes in 1890s Oklahoma than try to distill a 90,000 word story into a couple of paragraphs. Or less. While maintaining a strong sense of the characters, setting, tone, and emotional stakes. And making it sound irresistible. Which, considering my rejections outnumber my partial requests by about 30 to 1, I’m really not very good at.

But an author’s gotta what an author’s gotta do. Writing a good query is a skill every writer needs, and the only way to get better is with lots of painful, demoralizing practice. I’m glad I got a head start on this one, at least.

Ready for Primetime

Quinn — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:50:45 +0000

Last night I finished my first big revision of Hubris. There were only a couple of major changes: I had to do a complete rewrite of the critical first page, remove the second chapter and place its exposition much later in the story, and cut out about a third of one lengthy middle chapter. I ended up cutting out more than I added, so this draft is about 2500 words shorter than the last. The whole process was slow and sometimes grueling. I don’t like revising, and I never will, but it feels great to have it finished.

The manuscript is now ready (I hope) for the scrutiny of my beta readers: my girlfriend, friends, and family. We’ll see what they have to say. I’m quite proud of the story; it’s a lot more ambitious than my first two novels, and I think the end result is more accessible and compelling. But I’m way too close to the text now. I need a few outside perspectives before I can do any more work on it.

So, now I can relax and spend the next few months on my other projects, or just on reading, watching movies and playing video games. I feel like I’m on vacation.

In related news, I got a rejection letter from the agent who was interested in The Northerners. But! This was a good rejection, because he called it a “near miss” and said he liked my writing, but just wasn’t interested in this particular story. He encouraged me to send him my next novel, and I will.

So The Northerners is not likely to get published anytime soon, but all that querying was still worth it. I went from having no contacts or prospects to having two agents who explicitly asked me to send them my next book. If my beta readers really like it, including my writing-inclined acquaintances who I can count on to be demanding*, I might be querying again as soon as this summer. We shall see.

* Even if you have demanding friends, your best bet for unbiased criticism is to join a writing group. One of these days I’m going to follow that advice.

Third Time’s the Charm?

Quinn — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:41:02 +0000

Just as I was about to start my first read-through of Hubris (and still am), I received another partial request from an agent interested in The Northerners. I was just about ready to give up on querying The Northerners – I was even saying so as I opened the envelope, since I was convinced it was another rejection – but once again I spoke too soon. Of course, as I’ve learned, a partial request only means that I’ve gone from about a 99% chance of rejection to more like a 90% chance of rejection, but hey, I’ll take it.

Thanks to this agent, I’ve learned something new: some agents actually do reply positively via mail. I’ve heard some authors advise you to not bother including a self-addressed stamped envelope with your query; it’s a sign of self-respect, they say, and if the agent is really interested they’ll call you or email you, since they only use the SASE for rejections. Well, here’s a nice counter-example. Now this advice is not just questionable, but demonstrably wrong.

I was never really convinced by the no-SASE argument. Even if the agent only wants the SASE for rejections, why would you want to immediately antagonize them? When you’re just another unsolicited query in a big slush pile, you’ve got enough going against you as it is. There’s nothing wrong with being professional and giving the agent what they asked for.

Anyway, we’ll see where this leads. This has renewed my faith in the querying process if nothing else. I’ll keep my fingers crossed, but meanwhile I’ve got Hubris to read and revise. Let’s hope it’s worth shopping around.