I did learn some critical things from querying my first novel, even if it was practice.

(and looking back even after 6 months, I can really see why it didn’t sell, too. I just 5 minutes ago had a friend begging to read it anyway, but I said no, that it just isn’t my best work now. )

I say it all the time, too.

I finished it quickly . . . got great feedback from her (a turndown, but really very encouraging) . . . and learned a HUGE lesson. I wasn’t ready. The next time I tried to sell a novel, it was completed (Spanish Disco) . . . and it sold in a few weeks . . . so I was really glad it was done. But anything can happen in this biz. And like others here, I just “assumed” that there were “always” these unbearably long wait times and I had time to hone it and to try to perfect it. That’s not the right approach. Hone and perfect beforehand.

E

I guess I’m just someone who knows what they want, and I suppose we all have to find our way through this journey. The way I see it, if I know with certainty that I want a career writing, selling and publishing my books – and I accept that may take a long time to even get close to! – if I realise that my current project isn’t working, I might as well change things now. I’m an impatient person!

I can’t sit down and write something that I don’t 100% believe will be something that will get published. Sometimes I wish I didn’t feel that way – maybe I would make more progress in the longrun! – but there you have it…

The perspective of that comes after it has sold or not sold. Right?

I think saying it is a practice novel is a way of taking pressure off one’s self to be ‘perfect’.

My problem is if I say it’s a practice novel, I make progress, then I start to realize its potential and then I put the pressure on.

The comparisons to running a marathon are numerous. There’s something to be said for just finishing. After finishing one, you can really comprehend what it takes. You can read all you want on running a marathon and do all the training regimens, but until you run a marathon, you don’t really know.

It’s certainly possible that you put up a respectable speed on your first marathon. But it’s not like there is only 1 marathon in you. Either way, you know more in your second and third marathon.

You noticed I said ‘when’. Oh the joys of the newbie writer’s mind.  I think it was Julie who spoke at the next meeting I attended. I remember her saying, no pounding into our heads, Do Not Query unless your book is finished. At first I thought, but why???

I think she read my mind because the next word out of her mouth was, “What if you can’t finish the book? What if for some reason it is magical pulled from the slush pile and they love it and want the rest now, today.” She scared me to death right then and there.

The advice was not only sound but something I took to heart. Much like the wisdom, knowledge, and advice I glean from your blog daily.

Carrie – I’m one of those people who can easily get stuck in obsessive rewriting and tightening, but trust me here (even though yer momma said not to trust people who say that) – when the story is the right story for you, you WILL get requests. And since rewrites are never done – you can still tweak it after a round of queries. Rejection always sux, but tweaking your letter and hitting send on another one always makes me feel better Best advice I ever received – and it had nothing to do with writing at the time: If you don’t play, you can’t win!

So for me, it means doing everything I possibly can up front so that if I get rejected I never have to think, “what could I have done better? Another round of revisions? More polish on the letter? More research on the agent?”

Of course, as I tend to be a worst-case-scenario kind of gal, this can also lead to long long delays during which I almost paralyze myself with the enormity of the task. Thankfully I have a full week off coming up — time to finish revisions and get the sucker out into the world!

Thanks again for – inadvertantly – helping me clarify something for myself.

Karen