Next Step in the Process

I have some bad news this morning. I emailed Suzette Saxton three times this week to remind her of her upcoming blog post that we had scheduled for today. I have not heard back from her. I have Hilary Wagner lined up for next week but I did not want to bump her up because we just agreed on the post this Wednesday.

Suzette is usually very communicative and helpful so I certainly do hope she is all right. In fact she was the first friend who connected with me on Google friend connect. She introduced me to bloggers like Elana Johnson, LiLa and Michelle McLean and their blogs. Of course Suzette also contributes to the Query Tracker blog, writes books and is repped by Suzie Townsend of Fine Print Lit so I'm sure she's very busy. It is also possible I suppose that I got her email wrong but I'm pretty sure I replied to an earlier conversation.

Oh well, no big deal ... I'll just have to post one of my own "successful" queries and try my best to analyze it for you guys.

So here goes:

May 21st, 2009

Dear Ms. REDACTED,

I am writing to you seeking representation for my young adult novel, which has the working title WARRIOR-MONKS and is complete. Warrior-Monks is intended for young adult readers ages 13-17, but I am certain that once you read the manuscript you will find that it is mature enough and compelling enough to enthrall even the most discerning adult reader as well. I will not include any sample chapters because your website clearly states that you will request a manuscript if you have an interest.

This is not very good housekeeping. I am AMAZED that she requested further pages with no word count admitted to and no clear genre declared. The part about her guidelines is okay.

The book is about a young man named Lee, who is from a broken family and who eventually ends up being sent to a unique reform school in Northern Idaho after he is expelled from a normal boarding school and kicked out of his aunt and uncle's home. He is very worried about what will go on at this school but eventually discovers that he enjoys the curriculum. They teach him things like Aikido, Meditation and Calligraphy and take him and several other students camping and backpacking in the mountains in Montana as he grows and puts his self-conscious and shy tendencies behind him. It is an introspective and character driven novel in which the plot is not necessarily the focus but still has enough interesting occurrences to move the tale along as the reader comes to know and love the characters.

This is all very meh. I guess it worked for her in a sort of "here you go" business presentation "I'll just tell you some of what happens" kind of way but I really have no idea what hooked her. I can see maybe if she had allowed the first five pages this wouldn't matter but I honestly have no idea what she liked about this.

I have never been published but I am confident that many authors like Christopher Paolini and Brunonia Barry have proved that you do not have to be a highly experienced or best-selling author to write an incredibly entertaining book.

We've covered before how this is presented poorly.

Please feel free to reply to this email, or to call me on my mobile phone at any time at 206-555-1212, or even to write to me at home at:

ADDRESS

Thank you for your consideration of this proposal. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Matthew M. Rush

Her reply:

Dear Matthew,

I want to thank you for considering REDACTED Literary Agency as a possible fit to represent Warrior Monks. Based on your initial pitch I would like to read more of your work to consider it for REDACTED representation. If you are still in need of a literary agent, please follow the submission guidelines listed below for us to review your work in-depth. Although this is not a guarantee, nor an informed review, this is the next step in the process—congratulations.

Please print out the first 100 pages, or the first five chapters, of your manuscript and mail it to:

REDACTED Literary Agency

ADDRESS

You must also include:

1. A cover letter stating the title and one sentence theme of your manuscript.
2. A brief biography on yourself and specifically your writing experience.
3. A self addressed and stamped envelope sufficient to return your materials after our review.

I look forward to reviewing your work in more detail.

REDACTED
Literary Agent

REDACTED Literary Agency, LLC
ADDRESS

I wrote back:

Dear REDACTED,

Thank you so much for your interest in my project but before I print and send my partial manuscript I want to make sure I format it to fit your preferences. It is my experience that some agents have very specific expectations when it comes to formatting of a manuscript. Currently my book is single-spaced and written in the Arial font at 11 point size. Switching it to 12 point and changing the paragraphs to double spacing would use a lot more paper but I understand that reading single spaced print can be tough on the eyes and I am perfectly willing to format the manuscript in just about any way that you would like. I am very much looking forward to having you review my novel but I want to make sure that it is the condition which is best suited for your needs. Please let me know whenever you have a moment and I will send you my work and the other requested items in the appropriate format.

Thank you,

Matthew

That was so dumb. I mean it was polite and professional but I was such a greenhorn then I had no idea there was such a thing as an industry standard. Oops.

She was pretty cool about it though:

Thank you Matthew. Double spaced serif font is preferable.

All my best,

REDACTED.

The hard part was going to be the bio and one line summary. I wish I still had those to share with you guys but if memory serves they were pretty bad.

Anyway I printed out the first hundred or so pages, double spaced, and paid to send them to her via media mail.

I heard nothing for a month so I emailed her one more time:

Dear REDACTED,

I certainly don't expect you to have finished reading my partial manuscript because I imagine you are very busy, but it has just occurred to me that I should check to make sure that you received it in the mail. Please drop me brief line whenever you have a moment and let me know whether you received the partial manuscript and other materials.

Again, thank you very much for taking the time to read and consider my project,

Matthew

I never heard back from her. Still haven't. It wouldn't be that big a deal except that she made me print all that stuff out. I wrote in the cover letter that she could recycle it rather than send it back but a reply to say she had received it and was not interested would have been nice.

I mean yes, I was flattered that she liked the query or at least the premise for the story and at the time I was of course VERY excited but now knowing more I'm not surprised that she rejected it, just a little miffed that she didn't even reply. Oh well.