Initial Poke at the Publishing World

There is a lot to learn about the world of publishing. It’s a tough nut to crack, and there are volumes written about attacking that nut. Each publishing company and literary agency spells out its requirements for successful submission of a manuscript. While one company demands strict formatting and exact submission protocols, another prefers a more casual approach, and perhaps submission by email only. In all cases, it is clear that a creative, knockout query (a request to submit a manuscript) is crucial. In many cases, the query must be accompanied by an equally fabulous synopsis of the story, if one is to grab the attention of editors or agents, who are inundated with requests on a daily basis.

Having had no experience in this realm, I spent endless hours researching volumes of confusing information about query submission. If I was going to send out more than one query, it seemed I was going to have to tailor each one to the requirements of that particular company. This was going to be no easy task!

I was more concerned, however, with how I was going to cleverly describe my massive piece of work in just one page. Someone once asked me what my book was about, and I could not respond quickly because I was pondering the best way to explain it. He said, "Too late. You need to have your 'elevator speech' ready when someone asks."

"Elevator speech?"

"Yes, a succinct answer you can give someone in the time it takes to ride up a few floors in an elevator."

Interesting and true! I needed to come up with a concise description of the book, or no matter how many queries I sent out, I would never gain anyone’s interest.

I wrote a couple of initial queries, hoping to both capture the essence of my story and give the recipients a glimpse of my history with the project. While I was preparing to send out the first query by email to the literary agency at the top of my list, I hit the wrong button on the computer by mistake. The email was sent out incomplete and unsigned. What an amateur error. Well, so much for that agency!

I sent out a couple more queries, but my gut told me I still had much to learn before I was ready to knock on a publisher's door.

I should have trusted my gut feelings! The rejection letters arrived in no time.

May you all have a blessed holiday season. Many thanks for your continued support of my Heaven's Wait journey.