6 Tips from 6 Months in the Query Trenches
Use the community you have and get involved! 🤗🫂
As a writer who keeps her writing endeavours mainly to the realm of my online community, I found the experience of writing to be extremely lonely before joining #writertwt. From having a Twitter account, getting involved in pitching events and sharing my wip, I’ve met so many incredible people who have become friends I hope to keep forever. Mikayla, one of my Twitter moots who I’ve now hung out with multiple times, is a writer of the same genre who has an immeasurable amount of experience and advice. Without her support, I don’t know if I’d have enough confidence to keep believing in myself. Never doubt the power of social media and what it can do for you, especially when there’s so many people out there who are going through the same thing as you. It’s very rewarding finding a community who you will celebrate your wins with you and also listen to your complaints when you need to vent.
Practice patience as best you can, even when it feels impossible. ⌛️
This is something I’m sure you’ve heard a million times but it really is an important thing to remember. It can be super daunting waiting weeks on end for a query response, but I would highly recommend you don’t fill that time with rushing to query other agents, especially if your submission package isn’t polished. If it’s a process you’re not doing to the best of your ability, the rejections will come in waves and it’ll be even more disheartening. Take your time. Ask friends/other writers for feedback and input. Review and revise. Really research an agent before you submit. The time you wait for an agent response can be extremely productive if you spend it doing things like this!
Find beta readers! 📤
It’s a lot easier than it seems! I found the process to be extremely daunting at first, especially because I thought no one would want to spend the time reading my story. But after a few Tweets and reaching out to people who seemed interested, I had five trusted beta readers — from there, I had three revised versions of my first manuscript that led to a fourth and final version that I’ve never felt more confident in, even though it may be shelved for a later time. Beta readers offer fresh and unbiased insight, and even if they’re just reading it to hype you up rather than give feedback, it’s still a step in the right direction! I know how embarrassing it can be to share your work with betas, especially when they write amazing stories themselves, but you’ll find that everyone is in the same boat. Sharing your work really helps build skill and confidence going forward and I truly can’t recommend this enough!
Work on something new. 📝
It honestly took me a hot minute to have another idea I felt passionate enough about in order to start writing again whilst querying THOSE WHO BURN THE BRIGHTEST. As someone with ADHD, I tend to hyper focus on tasks and certain projects if I want a particular result, so to be able to work on something else is the refreshment my brain needed. Some writers find it counterproductive to be working on more than one wip at a time but having a new project that has made me excited to write again has given me a lot of hope for my future querying endeavours, especially going into it with what I know now.
QueryTracker/Gmail/Twitter are your best friends and your worst enemies — find the balance that works best for you. 📲
Similar to Gmail, QueryTracker is a website you will find yourself obsessively checking like your life depends on it. QueryTracker is a great resource to learn about agents and their response timelines — it’s also an awesome way to keep track of all your submissions. I keep seperate Google Docs for listing all of the queried and rejected agents I’ve submitted to, and yet, I do believe QueryTracker is a good resource to keep as well. But as difficult as it can be, try your best to distance yourself from it. If you need that distance for days or weeks at a time, then do it — especially on weekends/holidays, because more likely than not, you’re not going to get a response from agents during those periods. As an obsessive checker myself who thrives off of that little unread notification, it’s really important to remember to distance yourself. An agent request won’t disappear from your inbox if you choose to leave it unread for a few days. It’s good to stay on top of everything but not at the expense of your own wellbeing. Try your best to fill that obsessive refreshing time with anything else — the same also goes for Twitter! Doom scrolling is a thing, dear writers. For the amount of time that goes into writing and querying, it can often feel like a full-time job; and for writers who also work 9–5, this is a lot to have on your plate all at once. Know when you need a break and take that time — condition yourself to eradicate guilt when that time is taken.
! ACCEPT COMPLIMENTS !💓
It’s ironic for me to speak on this since I still suck at doing so but it’s so important to accept compliments. Some of my most random Tweets regarding querying or getting a request, even pitch Tweets, are the ones that I get the most positive traction on. It really shows that people love celebrating one another, and whilst it’s important to celebrate those victories for yourself, it’s also not a bad thing to accept those well wishes from others. Let yourself feel warm and giddy when someone compliments your work — thank them and pay it back wherever and whenever you can! I’m my own worst critic, so I tend to think that everyone compliments me out of self pity rather than of their own will. But I’m steadily moving away from that mindset and it has really made a world of a difference. Accepting compliments seems like a given but it really isn’t as easy as it appears. Take those compliments and be proud of yourself — you deserve the kindness that comes from an encouraging tweet or a moot that is hyped by your wip idea!
