Mistakes: I Can Has Made Them

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, not in public, on a blog entry where people I hope to interact with in a professional context might see, but I’ve made some mistakes querying this round. Embarrassing gaffes! Things that have made me blush and shake my head! At myself, even!

If you read message boards and agent blogs, you can easily become terrified of making the smallest mistake. So much of it is out of your hands, so any part that you can control becomes overwhelmingly important.

I always get the same feeling while on a job search. Human resource webpages have similar advice, about how the smallest mistake will give a hiring committee reason to reject you. You must do everything perfectly, experts warn, or risk being unemployed forever.

The funny thing is, I made mistakes in my job searches, too. In my search for my first professional job, a typo sneaked into my cover letter. If anyone noticed, they didn’t say anything–I still got a job. During another, more recent search, I accidentally sent an interview thank you note to the wrong party (almost identical name, same department). That wasn’t acknowledged, either. And they offered me a job, too. Most of these mistakes were only realized in hindsight because I obsessively comb through my emails and files for mistakes, even when that kind of thing is out of my hands. I’m hard on myself–harder, I think, than anyone else is.

My first round querying, I had an extremely detailed, color-coded spreadsheet. The process was heartbreaking and nerve-wracking and I was a mess about the whole thing, so afraid of Making Mistakes (capital M, capital M) and screwing up my chances forever. Somehow, I thought Excel could get me through that.

I did okay on that first round (I had requests), but not great (no offers). Throwing in the towel wasn’t an easy decision, but I’m glad I went through the whole query rigmarole before taking this second stab at it. Rejection is a lot less personal now–it doesn’t hit quite as deep. I have distance from the process. I realize that if I don’t get an agent now, then it’s just a matter of persistence with future projects.

I’ve also, ironically, done better.

This time around, I’ve abandoned the spreadsheet to rely almost entirely on querytracker. It’s been better for me, more intuitive, but I wonder if the lack of stringent organization and ridiculously detailed color coding (seriously, guys, I used varying shades of colors to denote which materials were requested with queries, how many pages an agent asked for, and so on) has contributed to the few stupid mistakes I’ve made.

Although I’m sure my habit of 2 a.m. querying has something to do with it, too.

I’m not advocating that you make deliberate errors, or give up on proofreading. I am, however, saying that mistakes happen no matter how careful you are. I proofread. I grade student papers. It’s my job to recognize errors, but sometimes they still slip-through. If it’s true for me, I’m sure it’s true for the rest of you, right? Everyone makes mistakes!

So, for the sake of completeness, and because I always find these things comforting, here are the stupid missteps made during this round of querying:

• I pasted the wrong e-mail for one agent (agent A) into the recipient line for another (agent B), thereby sending agent A two queries (one with agent B’s name in the greeting), and agent B none. It took me like half a day to figure out precisely what had happened!
• I included a personalized paragraph meant for another agent on one query (I caught this one almost immediately, and sent a quick apology. I didn’t want her to think I was trying to trick her into believing we had a personal connection, which I’ve heard some authors do).
• I queried one agent twice.

The funny thing is that the few agents I’ve had contact with regarding these mistakes have been incredibly gracious about the whole thing. They don’t assume that I’m a terrible person for making these mistakes–always, deep down, my fear. Nor do they seem to think the worst of me, that I’m an uneducated writer with no idea what she’s doing. They’ve reacted like, well, people. Like they don’t expect authors to be perfect querybots who never stumble. That feels good–to remember that other people are rarely so hard on you as you are on yourself.

All of that being said, I still might cool it on the 2 a.m. queries.

How about the rest of you? Have you made any dumb errors while querying?

Allez-query!

Happy Sunday, everybody!

I’ve had a crazy weekend so far. My dear friend Nicole came to visit, with the intention of going with me to see Maggie Stiefvater read about an hour away. We got all geared up to go yesterday, but promptly got stuck in the worst traffic I’ve ever seen. Seriously–we drove for three hours, finally getting within 6 miles of our destination, when the GPS told us that we still had another twenty minutes to go, and that we’d miss the reading entirely. So we tried to make the best of it: we got lunch at a schmancy little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that was decorated like a log cabin, then later met up with some very cool friends of hers to go to a very cool bar–Piratz Tavern in Silver Spring, MD. There was much grog drinking and rejoicing.

Us, in a parking lot, making the most of it.

Nicole, trying to hide her horror at the cost of a steak in this joint.

(I’ve also been sitting on a pretty big professional decision this weekend, which I’ll likely write about in a day or two.)

But Nicole’s gone now, headed back up to New Jersey, so it’s time for me to get some work done before my Sunday night television ecstasy of Mad Men and True Blood. And I’ve decided to put some time in on my submissions, which is where you guys come in. I’ve sent out my first batch of query letters on Seas Run Dry; eighteen, so far. And I’ve gotten two partial requests (yay!). That makes for an 11% request rate, which is nice, but could be nicer.

Last week I drafted a shorter pitch section for Adventures in Children’s Publishing’s query contest thingy, as they were requesting only 175 words. And I ended up liking my new pitch quite a bit, though it uses a different conceptual framework than my original query (as suggested by Sean Wills in my original query post, I’ve moved the conflict/the meeting of characters up to the beginning). I’m curious to see which you guys think is stronger. Take a looksie, please, vote in the poll below, and leave me comments if you have any other thoughts! Your taste could help determine THE FUTURE OF MY CAREER.

First up, query 1:

Seventeen-year-old Loril was raised by the people of the water. But though he was born in the sea, he’s not fully of it. As the son of a human man and a mermaid, Loril is a Walker, growing legs on the shore and a tail under the waves. But as he nears adulthood, shifting becomes increasingly painful. Soon he’ll have to choose between a bleak life with his dying pod or the alien world of a father he’s never met.

Eighteen-year-old Irene Cleveland also faces a choice. Wild and impetuous, she’s spent most of this final Jersey summer playing gigs at boardwalk bars with her band. Now August is simmering to a close, and she’s supposed to give it all up to chase her mother’s dream: a scholarship to a prestigious art school in the city. But Irene’s been considering ditching college completely so she can stay in the seamy seaside town she loves.

But then she meets Loril—lost among mankind as he searches for his dad—and her choice becomes a little more complicated.

Over the course of one tumultuous week, Loril begins to fall for Irene, hard. But he’s not sure what will happen when she discovers his secret. And though his pod waits for him, hoping he’ll one day take his place as their leader, he’ll soon discover the terrible truth about his human family—when one of them threatens the life of the girl he loves.

SEAS RUN DRY, complete at 75,000 words, is a paranormal romance for young adults.

And query 2:

When eighteen-year-old Irene Cleveland meets Loril Walker at the boardwalk diner where she works, she’s struck by his sparkling eyes and exotic accent. But she’s shocked to find out that he’s more than foreign—he is, in fact half-merman. He’s come to the boardwalk because he faces a choice: spend the rest of his life at sea with his dying pod or settle down in the alien world of a father he’s never met.

Irene’s been facing hard choices, too: breaking up her band, leaving her friends behind to go to art school in New York City. She’s even been considering ditching college completely to stay in the seamy seaside town she loves. Falling in love with Loril makes these choices a little more complicated. But his pod waits for him, hoping he’ll one day take his place as their leader. And soon the couple will discover the terrible truth about Loril’s human family—when one of them threatens Irene’s very life.

SEAS RUN DRY, complete at 75,000 words, is a paranormal romance for young adults.

Now vote here!

Thank you, as always, for your help guys!

Oh, and incidentally, if you’re not reading Sean’s book review blog, or watching Jaimie Teekell’s vlogs, then you’re not reading and watching vlogs. Or something. Really, I’m all about those two writers lately.

Queries

A writer-friend of mine (no, not from the MFA program, or from college, but from the IHOP I worked at when I was twenty, of all places!) emailed me just this morning to ask for query tips. I pointed her towards the Absolute Write forums and Kristin Nelson’s blog–and then a few hours later Gretchen McNeil posted this great entry on query letter writing.

PITCH

From the queries I’ve read and critiqued over the past few years, I find that this is the hardest concept for many writers. I know, I know, the middle section of your query is the synopsis part. I say, NO NO NO NO NO! It’s the PITCH section.

You are pitching your novel to an agent, you are trying to convince them that you have an interesting story that they want to read more of. You are NOT giving them a full synopsis complete with backstory, subplots and fully explained character motivations. Pitch your novel. Which leads me to…

PLOT

How much plot do you need in your “synopsis” section? About this much (*holds thumb and forefinger an inch apart*) Specifically: here’s my main character, here’s what’s happening to him or her, here’s what the stakes are. Take it right up to the point where your main character has to overcome the obstacles, then tease the end and get the hell out.

Don’t try to introduce all of your characters. Don’t explain the intricacies of your world-building. Don’t drop a bunch of names and places that don’t directly effect the arc of your main character.

Doesn’t that sound simple? Ha. Ha, ha.

Here’s my query for THE WITCH’S EYE, the one that landed me a Rockstar agent. One character. One main story arc. It establishes voice (*I* think) and setting. It teases the story but of course it really on grazes the surface of what the novel is about. But that’s the point. It’s a pitch!

Great advice!

She’s also holding a query-letter contest, so mosey on over to her blog if you want a chance to have an up-and-coming give your letter a once-over.