Taking the plunge...

Some of you may be wondering why I haven't said anything about sending out my next query letter. Well, I haven't sent it out yet. Besides having personal events that required my time and attention for a while, I've been researching the next agent on my list. Turns out she has a blog dedicated solely to critiquing query letters.

Here's how it works:
1. You read every single letter she's critiqued and learn as much as you can from them. There are over 150 people who have sent letters in and many of them have been critiqued 3 or 4 times.
2. You read the rules for how to submit your query letter. Very important because if you don't follow the rules, your letter gets deleted without being read.
4. You write your query letter.
5. A week later, you re-read your letter and make any changes you think need to be made.
6. You submit your letter... and wait.
7. She emails you when your letter is critiqued.
8. You read the notes she's made, make any changes that need to be made, and repeat steps 7 and 8 however many times you like.

There has been 1 letter that was perfect from the first draft and she asked for pages. There have been 7 more letter that went through revision a few times, but ended up perfect in the end... and she asked for pages. So, there's a lot of reading and studying on my part and even then, my chances of being asked for pages is like 1 in 19.

But, it is so worth it! I have no idea what I'm doing here. I've never done this before. This agent is basically giving people a chance to try again until they get it right. Of course, she expects the book to be as well written (if not better) than the query letter, so you need to apply what you've learned from her blog to your novel as well. But, I don't know of any other agent that gives you this kind of opportunity.

So, I've decided to send my query letter to her blog instead of straight to her. I wrote it about 10 days ago and have read over it again. Do I think it's good enough not to get a rejection letter? Probably not. But I have read and learned from every single query letter she has critiqued, and I've done the best I can. It won't hurt to try, right?

Wish me luck!

P.S. For any aspiring authors who want to know who this agent is and where to find her blog, please email me at odell.courtney@yahoo.com. For friends and family, sorry. I'd like to keep the humiliation to myself until she finally asks me for pages. I'm sure you understand. The blog redacts all personal information including my name, but you know enough from Dan's teaser to be able to figure out which letter is mine, being chopped to pieces for all to see. I'll be glad to post the finished product once pages have been requested.