It's November, so People are Writing

I never got into the whole November novel writing challenge stuff. I get it, though. It's a little extra boost of motivation, and a fun opportunity to engage with other writers in the community who are working towards the same goal. Mind you, I haven't been at it for all that long. Only about 5 years or so.

While I haven't written more than a single flash story over the past two months, I've been productive in other writing-related endeavors. Last week I submitted 6 shorts to magazines, and queried an indie publisher. Also, an agent on Twitter offered an excellent deal for the duration of the World Series - $15 query letter critiques! I couldn't turn that down and immediately reached out.

My first reaction to a couple of the suggestions were like, "no, I think I must have these parts right." But then I remembered that I'd sent a variation of this query letter nearly 200 times and have never even received a partial request. The best I've gotten were a handful of personal rejections with clear indications that they did actually read the sample pages (which is still kinda neat).

And so, I went ahead with this agent's recommendations. The spoiler content that I considered very hooky is gone, banished to the synopsis. My list of publications - gone. Added is a new paragraph providing the reader with something very important - stakes. Now I have comparables immediately following the sentence including the title, genres, and word count.  And as much as I personally dislike queries that end with a question, well, I'm going to try it out.

With my query letter revised, and my 1 and 2-page synopses updated, I went ahead and queried 6 agents this weekend. Hoping for better results this time around. Oh, that reminds me - one of them already sent me a rejection, and I received a magazine rejection this morning as well. So, I'm up to 123 rejections for the year now.

I don't think I've mentioned the book I'm trying to query again. It's called The Souled, and it's a speculative, apocalyptic horror novel. It's the second book I've written, and the only one I've done in first person. I thought for sure it would sell, but no such luck. It's the book I had out on a full request with an indie publisher, but they recently sent me a rejection. Hoping I can find it a home in traditional publishing. If not, I'll self-publish it like I did with Sex Robot, though when, I'm not sure. Guess it depends on when I get around to writing a Sex Robot sequel.

Well, guess I'll wrap it up with another mention of the World Series. Even if you don't follow baseball, it'd be hard to avoid the news that the Dodgers have won once again. The Jays had a chance to win it all on Friday, and then again on Saturday, but instead, they left 22 runners on base over those two games, and lost game 7 in extra innings. The number of chances they had to close things out is just mind-numbing.

Two outs away from a series win at the top of the 9th if they could simply maintain their 4-3 lead. Nope. Solo home run ties the game 4-4. Then we get to the bottom of the 9th. Bases loaded, only 1 out. Surely they can finish off LA here. Nope.

And of course there's more to discuss beyond the 9th inning, but I'll leave it be. Good gravy. Wonder if/when they'll ever get this close again. Still, big salute to our Toronto Blue Jays for a hell of a run. You mad lads deserved better, but hey, you did win the American League Championship. It's a big accomplishment.