Photo by: Magnet.me
THE WAITING GAME 

You've polished your manuscript and you've sent out some queries.  Since it can take three or to six months to hear back from an agent, what will you do in the meantime?   

Here are some suggestions:   

• Develop a blog.  Write about the things that bring you joy or the things that get under your skin. Make it personal so people can relate.   

• Read other writer's blogs.  They can educate and entertain as well as spawn ideas for your blog posts.    

• Read picture books.  Find out what is being published.  Notice the word count.  Are the stories you're writing as clever and unique?

• Read articles on writing for kids.  Learn more about the craft of writing.  Discover the different ways to tell a story through lyricism, humor, and breaking the fourth wall.   

• Brush up your query letter.  Keep it to a page.  The shorter the better.  Include relevant facts about yourself that pertain to writing.

• Watch Youtube tutorials and webinars.  Learn about how to pitch a book and how to write a synopsis and a query.  Learn the facts about representation. 

• Connect with other writers.  Retweet and comment on Twitter.  Ask a writer a question via direct message.  Congratulate writers when they share big news. 

• Enter a writing contest.  Follow the contest guidelines and compose a story.  Winning a contest will boost your confidence and it may serve to beef up your bio.  Plus, you might win a nice prize.

• Develop your platforms.  Update your website at least once a month.  If possible, tweet once a day.  Post regularly on LinkedIn.  Make pins on Pinterest—which has the potential to drive traffic to your website.

• Begin a new piece.  Agents want writers to have a total of three manuscripts on hand.  Revisit older manuscripts and see if you can revise them to make them more marketable.

• Join a kidlit group on Facebook. Here you will find like-minded people that can give you support and advice.  

• Join a critique group.  Audition it first to see if it will meet your needs.  Learn how others approach writing.  See what others have to say about your writing.

In addition to all of the above, you may want to search online for more agents who would be good matches for your work.  You can reach out to other writers who might need help with revising a manuscript or composing a query letter.  

Waiting to hear back from an agent is part of writing game.  Hang in there.  Be productive.  Be patient.  Most of all be positive.  Now is the time to get creative with the time you have on your hands.

✌ and ♥

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Photo: Fa Barboza 

THE (DREADED) QUERY FORM   

I'm not embarrassed to say I check the status of my picture book submission once a week.

It's easy to do.  When writers submit a manuscript on Query Manager, they receive a link so they can check on an agent's decision.  

Query forms simplify the submission process for agents.  Though they are not complicated, I kind of dread filling one out.  There are a lot of areas that need to be completed.  Here's what agent Carlisle Webber's query form looks like. 

Generally speaking, writers are required to give their name, email, phone number, bio, book title, word count, and genre and supply a query letter, the manuscript, and a pitch.  Sometimes, there will be a space for a synopsis and similar books.  In addition, the agent may request Twitter and website addresses, which show a writer has a platform that can reach an audience.

For me, the challenging part is writing the synopsis.  A synopsis is not the same as the book description. The book description gives story highlights in an intriguing, selling kind of way without giving away the ending.  The synopsis describes the entire plot of the story and reveals the ending.  Because the query form can be daunting, it pays to have the synopsis and the book description already written (as well as the pitch and the query letter) so that these parts can be pasted into the form. 

Completing the query form is time-consuming and it feels like I'm jumping through hoops in order to please an agent.  Nevertheless, I try to fill it out carefully.  This could lead to an offer of representation. 

But each time I finish a form, I feel doubtful.  Have I spelled the agent's name correctly?  Are there any grammar mistakes?  Do the links to my website and Twitter work?  Is the query enticing?  Is the pitch snappy?  I read it multiple times over several days.  I say a prayer before I submit it.  Several prayers.

Then I check back, feeling a little nervous, until I read this message:  

No decision has been made about your query at this time. Please check back later.

And I will.  Because I can't help myself.  Because I've got to peek.  And once a week I will take a look, every hopeful of reading good news.     

✌ and ♥