Submission Improbable

Hello dear readers!

Yes, it's blog time again. Once more we will dive into the preceding week and explore the fun and frolics it's held. Of course as this is week far-too-many of lock-down that may mean this particular post ends in a couple of sentence's time.

Having said that, this week has not been completely devoid of incident, a lot of it to do with my continued efforts to write.

So, shall we?

Question Time
I suppose, if I was to indulge in the mindlessly optimistic for a moment, the lock down does have its advantages. I'm not talking about the reason for it, you understand. Covid-19 is still a completely unnecessary evil and every day it stalks these lands is a day too much.

Having to stay in, however, well that I don't mind so much. I'm an antisocial cove at the best of times, and lock-down simply gives me an actual reason to indulge in these proclivities. Having said that, I did go to two virtual pub quizzes last week. Not that I won any of them, or got many questions right, but I attended and actually spoke to some or more people.

Imperfect Match
Now, it is a fact often bemoaned by those that know me best that I like my me time. It gives me space to think, time to ponder, and this week it gave me time to sharpen my query letter, rewrite my synopsis, and get a query across to a literary agent I've been eyeing as a good match for a while.

You read the agents bio on the agency website you see. You can even visit a website called Manuscript Wish List (MSWL) or stalk people on social media (not creepy, honest). All of this informs you of that particular agent's taste, and what they are looking to appear in their inbox. This particular lady seemed to be looking for fantasy (yup), mystery (guilty), and in particularly something set in 1930s America (bingo!). Sadly, her reply although prompt and polite was not in the positive. It is, however the first one I've ever got back.

To put this in context I started querying back in February. My initial burst of activity consisting of three queries. I was going to do more at that point, but I thought it an idea to wait, see what came back and if there might be a little feedback to help me with the next batch. As you can probably tell my expectations for being picked up straight away were on the low side, but you have to start somewhere.

Perfect Tense
Now of those initial three queries I am yet to hear back from, um, three of them. One did mention a timescale of 6-8 weeks for a yes and if no contact in that time it was a no, so that one I a probably put to bed as well. The other two however, stated up to 12 weeks,meaning technically they're still 'live'.

One of the aforementioned two was on a form which has a field for the agents response. This still says 'No decision has been made'. I look at it everyday, careering between hope and despair like a man walking a tightrope and watching someone climb the rope ladder with a pair of scissors.

Anyway, to cut a long story ever so slightly less long, it leaves me not knowing. Not knowing if the mustard can be cut, the bar met. Luckily a  perfect opportunity arose with almost perfect timing.

Competition Time
It's called RevPit, and it's a competition which has been run on twitter. You send off your query letter, as you would to an agent, but this time the recipients are two editors (and one alternate). Each editor (of which there are upwards of twenty) will each receive 100 queries of which they will choose their top two to receive prizes. The winning entry will receive a full, month long edit of their book.

Of course personal preference, and a smidgen of luck is needed, but should I be lucky enough to win it would be immensely important, potentially silencing the demons of doubt, and help me to knock the rough piece of clay I've hewn into something worthy of standing somewhere quite close to an art gallery (perhaps somewhere near the loos).

All that remains is something I've grown quite good at in the last month and a half, and that's waiting. hopefully not too long this time.

Until next time...