#AmQuerying

I am officially a querying author!!!

Today, I took the time to finally send out my query to 9 different literary agents. It was the scariest thing I've done in months.

I just got to the point where I couldn't keep staring at my query letter or bio or synopsis or pitch or comp titles any longer. The novel itself is also to the point where I quite literally can't even read it. Every time I would sit down to try another round of edits, I would find my mind wandering to other things while the book still played out in the back of my mind like the reality TV I listen to while I cook. I just know the story and the characters too well to make anymore valuable changes.

I decided to send queries exclusively on QueryTracker because of the ease of use and the ability to keep track of the queries in one place. It was a really easy platform to use, and I'm hopeful that it leads to success.

There were several literary agents that I felt I would connect with really well on more than just a book level. Some of them have traits that I think are very important to my type of writing. For example, one of the agents went to the University of Kansas for their undergrad which I literally mention in my novel because it is so heavily based on the Kansas experience. Another agent talked in their bio about how influential their grandmothers were to their reading journey, and my grandma was literally my best friend and sparked my love of reading and always fostered my storytelling.

This copy of Pride and Prejudice was gifted to my grandma by her parents and now resides with me.

Of course, I will be disappointed if I don't get picked up by any of these agents (even though it is almost guaranteed that I won't get an agent in my first round of submissions). I am trying my hardest not to get my hopes up too high, but I also can't help being excited. It's that perfect combination of pursuing your dream and fearing failure.

However, like I always tell my students, the only people without dreams are the ones afraid of failing. I will never become a published author if I just keep sitting around waiting for my stories to be perfect. Dreams don't attain themselves.

This all might have something to do with the fact that I just turned 27 and realized I need an agent like yesterday to get a book in stores before I'm 30. The fear of aging is also a powerful motivator!