1,254 days from query to contract. But who's counting?

Me!

The publication trek can be exhausting, discouraging, debilitating, frustrating, and yes, even exhilarating. As so many of us grind through an emotional and consuming submission process, I decided to pause for a moment, to look back in time.

Fogg in the Cockpit was released a year ago, after a long publication journey. Were our travails abnormal or fairly typical? From rejections, to no responses, to referrals, to a contract offer that faded to naught, to a lost manuscript, to multiple offers, everything seemed to happen. Ultimately though, we landed a contract with Casemate, a terrific, supportive publisher.

My husband and I started working on this book in 2004 and completed the first 60,000 word draft in early 2007. It was time to send out queries!

• 1st Query 03/24/07 Talbot Fortune Agency: Rejection
  2nd Query 04/02/07 Dystel & Goderich Literary Management: Rejection 
• 3rd Query 05/07/07 Stackpole Books: No response 
• 4th Query 07/30/07 Potomac Books: Rejection 
• 5th Query 05/08/08 University Press of New England: Rejection 
• 6th Query 05/08/08 Naval Institute Press: Rejection 
• 7th Query 05/11/08 Carlton Publishing Group: No response 
• 8th Query 05/11/08 Burford Books: 06/12/08 Burford requested sample chapters, 06/20/08 sent sample chapters, 06/21/08 declined 
• 9th Query 05/11/08 Westholme Publishing: No response
• 10th Query 05/11/08 Camroc Press: 05/13/08 Camroc requested sample chapters, 06/20/08 Camroc requested full manuscript, 07/03/08 declined and suggested we try a university press 
• 11th Query 05/18/08 WW Norton: No response 
• 12th Query 05/28/08 Skyhorse Publishing: Rejection 
• 13th Query: 05/29/08 to Hellgate Press: No response for 21 months (see below) 
• 14th Query: 05/30/08 to Schiffer Publishing: Rejection 
• 15th Query: 07/08/08 to Utah State University Press: 07/09/08 USU requested two copies of full manuscript, 07/10/08 USU acknowledged receipt of manuscripts via email, no further response 
• 16th Query7/25/08 to University Press of Kentucky: Rejection
• 17th Re-query 11/21/08 to Stackpole (referral from one of their authors): Rejection
• 18th Query 03/09/09 to University of Oklahoma Press 03/16/09: requested full, no further response despite several follow-up emails
• 19th Query 05/01/09 to FPP Aviation: 05/03/09 FPP requested full manuscript, 05/05/09 sent full manuscript

Months passed. Who said silence is golden? I would rather receive a rejection than no response!

We decided to self-publish, read Lulu’s guidelines and registered with them. Then dogged determination visited and we decided to send out a few more queries. Just a few.

Our last salvo:

• 20th Query December 29, 2009 to Norlights Press: Rejected
• 21st Query January 3, 2010 to Casemate Publishers

I have to pause now to re-visit the 19th Query that we sent on 05/01/09. On 02/18/10 we received an email from FPP stating they wanted to make an offer. (Happy dance!) On 02/23/10 we met with publisher, received a verbal contract offer, and were told that a contract would follow. On 03/27/10 we sent a follow-up email re: status of contract.  No response.

Yet again that dreaded no response.

But then everything happened at once.

• 03/29/10: Received a charming response to the 10th query we’d sent 21 months previously. In summary, our query and sample chapters had been misplaced by the press during a move. Hellgate requested a full manuscript which we sent 03/30/10.

One day later…

• 03/31/10: Received an email from Casemate (21st query) expressing interest. “We would be very interested to discuss this project further as we feel this is a very interesting story and perspective on the war.” 04/06/10: Casemate scheduled a conference call with us. 04/08/10: Received a verbal offer from Casemate contingent upon increasing word count from 60,000 to at least 75,000, but preferably over 100,000. 04/09/10: Sent additional material to Casemate to show that we could, indeed, increase the word count.

But wait, there’s more!

• 04/13/10: Received an offer from Hellgate, the press that had moved their offices and misplaced our query for 21 months.

Now what? Casemate was interested but we had a bird in the hand. Two, if you counted FPP, though we were now skeptical about them as they hadn’t responded to our emails.

• 04/15/10: We let Hellgate know that we had an offer from Casemate. The Hellgate editor was terrific. He assured us his offer would stand while we decided who to go with. He complimented Casemate, said they were a great press.

We debated the pros and cons of the offers. And then debated some more.

• 04/21/10: Let Casemate know that we had an offer from Hellgate.

Paranoia reigned. No word from Casemate.

• 05/14/10: Casemate scheduled a conference call to review contract terms.
• 05/25/10: Back to the 19th Query, FPP. Still no response to our follow-up emails or a voice mail, so we sent a letter and email withdrawing our manuscript.
• 05/25/10: Let Hellgate know that we were going to accept Casemate’s offer.
• 06/20/10: Sent additional material to Casemate with estimated new word count. 07/08/10: Still no contract draft from Casemate, sent follow-up email.

We were now considering going back to Hellgate.

• 07/26/10: Phoned Casemate and left a message re: status of contract. 07/28/10: Casemate phoned us, explained the delay, and reinforced their interest in the manuscript. Reviewed terms, deadlines, and estimated publication date. They would need the bulked up manuscript by 11/01/10. Yikes! We asked if we could have one more month, until 11/30/10. 09/01/10: Received the contract.

We received the contract!

• Deadline for submittal of the bulked-up manuscript was 11/01/10.  

Wait! What happened to the extra month we requested?  Oh well, we can do it!

• 09/03/10: Mailed signed contract to Casemate.

Time for champagne! Pop!!

This might have been an overly verbose way of reminding everyone, including myself, that it takes stamina, persistence, and determination to get published. To borrow from Galaxy Quest, a shorter message might be, “Never give up! Never surrender!” 

by Janet Fogg

Janet Fogg is the author of Soliloquy, an award-winning historic romance, and co-author of the military history bestseller, Fogg in the Cockpit.

Just Do It!

by Pat Stoltey

Sunday morning I did something I haven't done in a long time. After I finished reading the paper, I poured a cup of coffee and went into the living room for a thinking session. There's a special chair in there for meditating or puzzling through a problem. It's a beige swivel rocker that can be turned toward the picture window. Rocking seems to help my thinking process, moving it along in a way. The motion is calming, and don't we all think better when we're calm?

What I needed to think about was:

Reading, critiquing, blogging, and tweeting,
Lallygagging, sleeping, gardening, and eating,
There's not enough time to do them all,
Who in the flying hell do I call?

For help, I mean. Is there such a thing as procrastination-busters? A group dedicated to breaking the television/movie habit? How about a twelve-step method for beating the "meet me for coffee at Starbucks" or "let's do lunch" addiction?

The same two manuscripts I was talking about three months ago, one that needed "one more good read" and the other that was ready for revisions, have somehow been dumped back into the "one more good read" category. They're printed out, sitting on the otherwise clean and dust free dining room table, waiting patiently.

Meanwhile, I'm fiddling with my own blog and making contacts to schedule more guest bloggers, collecting information for the Chiseled in Rock posts, doing what needs to be done to publish my second Sylvia and Willie mystery on Kindle and Nook, and playing Spider Solitaire. I had two raised garden beds installed, so I'm outside more, watering and finding new things to plant. I'm planning a couple of trips to visit family, and Skyping with the granddaughter and her mommy and daddy as often as their schedule permits. I rewrite my To Do List daily, but I've recently noticed it doesn't have anything on it about daily writing time.

What is it about sitting down to write or revise, or to send out those queries and submissions, that's so difficult? I see the question pondered over and over by writers. I did get a little poke from my Horoscope on Sunday though. (Yes, I read my Horoscope. When you stop giggling, read on.) It said:

"It won't help you to be a perfectionist now. Get your work out there in whatever form it happens to exist, at least to a small audience who would help you take it to the next level."

So I thought and thought and rocked and rocked. What I finally decided as I sipped my coffee and rocked is this: Revising my manuscripts forever is one more form of procrastination. It's a lot of work compiling a list of agents and/or publishers, checking out the submission guidelines, writing a separate query for each one, logging the submissions on a spreadsheet, and on and on.

It's painful waiting for replies to queries that never come. And what if an agent or publisher likes a book and wants me to produce another one in a year? Could I do that? On the other hand, what if every rejection is accompanied by constructive feedback, but all the feedback is different? What will I do then? Maybe I better revise the novels one more time before I send those queries.

So Sunday morning I rocked, thought about my procrastination as irrational fear, took a deep breath and let it out. I felt better. Even felt a little bit like working on that final proofread and putting together my agent list with notes on submission guidelines for each. Just do it, I thought. Just do it.

But first, I set the sun tea jug outside, wrote this blog post and pre-scheduled it for today, pre-scheduled Bailey Cates' (aka Cricket McRae) post on my own blog for yesterday, dug up the dying lavender plant near the house and replaced it with gladiolus bulbs, and scheduled a Super Shuttle pickup to the airport for my upcoming trip.

And so it goes.

This is an updated version of a 2010 post on my own blog.

Interview with Agent Sharon Belcastro

Interview with Agent Sharon Belcastro
by j.a. kazimer

It is my pleasure to interview my agent, Sharon Belcastro of the Belcastro Agency for the Chiseled in Rock Blog. Sharon's been my agent for over four years, and I cannot say enough good stuff about her, but I'll let you read for yourself.

JK: Welcome Sharon. Thank you for taking time to answer a few questions for us. First off, can you tell our readers what genres you accept and what sort of thing you're currently looking for?

SB: Thank you Julie. I am so humbled by your kind words and your interest to interview me because I’m really not that interesting. Ha ha. We accept fantasy, all things paranormal, historical fiction, literary fiction, women’s fiction, YA, crime, thriller and suspense, true crime and crime fiction. We aren’t so crazy about chick lit, erotica or straight romance. Right now we are looking for that novel that is unique and addictive regardless of genre. One that grabs us from the first chapter. You know like, "Opening my good eye, I tried to focus, something I regretted immediately. Ivan wasn’t wearing pants, or underwear, or skin for that matter. He stood in front of me in full muscle, veined, and skinless splendor. 'Laundry day?' I gestured to his sagging pectorals." (from The Body Dwellers by me. I told you that Sharon rocks!).

JK: How did you get started in the publishing/agent business?

SB: I’ve always been a geeky book worm. While all the other kids in the neighborhood were playing kick the can, I was sitting on the steps reading a book. But it took me a lot of years to realize I could actually do something with that passion. After a degree in engineering, a master’s in business and 20 years in corporate America, I decided I wanted to really LOVE my job rather than just make a good living. So I took all that I had learned from the business side, took a year studying the publishing business, brought on the talent I needed from the writing side in my partner Ella Marie and launched Belcastro Agency.

JK: How many queries do you receive in an average week? From those, how many requests do you make?

SB: We receive about 50 queries per week and may request 2-3 full manuscripts although we only sign 1 in several hundred manuscripts.

JK: What unique features make you sign a client/manuscript?

SB: A really unique voice and concept and a writer that is not completely head over heels in love with themselves.

JK: What is the most important thing a writer can do for their career?

SB: When it comes to writing, read-read-read. After being published, get your name out there through every outlet applicable. Find all the Facebook pages and communities that relate to your genre and get engaged. Share your advice, experience, expertise, articles you find helpful, everywhere and anywhere you can. Of course mentioning your book as often as you can without being too obnoxious about it.

JK: (CURSES! CURSES! CURSES! CURSES! CURSES! CURSES! CURSES! CURSES! CURSES!) Oops, sorry about that...

JK: What are your current favorite books?

SB: Besides those from our beloved authors of course, I’m tending toward the quirky or the literary these days. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein, anything Christopher Moore, Mistress Shakespeare by Karen Harper, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier, Water for Elephants, The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S King, Henrietta Hornbuckle's Circus of Life by Michael de Guzman and currently reading The Midget's House (A Circus Story...A Love Story...A Ghost Story) by Anita Bartholomew. I could go on for hours. And I just noticed there seems to be a circus theme running through my list. Hmmmmm.

JK: Thoughts on E/Indie Publishing? Will it eat all of publishing as we know it?

SB: Given the way of movie and music stores, I’d say it’s really going to put up one heck of a fight if it doesn’t.

JK: And finally, what advice do you have for new writers?

SB: Read, read, read. Learn what agents and editors are looking for and not looking for in terms of writing. Ask for and take criticism well. And finally, don’t start your query letter with, “I’m giving you two weeks to read my future best selling novel…………”


Thank you, Sharon, for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us
Thank you girl. Love you loads!
.
If you are interested in learning more about or the guidelines for submission at the Belcastro Agency, please visit http://www.belcastroagency.com/

A Little Bit You Always Wanted to Know About Queries

By Pat Stoltey

The truth is, you can't learn everything there is to know about queries. Agents have their own ideas about what makes a great query letter, and those ideas vary according to the agent's personal and literary preferences. Published authors give conflicting advice because what worked for one didn't necessarily work for the next.

One thing I spotted last week made great sense, however. Don't advertise your query process in articles, blog posts, or newsletters. I first spotted Janet Reid, Literary Agent's post on "what she said" and followed Janet's link to Jessica Faust's "Thought for the Day" on the Bookends, LLC blog. These two posts are very short and worth your attention.

Here is a list of great resources, most of them from Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents Blog (and if you don't already subscribe to Chuck's GLA newsletter, you're missing a lot of good information because that's where I spotted the links listed below).

10/6/09 Guide to Literary Agents blog What Should You Write in the Bio Paragraph of a Query Letter?

1/22/10 Chuck Sambuchino at Joyce Hart's blog, From the Heart: Hartline Literary Agency 10 Smart Questions About the Query Process

2/3/10 Guide to Literary Agents blog How to Trim Your Query to 250 Words (or Fewer): Advice from Agent Janet Reid

3/19/10 Guide to Literary Agents blog 5 Query Letter Tips

6/22/10 Anne Gallagher at Guide to Literary Agents blog The 5 Stages of Querying

11/11/10 Guide to Literary Agents blog Agent Mollie Glick Talks: 7 Things Agents Want to See in a Query, and 9 Things They Don't

5/6/11 Ted Fox at Guide to Literary Agents blog The Art of the Query, Humor Style

If anyone else has a link to an outstanding article or blog post on the query process, let us know.

Crazy Eights - The Query Game!

by Janet Fogg

Remember the card game Crazy Eights, where the object of the game is to be the first to get rid of all of your cards?

So how many queries do you have out? Right now! Today! At least eight, I hope. Why? No, it’s not because I think sending out query after query implies any hint of mental instability. Well, maybe a little, but I’m just as crazy. The real reason is because the number eight is a most auspicious number, and as writers we can use all the luck we can find.

A few years ago my good friend and Sister of the Quill, Karen Albright Lin, began a new manuscript in which several of her characters regularly seek out the number eight in their everyday lives. Travel on the eighth day of the eighth month is particularly lucky; they own eight copies of a book, eight nail-clippers, and so on. Karen explained to our critique group that Asian cultures go out of their way for the number eight. Phone numbers and addresses that include the number eight are sought after and often purchased. Eight is the lucky number and means you will prosper.

The Sisters of the Quill then casually adopted the number eight. We nudged one another to send out queries in batches of eight, which ultimately evolved into keeping eight queries out at all times, until a manuscript is accepted. Receive a rejection? Get another query out! No excuses, though ten minutes of angst is allowed. Keep it at eight queries because that’s luckier than six or seven. Last summer I even found myself pulling weeds to the count of eight, though in retrospect it occurs to me that the weeds weren’t particularly lucky. Alas, poor weeds, I knew them well.

Am I really that superstitious? Are my Sisters of the Quill? I don’t think so. But I do believe that writers need a modicum of luck, a great deal of perseverance, and a granite-like streak of stubbornness. Yes, our writing has to sing with our own unique voices, but if we don’t query we’ll never get published, and rejection can beat you down. So you have to be stubborn. You have to persevere. Plus you have to find the right agent or editor at the right moment. That’s where the luck comes in. But if you’re not stubborn enough to keep at it, you’ll never get lucky! They’re truly symbiotic. Crazy, isn’t it?

In the card game Crazy Eights, each player receives eight cards. Players discard their cards by matching either the rank or suit of the top card on the remaining stack of cards. If you can’t match a card you draw another. First player to discard all of her cards wins. Sound familiar? Our manuscripts have to match what an agent or editor seeks. That means we have to keep playing the game by researching exactly what they want, and then throw down our card by getting that query out the door. Why not seek out luck as well? Why not keep eight queries in circulation until you win? Yes, it’s a bit of a game, but if you don’t throw down, well, you know what happens then.

Who wants to shuffle?

(This time next week? Join me for: Snow Write and the Seven Thwarts!)

Rejection angst? Try my Rule of Ten!

From the (very messy) desk of Janet Fogg.

Years ago, after struggling with repeated rejection angst, I developed my Rule of Ten (Minutes). At first it was a Rule of One (Day). But as my skin thickened, I started to believe agents when they explained that they repeatedly reject worthy books simply because those books “just aren’t right for them.” So I shortened my one day to one hour, and ultimately, to ten minutes.

Here’s the rule: If I receive a rejection, I can wallow in self pity, pull my hair, wail, rip the rejection to shreds, burn it, whatever soothes my soul, but only for ten minutes. Then I’m done. Fini. Minute eleven finds me pressing the “send” button on a new query.

This does require some preparation. I have to know who is next on my list. (Heh!) I have to be certain they’re currently accepting queries and passionate about my genre. I have to keep my query letter fresh. Plus, if I’m away from my “home” computer, I have to have the discipline to not open an email from an agent or editor until I’m poised for action and ready to react at minute eleven.

While this might sound like a game, and perhaps it is, the Rule of Ten works. On minute eleven, optimism reigns yet again. My new query is off and this new agent or editor might love my work. I might receive a great offer!

But let’s get back to coping with a potential rejection. Yes, when a writer offers their beloved novel to an agent or editor, we are handing them part of our soul and rejection is painful. But remind yourself, a query is a business letter, as is the dreaded rejection letter. Sure, a standard “form” rejection that’s been used thousands of times might feel more like a kick in the gut than business as usual, but if we had to read and respond to 500 queries a week, every week, it might seem more logical and less hurtful.

With the Rule of Ten firmly in place, and after numerous rejections, what ultimately evolved was that I no longer needed even ten minutes to wallow and mope. Yes, I often experienced a pang or two, but my Rule of Ten kept me positive and enthusiastic about getting published. And it worked!

While I’m not blasé about receiving rejection letters, by sending another query at minute eleven, I know I’ll have new hope. I then type happily onward rather than beating my breast for weeks and vowing never to send another query. Or worse yet, vowing to abandon all hope and never write again. In the next few weeks, when I again begin to send out queries, I shall apply my Rule of Ten. Who’s with me?

(This time next week? Join me for: Don't edit yet! Take nine!)

What kind of cars do you write? Cars?

Do you mean books? No, I mean cars.

While pondering ways for a friend to assuage rejection-letter blues and push her next queries out the door, I wondered what would make it easier to be objective about the query process. For example, is it possible to step back and think of a manuscript as something that was once locked away in storage, but is now polished and ready to sell? Being a bit of a car geek (and the wife of a serious car geek), I immediately thought of cars. I then thought, what kind of cars do I write?

I'm currently focused on two manuscripts, the priority being a collaborative effort, an action-filled romantic suspense. Since a car is significant to the plot, I naturally thought of the classic Camaro in our book, a good choice to describe a sexy, fast read. A sleek, beautiful car that turns heads.

What about other genres? I might describe literary fiction as an elegant Jaguar E-type. This timeless design has been cherished for decades but is a bit cranky to maintain.

Action packed thriller? The typical answer might be a BMW M5, but how about a Nissan GT-R, instead? The computer displays G-forces? Zero to sixty in what?! Get out of my way!

Sci-Fi? A Lamborghini, of course. The Gallardo’s growl-chuff when you shift gears is visceral, and that edgy body style? Oh, my!

Traditional western? Built Ford tough. F150, Marlboro Man.

But shift into reverse. If we drive our Camaro to the car show, who’s going to want to test drive it? An agent who only sells economy cars? He could care less. So we shouldn’t be crushed if he doesn’t even glance at our gleaming steed. And if we pitch to an agent who specializes in muscle cars and she doesn’t ask for the keys, should we then drive off a cliff and never submit again? No. Her rejection could simply be due to bad timing. She might already have six equally fine Camaros and a couple of GTOs to sell, and doesn’t want another one right now. So we have to be patient and keep our car bright and shiny and on the market. And when we do find the right agent? He’ll know this acquiring editor in New York with a huge parking garage…

What kind of cars do you write?

Janet Fogg