I sent another query out today, for Chivalry. I sent it to Elizabeth Kracht at Kimberley Cameron & Associates. I chose her because she also at the TMCC Writer’s Conference. During the Q & A section of the conference I asked her why I felt like agents never got beyond my query letter and into my manuscript, and she said it’s probably because my query sucked. I reminded her of that in my letter. I was funny about it, and I think it might make her remember me, but I’m still not sure it was the right tone to take. I guess it’s part of the submission process to immediately doubt what you have sent off into the ether. Like for instance, did it get there? Will they open it up and see a bunch of dots that don’t mean anything? Will I ever know what I did wrong?

It’s amazing how much time and effort it takes, but I really want to get to a place where I have a couple of letters out at all times. That way, even when I’m hearing no, I’m still thinking yes. I learned a few things this time around. I learned that every agent is a little bit different, and so I’m going to have to rework my letter each time. I already knew that, and I think it is a good thing anyway–how could I send out form letters and get them right? I learned that it’s easier to see on the big computer, or that my eyes are getting bad, one or the other. I had to learn that because you can’t add an attachment on an iPad, while its easy on a full sized Mac. I’m sure there’s a reason for that. I’m sure there is. For me that means so much moving around between files, saving this here, putting this there, that I start to fear inadvertently changing my manuscript. So I learned to use word count to make sure I’m not doing that, and I learned to make a copy of everything, and then I learned to put a copy on a hard disk in a safe deposit box at the bank. Oh, and to do that I had to learn to partition a drive for a Mac.

Yeah, technology. It’s amazing how much of this stuff I have to get through just to be creative. Was I still creative today? Yes, I was. I wrote about spears, and people getting stabbed by them.