Now that I'm over half-way through my edits--and, with Fall Break on the horizon, I'm hopeful to make additional strides--I need to spend time researching who would be interested in my "spaceships meet dragons" story.
I wrote (under the tag of "story journal") about my lengthy process writing and revising Writ in Blood. I also talked about some of the failures of that book in terms of finding representation. I have continued writing in the face of that defeat, now well into my eighth book since I graduated high school (which isn't that many, when I put it that way). The one I'm working on now, however, was my sixth novel. That means I'm close to publishing, or halfway there, depending on whose success story you're reading.
As I've put more time into my craft, trying to hone my feeble skills, I go through flashes of excitement and possibility, then crashes of dismay and defeat. It comes in part because I can't get consistent momentum--it can take as short as ten minutes to edit a chapter, or as long as an hour, depending on what I have to do. Also, as I have written, read, and redlined the thing, passing through the story four times minimum (one outline, one writing, on reading, one editing, and now, I guess, a fifth time--though that's not reading every word), I'm less confident that my editing process is generating what I really want. If I wish to improve this novel even more, I have to pore over every word and decide if it's worth keeping. And I don't know if I love my story--any of my stories--enough to want to do that.
What's it about, though? Well, I threw out my elevator pitch up at the top: it's a world where dragons and spaceships meet. While that sounds like a cool hook (to me, at least), it is only one component of many in the world, and--as far as hooks go--is even less enlightening about my story in general. I wrote a query letter--a one-page long explanation of the major plot points and characters that would be sent to a publishing agent in the hopes of representation--with my group. This provides a more detailed look at the book Conduits (which needs a new title, but whatever), and I hope will convince an agent to dig a little deeper into what I've written. Here's the pitch:
And that's my current level. I have the book. I'm almost done editing it. I have to start researching (again) the agents that I think may be interested in what I've written. I need to send out my query. Yet it doesn't sound good to me--too much like my own voice on a tape recorder.
In the end, I'll submit. Of course I'll submit. Part of it is that I'm stubborn. Part of it is I don't want to be a hypocrite about how it is to be a writer, since I've told my students so much about the process. Part of it is that...I don't know. I don't like querying, I don't like researching, I don't like doing this stuff*. So why push it?
That's a good query.
---
* Yes, I know about self-publishing. I know a lot about it. The dreams of being an author that I've cherished since I was six or seven don't fit into the requirements needed to succeed as a self-publishing author. I will have to change my aspirations before I can follow that path, and as of now, those dreams are fixated on being able to walk into a bookstore and see my book, sharing shelf-space with role models and literary heroes. That won't happen in the self-pub region.
I wrote (under the tag of "story journal") about my lengthy process writing and revising Writ in Blood. I also talked about some of the failures of that book in terms of finding representation. I have continued writing in the face of that defeat, now well into my eighth book since I graduated high school (which isn't that many, when I put it that way). The one I'm working on now, however, was my sixth novel. That means I'm close to publishing, or halfway there, depending on whose success story you're reading.
As I've put more time into my craft, trying to hone my feeble skills, I go through flashes of excitement and possibility, then crashes of dismay and defeat. It comes in part because I can't get consistent momentum--it can take as short as ten minutes to edit a chapter, or as long as an hour, depending on what I have to do. Also, as I have written, read, and redlined the thing, passing through the story four times minimum (one outline, one writing, on reading, one editing, and now, I guess, a fifth time--though that's not reading every word), I'm less confident that my editing process is generating what I really want. If I wish to improve this novel even more, I have to pore over every word and decide if it's worth keeping. And I don't know if I love my story--any of my stories--enough to want to do that.
What's it about, though? Well, I threw out my elevator pitch up at the top: it's a world where dragons and spaceships meet. While that sounds like a cool hook (to me, at least), it is only one component of many in the world, and--as far as hooks go--is even less enlightening about my story in general. I wrote a query letter--a one-page long explanation of the major plot points and characters that would be sent to a publishing agent in the hopes of representation--with my group. This provides a more detailed look at the book Conduits (which needs a new title, but whatever), and I hope will convince an agent to dig a little deeper into what I've written. Here's the pitch:
Nothing about dragons in this one. Since it's only one plot point in the whole 120,000 story, I don't feel like I should emphasize it, yet I think it's a selling point. Rereading this thing, I'm not impressed. I don't know if I would want to invest time in reading, buying, representing, or doing anything with the book.Andi was genetically crafted as a military agent for this type of mission: To retrieve an escaped prisoner on an unexplored planet. She has a personal stake in it, too. If successful, she will have access to classified intel about her father, a mysterious figure in the dim edges of her memories. Unfortunately, everything goes wrong: Her spaceship is attacked before she arrives, she barely survives a crash landing, she’s isolated from her support, and she has to finish her mission without all of the information she needs.One part of missing information? There are people on the planet. Not other spacefarers who arrived before she did--native inhabitants who are human in every way, save one: They have magic. Using sunlight and colors, they exhibit enhanced behaviors--speed, memory, strength, and more. Surprised, Andi decides to work with two natives who help her to navigate the world. As they travel, however, Andi learns that her target--the escaped prisoner--has already worked with the native societies and has fled to an area where none of the inhabitants dare go.Pulled into the world’s politics, Andi is tortured and left for dead as the people who attacked her in space begin an invasion on the planet. With her friends in tow, Andi must fight anyone who gets in her way, while at the same time learning more about the mysterious planet, her elusive prey, and her own murky past.
And that's my current level. I have the book. I'm almost done editing it. I have to start researching (again) the agents that I think may be interested in what I've written. I need to send out my query. Yet it doesn't sound good to me--too much like my own voice on a tape recorder.
In the end, I'll submit. Of course I'll submit. Part of it is that I'm stubborn. Part of it is I don't want to be a hypocrite about how it is to be a writer, since I've told my students so much about the process. Part of it is that...I don't know. I don't like querying, I don't like researching, I don't like doing this stuff*. So why push it?
That's a good query.
---
* Yes, I know about self-publishing. I know a lot about it. The dreams of being an author that I've cherished since I was six or seven don't fit into the requirements needed to succeed as a self-publishing author. I will have to change my aspirations before I can follow that path, and as of now, those dreams are fixated on being able to walk into a bookstore and see my book, sharing shelf-space with role models and literary heroes. That won't happen in the self-pub region.
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