I am now accepting queries from literary agents who wish to represent my novel. I ask only that you please keep orderly as you stand in line. I appreciate you all but can only accept the greatest. Thank you for your understanding.
I don’t think it’s changed how I write fiction. It’s definitely changed how I write nonfiction (like this essay), because I wasn’t writing any essays before YouTube. I thought I didn’t have any opinions. Certainly not any worth sharing. So learning how to share info & opinion in a video essay is very similar to how I approach writing a Substack piece.
I had exactly the same reaction to my first novel. Mostly silence. Couple of full requests and then a difficult decision about what to do next. I put it away and started the next one, and I'll go back into the query trenches when it's done.
I enjoyed your frank and honest account here about why you want an agent and a publishing deal because my feelings are the same - and this can be hard to explain to people who've read my first book, enjoyed it and don't understand why I haven't just launched it into the world without backing. I'm not saying I never will, but it's not what I want right now.
Also, you're the first person outside of my husband I've seen referencing Soul Man (to the point where I convinced myself we'd hallucinated it). It would make a good video - if you're taking suggestions. 😉
Good luck with your querying. I look forward to reading your book someday.
Yeah, my sense is the “first novel goes ignored” story is more common than not. As my bookseller friend tells me: “the move is to sell your second book and then show your editor your first manuscript and that comes out second.” Not sure how realistic that is, but it’s the dream!
The Dua Lipa video is how I found you - it was awesome! The platform I’m sure will only help and I’m glad you’ve found it fun and meaningful either way. Good luck!
Great post, congrats on finishing the novel! You’ve another battle ahead but finishing that draft is a step that many never get to and I hope you’re taking the time to be properly proud of yourself :) Thanks for shedding some light on this process. As someone interested in publishing one day, but with little to no insight into how, I so appreciate bloggers and Youtubers who go in depth on the process and document their travails. Good luck!
Haha, without that blissful ignorance, young writers would probably stop before putting pen to paper, so maybe a good thing? (This is what I tell myself to get through the scaries, though.)
Wonderful post as always. I really enjoy the tone you have in a lot of your videos and posts here on Substack, it always makes me crack a smile. Querying seems very, very, daunting—I work in software and am much more used to using the word “query” when I’m pulling information from databases, which is a much more pleasant association, I think. Best of luck to your endeavors!
It's crazy that I used to work in tech and yet that other "query" definition didn't cross my mind! The power dynamic between a database and a user is definitely less fraught! Thanks for the kind words.
However you get your book out, I look forward to reading it. Love your work.
Parker is great! I know her from my YA debuts. An excellent writer, with a very dry, amusing affect.
Yeah I've got to read one of her books. "Very dry, amusing affect" is one of my favorite affects.
Pulling hard for ya!
I am now accepting queries from literary agents who wish to represent my novel. I ask only that you please keep orderly as you stand in line. I appreciate you all but can only accept the greatest. Thank you for your understanding.
Did making the youtube videos change the way you write or add any details to your novel that wouldn't have been there?
I don’t think it’s changed how I write fiction. It’s definitely changed how I write nonfiction (like this essay), because I wasn’t writing any essays before YouTube. I thought I didn’t have any opinions. Certainly not any worth sharing. So learning how to share info & opinion in a video essay is very similar to how I approach writing a Substack piece.
I had exactly the same reaction to my first novel. Mostly silence. Couple of full requests and then a difficult decision about what to do next. I put it away and started the next one, and I'll go back into the query trenches when it's done.
I enjoyed your frank and honest account here about why you want an agent and a publishing deal because my feelings are the same - and this can be hard to explain to people who've read my first book, enjoyed it and don't understand why I haven't just launched it into the world without backing. I'm not saying I never will, but it's not what I want right now.
Also, you're the first person outside of my husband I've seen referencing Soul Man (to the point where I convinced myself we'd hallucinated it). It would make a good video - if you're taking suggestions. 😉
Good luck with your querying. I look forward to reading your book someday.
Yeah, my sense is the “first novel goes ignored” story is more common than not. As my bookseller friend tells me: “the move is to sell your second book and then show your editor your first manuscript and that comes out second.” Not sure how realistic that is, but it’s the dream!
Thanks for the shout out! We’re all just throwing skittles at dolphins, aren’t we?
The Dua Lipa video is how I found you - it was awesome! The platform I’m sure will only help and I’m glad you’ve found it fun and meaningful either way. Good luck!
I can’t wait to read your book!
Great post, congrats on finishing the novel! You’ve another battle ahead but finishing that draft is a step that many never get to and I hope you’re taking the time to be properly proud of yourself :) Thanks for shedding some light on this process. As someone interested in publishing one day, but with little to no insight into how, I so appreciate bloggers and Youtubers who go in depth on the process and document their travails. Good luck!
Glad you enjoyed it! When I started writing I had so little sense of how the industry works. Not sure if that was for the best or not...
Haha, without that blissful ignorance, young writers would probably stop before putting pen to paper, so maybe a good thing? (This is what I tell myself to get through the scaries, though.)
Wonderful post as always. I really enjoy the tone you have in a lot of your videos and posts here on Substack, it always makes me crack a smile. Querying seems very, very, daunting—I work in software and am much more used to using the word “query” when I’m pulling information from databases, which is a much more pleasant association, I think. Best of luck to your endeavors!
It's crazy that I used to work in tech and yet that other "query" definition didn't cross my mind! The power dynamic between a database and a user is definitely less fraught! Thanks for the kind words.