Tag: masochism

Slamming the door on my head again?

Oh, Gods — I’m thinking of submitting queries again after this latest edit.

I can think of all sorts of reasons not to — all of them in terms of rejections I have already gotten. I keep fixing it, and I keep getting rejections.

On the other hand, if I don’t send queries, nobody will get to see whether it’s publishable or not.

I’m still not ready to self-publish, mostly because self-publishing in the academic world means that you haven’t been peer reviewed and, thus, your work is not legitimate.

I am so torn …

To Query or Not to Query (again)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

I’m contemplating sending out queries — the packets of synopsis and short excerpt and stuff the agents request — again. Even after the over 100 rejections I’ve gained over the years, I want to try again. Just in case someone’s in a better mood or something.

I’m thinking of trying something different:

  • Going by a pen name?
  • Going by a MALE pen name? It would burn my butt if I got a agent’s representation as a male and not as a female (but imagine that first meeting)!
  • Send in to literary fiction agents in addition to (or instead of) science fiction/fantasy agents?
  • Just giving up?
  • Retitling the book? 
I’m not sure why I’m contemplating this again — could it be because I’m sitting on seven finished books, five of which I believe are publishable? Or that I don’t sit still very well, I don’t watch tv, and my Internet use mainly consists of blogging and researching (books and plants)? Or that I refuse to believe that my writing isn’t good enough? Or maybe I’m just a masochist?
Or maybe, just maybe, the stars will align and a receptive agent will take a chance on something just a little different. Or tell me what needs fixing instead of the standard “It’s not you, it’s me” form letter. 
I really want to reach the next part of my journey.