Protocol demands you send out a query to a literary agent and then wait for a response for whatever time they tell you it will take for them to get to your query.  Of course, some won’t respond at all; in other words, silence is not golden, it’s a kiss off.

Response time is generally from four weeks to three months, or never. If I followed the rules, I would be able to query anywhere from four to twelve agents a year. So far I’ve cheated by sending seven queries out in 2 months. You’re supposed to confess if you’ve sent out multiple inquiries. Does that mean that the target agent won’t read your submission?  I am generally law abiding and rule following, but I’m also impatient.  And, I’m old.  How much time do I have?
 
So last night, I sent out two queries, one right after the other. I did some research, so I wouldn’t pester an agent that was looking for a cookbook with my ‘speculative’ fiction. Nevertheless, Donald Maass who is a renowned teacher of the craft and has his own agency,  and Naomi Akolekar from Spencerhill Associates both received my query.  Naomi received three chapters as well.  Every agent has a different list of requirements, and woe unto you if you send too much or too little.

Sharon

Notice I didn’t say the final draft.  It’s harder and harder to keep plowing the same field. But every time I go back over The Energy Collector, I find another rock I missed the last time around.  Yet that’s what is required.  What a relief to sit back and say, at least for today, it’s finished.

It’s not over til it’s over.

What I’m beginning to realize is that you’re never finished. I would imagine even after a book has been published, an author wants to scream – give me back all 50,000 copies! I have one more change I want to make! Do you ever want to stop tweaking your creations?  I know I still try to tweak the most important of my creations, my children. Stand up straight, honey. Don’t frown. He’s not right for you. And on and on.

Same with these books. I can’t stop and I can’t let go. Maybe rewriting your book is a substitute for not being able to rewrite your own life. Are the people in novels our alter egos? Probably. Karen my soul mate and main character in three books is a lot of the things I want to be. For one, she’s thin; another, she is fearless, another, she has a lot of hair.

Today I finish the final draft of The Energy Collector, again. Tomorrow is another thing.

Sharon