SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2017
Submission Time
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Today I'm celebrating that I have finally compiled a publisher list and an agent list to get ready for submitting my cozy mystery. Contests, too. But first:
Celebrate the Small Things is a blog hop co-hosted by Lexa Cain at: Lexa Cain, L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Tidbits Blog. (You can go to any of these sites to add your name to the links, if you want to participate. )
Back to the lists: They are simply rough lists at this point, but then I'm going through them to see (in the case of the agent list) which agents in the agencies handle mysteries and what types of mysteries, then check specific submission requirements (1st 50 pages, 1st 3 chapters, etc.). Also, I'm not interested in submitting via snail mail, so those that go off the list. My next step will be to see what mysteries they have published (in the case of publishers), or handled and marketed to publishers successfully (in the case of agents.) Luckily, I have a pretty good query letter, though I do need to work on my synopsis. All of that is so much work, but I seem to have a new burst of energy for this, coming out of a procrastination and distraction period.
Meanwhile, my goal this week is to submit to the contests — three. Cross fingers. I really want to get this manuscript out and about so that I can concentrate on something new.
What are your goals this week? Do you tend to procrastinate on submissions? Do you find query letters and synopses daunting?
18 comments:
Good luck with your new "cozy," Elizabeth. may its knuckle-whitening nail-biting brain-expanding qualities incur favor with the judges.
Thanks for the support, Mirka. I certainly hope so!
Good luck with this. It's quite the undertaking. Hope you find a great home for your awesome work.
Thanks for the good wishes, Sandra. I always like writing better than submitting. (Don't we all! ☺️)
The work involved in this always overwhelms me. Good luck, Elizabeth.
Wonderful to hear that you're submitting! Is this a children's cozy mystery, or an adult title? I just adored Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls.
Hi, J. This is an adult title, and the mystery is set in Portugal. But I'm so pleased that you like Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls. You made my day today. Thanks!
Me, too, Lee. I've just been procrastinating and procrastinating for that reason. I think perhaps it's because queuing and writing synopses and submitting just aren't as interesting as writing. (For me, anyway.) Thanks for coming by.
I'm not interested in submitting with snail mail either. It surprises me when I see an agent/publisher say they still accept snail mail.
Hi, Chrys, It surprises me, too, especially when you remember that you have to pay postage for both ways. I also don't submit to anyone who won't allow simultaneous submissions. Given the turn around time for most publishers and agents, it would take a lifetime to go down a list. ☺️
I love the military precision in your submission process, Elizabeth. I would still submit a hard copy - I do with short stories - but I don't understand why publishers can't just shred anything they don't want. I mean, by the time it's been through the post twice it's going to be pretty dogeared.
Hi, Julia. That's a good point. I think an author has the option not to have a manuscript returned, but even then, it's expensive to pay the postage even one way. And for snail mail submissions, you still have to include an envelope for their reply. To me, it's just sensible in this day and age to handle it all online.
I despise the query process. It is so stressful and such a long shot. I hope you find success though.
Thanks for stopping by, Tamara. I'm not keen on the process either, which is probably why I procrastinate. I did go to a writing workshop last fall, though, where, for an additional fee, the presenter critiqued my query before two agents saw it. And then the agents fine-tuned it for me. So I feel I have a pretty decent query, once that process starts.
Best wishes Elizabeth and the best of luck.
I am not a writer and I had no idea of the process that you must go through...amazing~
Hi, Jan, Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. And thanks for following my blog, as well. Yes, it is a very interesting process, the path to publication. Writing is what I love. Beating the path to the publisher's door I think of as an interesting endeavor. I'm probably not as ambitious as i should be, but maybe that keeps my love of writing alive and well. ☺️
The worst part of the entire process is the submission/query/synopsis. I can research and write my stories for hours but I dread the "business" end of the work. In 2008, I sent a query letter to the editor of a London magazine and got a quick reply, "Yes, that's what we're looking for." I've gotten more than 30 articles published since. I'm not getting rich but the reward is within, I guess. Blogging is now the thing. See mine: http://victorianclericalerrors.blogspot.com
Tom, you are so right! The business end is what I procrastinate over forever. A writing teacher of mine once said, "The work you know will NEVER get published is the one that is just sitting in your file cabinet." I'm glad you are getting well-published. And you are right about that, too: It's not about getting rich. It's the internal reward of writing something someone enjoys reading. I'll go check out your blog, now.
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