2.12 Rant on helping others in the query stages

The importance of working hard—yourself.

It’s no secret in my realm that I’ve got a novel coming out in the nebulous future of soon. This might have something to do with me being awful at keeping my mouth shut, or being a little over-excited.

About a week ago a gentleman mentioned that he too had finished a military sci-fi unlike any other book in the whole world. 

The emphasis he had was that there was nothing else quite like it which made me a little worried because this is a common misconception in overconfident, typically less experienced writers. First, of course your book is unique- you are a unique person with your own world to make and words to splash about. Second, of course your book is not unique- because no idea has not been written in some form or another already. 

This dichotomy of everything being unique and nothing being unique is something that you need to realize early on. Either you make peace with it, or you send folk embarrassing emails like: ‘My book is super different to anything you’ve ever read! It’s about a boy who gets a magic sword and goes on a quest and becomes the new king, destined to rule. Also his love interest is a princess who is hiding her identity.’

Your work couldn't have been written by anyone else, and surely it is unique in it's own way- but it also, the plot I've just described is literally so common it has a literary term; bildungsroman.  This one word sums up that entire plot and tells folk exactly what you've written. I, personally, am not a fan of bildungsromans. Controversially, when I see a new author has released another King Arthur and the Knights of Camelot retelling, I will usually entertain the idea of reading it for a few minutes. Then, I pick up the book and look at the back and then I put it back down, having admired the cover thoroughly and resolved to find a story I haven't read to death. There is no such thing-- as I said above, every idea has been had before. But unique takes on an old idea are what we are often looking for as readers. Most romances have a pretty obvious ending from the first page, but it remains a best-selling genre. Most murder-mysteries are the same- we know someone is dead and by the end of the book, the killer will be revealed and probably caught. These ideas are captured, but when we spices them with new thoughts and intentions, that's when they come to life.

Today I had another interaction where he asked me about the querying process. Now querying is a dark and dangerous alchemical procedure that many authors flee from as they’ve seen their comrades, lying bleeding in the trenches, calling out for aid as rejections bomb down from the sky around them. It is a harrowing war-time story to be told around a campfire. Not just anyone can query, ancient writers will tell you on commemorative days, it takes guts, it takes perseverance and most won’t make it back. Querying sends new authors into a spiral of panic and hiding- muttering in small corners and rocking back and forth stroking a taxidermied cat.

So I explained that you research agents and editors, find ones you like, stalk them to their lair, then follow instructions and send your work in. I emphasised that ‘follow instructions’ because apparently we fall down most on this step.

He was chiefly worried about his rights or his ideas being taken or stolen by disreputable vultures preying of writers. As someone who has been plagiarised in the past, I think I am probably the most blasé about the concept of someone stealing my story and trying to claim it as their own. First, if it’s been through a dozen drafts and rewrites and workings, then you will have plenty of proof that it’s your work. Secondly…. Research the publisher/agent before you submit to them. A tiny bit of research will tell you what red-flags you should look for, and fakes are relatively easy to spot. Far from being plagiarised, I think you’re more likely to fall into the vanity press trap as a new author than anything else.

I told him, ‘just research the places. Check their client list, most places want a chapter or two- rarely the full manuscript right off the bat. Reading fees are a no-go.’

That’s when the flags came up ‘oh, can’t you do it for me? Send me to the people who picked up you.’ First of all, I’m happy to give names of publishers- but it’s not my book. I might not even like the book or understand its audience. Secondly, the publishers or agents that gave me an offer may not be right for your work. I hunted these people down, stalked them through wild savannahs and made my choices very carefully based on what I was sending them. An agent who likes my middle-grade fantasy may not even be vaguely a good fit for adult erotic bear-shapeshifters sci-fi action adventure. A publisher may have six different YA titles about self-discovery and while yours is great, they just have a full plate of that right now.

 Secondly, arm yourself in going to war. Asking others questions is great, and that’s not what threw me off, it was the underlining unwillingness to research this stuff himself. I said ‘I don’t know much about your work, but you should look up agents and editors who want that sort of thing.’ He cut in before I could go on much further about a twitter-pitch contest or #MSWL—fantastic free reasources to help in your trenching. 

We need to help each other as fellow authors, and especially for experienced and inexperienced folk to the trenches, they are pretty intimidating. But I also think that at some point you need to be willing to find your own path. I can make recommendations, link tutorials and testimonials, I can also research any and every publisher in order to find one to fit what little I know of his work… but if you aren’t willing to research or narrow down what you personally want representing your book, at some point you don’t want to put in the effort.

Don’t sacrifice yourself to push others up, if they can do it themselves, is what I’m saying, I guess. 

We live in a day and age where finding someone’s life-story on the internet is easy. You don’t even need to leave your house or ask a question- you just need to follow the digital breadcrumbs. 

Most writers suffer anxiety. I’m actually pretty sure at some stage in the writing career, you just sort of get a cup of tea/coffee that is filled with anxiety from a little demonic pixie whose task it is to ensure we’re all nervous wrecks as artists. Talking to people when you’re anxious and depressed is hard. You want to do stuff, you don’t feel capable, you want to reach out but you self-reject. Its vicious, its debilitating and crippling. I was physically shaking so bad when I sent my first query that I had to press the mouse button a few times because I missed the send icon.

We’re mostly nervous wrecks, trying to help other nervous wrecks. My wreckage and war-time-query-trench-stories aren’t going to be yours. I can encourage you from the sidelines, help you by advising when to throw the pitch at the enemy, or advise on incoming rejections when a spotter sees your query had the wrong font or name addressed. All this can really benefit you. But I can’t fight your war for you.