Hello again, dreamers. And welcome back to #WIPWednesday.

It’s become customary for writers on Twitter to devote each Wednesday to their current work-in-progress, tweeting out updates, ideas, and excerpts from their latest project. As such, each week on Wednesday I post an update on my latest work, to keep readers abreast of my efforts.

Now, let’s get to it.

Pioneers

Longtime readers will be very familiar with my most recent completed novel. It has now been several years since I completed principal work on Pioneers, and only a few less since I finished editing. At this point, safe to say there’s nothing further to be done. I’m currently reading through the novel, for what I intend to be the last time. This read-through is not an editing pass (though I do have a few minor tweaks to complete). Rather, the sole intent is to reacquaint myself with the novel, in preparation for completing my query documents.

Traditional publishing in today’s market is not what it once was. Gone are the days of writing “Dear Sir or Madam” to publishing houses, hoping someone will read one’s book. Few publishing houses still accept unsolicited manuscripts, and those that still do often sit on mountainous slush piles, most of which will take months or years to find the eyes of junior editors, if ever. Rather, the first step toward traditional publication is finding an agent. This is the query process.

At minimum, any agent will require a query letter. Beyond that the requirements vary. Some will ask for a synopsis. Some ask for multiple synopses, or various forms of said. Some will request the first ten pages of a manuscript, or the first chapter. So, before the query process even begins, it’s important for a prospective author to have any documents an agent may request on hand, ready to go. That’s where I am now.

Over the coming weeks, I will begin compiling said documents, while refining my short list of agents to query. My intention is to send out my first batch of ten queries no later than the end of the first full week of February. That, of course, does not give me much time.

I’ve always hated the query process, mainly because I’ve often had trouble selling myself, for lack of a better way of putting it. My background in engineering leads me to be short and factual when not writing fiction (and often when writing it, as well). Ideally, I’d simply send my full manuscript off to any prospective agents, and my work would speak for itself. But we do not live in an ideal world. Today’s literary agents serve as the effective gatekeepers of the publishing market. Thus, they have a lot of work, and little time. The query letter must pique their interest before they get anywhere near reading an actual excerpt. So, like it or not, I have to find a way to make my query letter intriguing enough to persuade an agent to actually read what I have to say.

Luckily, I have allies. The modern writing community is crucial to an aspiring writer: it’s a support network, where everyone does what they can to lift one another up. For my part, my friend Melissa Rose Rogers has been indispensable. I will likely call upon her again to read my query letter once it’s complete, in hopes of putting my best foot forward as I dive into the query process once more.

Next comes the synopsis. I’ve often described the concept of the synopsis as being asked to say what it took you two years to say, but say it in five minutes. Essentially, a writer must summarize the basic plot points in their novel. There are various types of synopses, the most common today being the “short synopsis”, which summarizes an entire novel in 1-2 pages, max. Pioneers weighs in at a hefty 118+ words. Summarizing the plot will be no small feat. The most difficult part of the synopsis, for me, is determining just what constitutes a crucial plot point. Do I include character development? The formation of relationships? Encounters with alien life? Difficult questions, and I will need to find the answer.

But I will do it. In modern publishing, first impressions are everything. Most agents will simply ignore a repeat query, however improved it may be. So an aspiring writer has just one chance to appeal to an agent, and get them to read their work.

No pressure.

One way or another, the query process for Pioneers will begin in about two weeks. I have a lot of work to do, but I am ready. Suffice to say, there’s nothing left to talk about with regards to Pioneers, which means this will be the last WIP Wednesday post devoted to the novel. Check back next week for a new WIP Wednesday about where this series of novels is heading next. Until then, read on, and dare to dream. – MK