This is a big month for me. The biggest since I first started writing. I’m writing new short fiction. I’m going to start a new novel. But the biggest part is this:

I’m going to begin querying a novel.

For those who may be saner than I am, and are unaware of how modern publishing works, I’m seeking to publish through traditional publishing. The term is used today to differentiate from self-pub, which has grown increasingly popular. There’s a lively debate between writers today over the merits of self-pub vs. trad-pub. For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to avoid that debate like the plague, and focus on something many of my readers may not know:

How Modern Publishing Works

For those who may be unaware, the title of this post is taken from the song Paperback Writer by the Beatles. It’s one of my favorite Beatles songs, and its lighthearted tale of an aspiring author’s increasingly desperate efforts to get published bely the existential terror faced by modern writers. First, let’s get this out of the way: in today’s publishing world, very few writers publish a book by sending their manuscript directly to a publisher.

Most publishing houses (certainly all the major ones) no longer accept unsolicited manuscripts. The few that do are understandably swamped by manuscripts at any given time. I’d liken the odds of getting published in this manner to one’s chances of winning the Powerball after buying a single ticket. Instead, writers must first seek a literary agent.

Literary agents are the gatekeepers of modern trad-pub. This is because they have the remarkable ability to actually get publishers to consider an author’s manuscript. I’m not exactly sure how they do this (it may involve voodoo). But for the modern writer seeking traditional publication, the first step is querying an agent.

The Query

It all begins with the query: a formal correspondence requesting representation. Requirements vary from agent to agent, but most agents will require three basic documents:

-A query letter

-A synopsis

-A writing sample (typically the first 5-10 pages of the manuscript)

But it starts with the all-important query letter. For those who are not aspiring (or successful) writers, a query letter is similar to a cover letter on a resume. In essence, it’s a sales pitch. Only with a resume, you’re selling yourself, while a query letter must sell both you and your novel.

As I’ve complained before, there is a lot of advice out there for writing a query letter, much of it contradictory, most of it from authors whose queries succeeded. But to boil it down, the query letter must introduce your book, succinctly lay out the plot and major characters, and say a little about yourself.

It’s important to note that literature, like all art, is subjective. You can write an excellent book and a killer query letter and strike out with every agent repping your genre. Even if successful, the query process can take months, and often does. This, to be fair, is due to the simple fact that literary agents are extremely busy people. Your query may be one of hundreds on their desk at any given time (and likely is). You’ll get a lot of no’s before finally finding that one agent who likes your query enough to ask to read your full manuscript (a “full request”). It can take months for them to finally read it. And when they do, they could still say no.

There’s a reason writers refer to the querying process as “the Trenches”. It’s grueling. At times it’s degrading. You’ll hear a lot of “no’s”. But all you need is one “yes”. That’s all it takes. Writers, much to our credit, are a supportive bunch. Spend some time in the cozy corners of the internet where writers gather, and you’ll see a lot of heartening stories of success: writers who are published will share their rejection letters, tell others about how many hundreds of query letters they sent out before they made it.

But they made it. That’s the important part. They got that “yes”, and it changed everything.

And so, after years of hard work, of fretting, of thinking and re-thinking and re-re-re-rethinking, here I am. Standing over the trenches, humbly armed as I am. Obviously, being me, I’m hopeful. I’d love to think the first agent I query will leap at Pioneers. But I am under no delusions. I expect this to be a lengthy, time-consuming, humbling, heart-wrenching process. I know it could take a year, or multiple years. I know there’s a good chance my next novel will be complete before Pioneers finds a home. I know there’s a good chance that next novel will be the one that makes it, after its own lengthy query process.

But I know I will see this through to the end. I’ve come too far, worked too hard, poured too much of myself into this to come away empty handed. Over the past few years, I’ve adopted a personal motto in writing, taken from the Joker in The Dark Knight: “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.”

I’ve heard enough people tell me I’m good at this that I’ve started believing it. And no matter how long it takes, I know I will find that one “yes”, and nothing will ever be the same. – MK