Hello, dreamers. With August well underway, I’ve completed my transition: I am now back in query mode.

Through the rest of the month, querying Seven Days on Samarkand will take up the bulk of my writing efforts. Not only do I need to revise my query materials and make at least a cursory revision pass through my manuscript, but I’ll be participating in further Twitter pitch events and updating my website to showcase my current projects. Through it all I plan to continue working on short fiction, and hopefully squeeze in some time for planning on Aquarius 1. It’s going to be a very busy month, so without further ado, here’s what I’ll be working on this week:

Querying The Ursa Frontier

And here we go. Last week I made the snap decision to participate in #QuestPit on Twitter. I had mere hours to prepare, while most participants spent weeks on their materials. And with that in mind, I was floored by the interest I received. It was a much-needed shot in the arm as I prepare to dive back into the query trenches.

Honestly, the biggest surprise to me was how much the event helped to jog things in my querying efforts. I managed to create brief pitches and refine my work, learned more about marketing my work, and made some new friends along the way. I’d forgotten how valuable these events could be. And I’m not done; this Saturday I’ll be participating in #PosterPit. This event asks aspiring authors to pitch their work as a movie poster, which sounds like a lot of fun. Plus I’ll have an entire week to work on it this time. Got a good feeling about this one!

My primary goal this week is to work on my query materials, starting with the all-important query letter. Over the past three days I’ve written about four of them, and while none of them have felt exactly right, I feel they get better with each attempt. If I can come up with one that I really like (and passes muster with the kind authors who’ve offered to read them) before the end of the week, I’ll move right into my synopsis. The ideal outcome would be for me to have everything complete by Friday night. That way I’ll have it all ready to go if any agents like my posts for PosterPit, and if nothing else I’ll be able to coast through to August 25. Or hell, maybe start querying sooner. I’ve always hated waiting to share my work.

Website and Platform

Changes to this website continue. On Wednesday I’ll be re-launching my “Books” page as my “Latest Works” page. The new format will feature blurbs and updates on my current projects, while fading my remaining self-pub titles. The further I get into the query process, the more I’m convinced this is the way I want to go.

Also, this weekend I’ll be launching my Substack, Martians and Lasers. In addition to serving as a newsletter, the Substack page will feature bi-weekly posts about my journey as a writer, and the ins and outs of writing science fiction in today’s world. If you’re on Substack, keep an eye out for further updates here. If you’re not…well, all I’ll say is that Dave Barry is on Substack. That alone should be incentive enough for you to sign up.

Short Fiction

While I do intend to continue writing short fiction, needless to say it will take a back seat to the querying for at least the coming week. I managed to start a short story this past weekend and have written parts of several others, but I think it will be difficult to maintain workflow until I have my query materials settled. It’s just as well; one of my top beta readers is now taking a look at my latest stories, and two others will be available soon. Editing alone will probably be enough to fill up whatever free time I have left.

New Content

This week in my “WIP Wednesday” post, I’ll be focusing on my new “Latest Works” page. On Friday I’ll finally be releasing my next literary “Sci-Fi Reviewed”, where I’ll be taking a look at All Systems Red by Martha Wells (last week I elected to instead offer my thoughts on the midway point of the current season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds). I’ll be closing the week out on Sunday with a new “Dear Sir or Madam”, in which I’ll be explaining how Twitter pitch events work to those readers who are not also writers (meaning the sane ones). Until then, dare to dream. – MK