Hello, dreamers. Query prep is complete, and my next round of queries is out. As of this morning, the next phase of my querying journey has begun.

After taking a week to work on my query letter and make final changes to my manuscript, now the waiting game begins. With any luck, I won’t receive any dreaded “rapid rejections”. Should that be the case, it could at least a month before I start hearing back. That gives me plenty of time to decide just where I plan to go next with my writing. And with that said, here’s what I’ll be up to this week:

Querying Seven Days on Samarkand

Here we go: my next round of ten query letters is away. Barring rapid rejections, I expect to wait at least four weeks before I get any responses. More than likely it will be at least a few months.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s “Dear Sir or Madam”, query prep ended up being more arduous and time-consuming than anticipated. But I’m proud of the work I’ve done, and eager to see if my efforts bear fruit. However, I have no time to sit idle; the next step is coming.

This Friday, I’ll be participating in my first pitch event of the year: #QuestPit. This is a multi-platform event in which writers can make up to three posts. These posts can take the form of brief pitches, agent’s guides, or any other graphic art authors can think of to show off their work. Given the timing, industry participation will likely be higher than usual, which is a huge plus.

For those unfamiliar with Twitter pitch events, the main goal of these events is to attract industry attention. many agents and editors frequent these events (particularly the major ones, like QuestPit). If they hit “like” on one of your posts, you can send them your query materials. Thus, these events often brand themselves as a way to “skip the line”; to form personal connections with agents or literary editors in a way that bypasses the standard method of simply sending out queries (called “cold-querying”).

While that all sounds great (particularly to authors who find the whole query process daunting, or are suffering from what might be called “query fatigue), the bland fact of the matter is statistically most offers of representation still result from cold-querying. However, these events still offer the opportunity to form a personal connection with an agent. It’s the next best thing to actual face time.

I plan to make my first post in the morning, the second around lunchtime, and the third around primetime. So if you’re on Twitter or Bluesky, do hop on over and cheer me on.

What’s Next

Though my query prep this time around wasn’t nearly as long or arduous as it was back in August and September, it has still left me drained. Over the past week as I slid deeper and deeper into Query Letter Hell, my work on Beyond Samarkand drew down to a trickle. I continued my daily sketches, but their quality dropped off noticeably as my mind kept fixating on query prep. I needed to get this done. I did, but at great mental cost.

Now, unexpectedly, I find myself seeking a new direction. More than likely, it’ll take a struggle story to get back into things. I’ll be continuing my sketches each morning, seeing if something shakes loose. Hopefully by midweek I’ll have found something I can roll with. Then I’ll just need to grit my teeth and struggle through to THE END. Once that’s done, I’ll be ready to decide where I’m headed next. I may yet return to Beyond Samarkand, but there’s a good chance given the time of year (especially with the Winter Olympics coming) I’ll give myself a short fiction break. I have plenty of projects waiting for me.

For now, my plan is to take things slow. Amid furious work, I feel I’ve neglected my platform, so this week will likely be a Platform Week. I’ll be looking to refine my focus, increase my engagement on Twitter and Bluesky. I’ll be revising my content strategy, both here and on my soon-to-be-launched Substack. It’s been a while since I’ve given everything a facelift. And with queries out, now is the perfect time to do so.

Upcoming Content

Amid some egging-on by a fellow writer who’s made it big, I’m planning to formally launch my Substack in the coming month. At present I’m working on a content strategy, with an eye to making sure what I’m offering on that platform differs from what’s offered here. I’m getting close, and will keep readers posted.

As I mentioned earlier, I have halted work on the sequel to Seven Days on Samarkand for the time being, so there will be no WIP Wednesday post this week, or for the near future. That said, here’s what you can expect on this site through the week ahead:

Tuesday: “The Mission Continues”

With my second round of queries out, I’ll give readers a brief recap of my querying mission so far, and a look at what lies ahead.

Friday: “DNF: Appleseed“

Since we have a fifth Friday this month, I’ll be posting my next installment of my DNF series on books I began reading but didn’t finish. This month I’ll be looking at Appleseed by Matt Bell, and why I didn’t end up finishing it. Spoiler: it wasn’t because it was bad. It was actually really, really good.

Sunday: “Dear Sir or Madam”

In this week’s post on my querying journey, I’ll provide an update on my upcoming round of queries, and explain what the “invisible work” means in the modern literary world.

It’s going to be another big week. So read on, and dare to dream. – MK