Pen Friends ~

Did you know that the success rate through querying through the slush pile is less than 1%? Does anyone else feel intimidated by this number?

How would you like to see an up close & personal FISH TANK view of one of our staff members querying in the slush pile? Witness his joy of requests and his disappointment of rejections? Witness him get an agent or end in utter despair? (Lol. Sorry.  We’re more hopeful than that.)

At The Spinning Pen most of us are part of private writing groups that share our querying (and submission) ups and downs. We journey together until that special day of celebration comes when we signed with an agent or editor or publisher! Often, without our group’s support, encouragement, answering questions, and persevering alongside each other, it would have been a lot harder.

So we thought, What if we journey with you all? LIVE. WEEKLY. WE’LL BE OPEN. VULNERABLE. EMBARRASSED. CELEBRATE. Together?

Our staff member, Write_Or_Left (that’s his IG account, find him!) is ready to start his querying journey and volunteered for the job. Yay! (Thanks for being so brave, CR!)

So here’s the plan:

Each week for the next six months Write_Or_Left will update us with his status:

1. # of queries he sent that week
2. # of Rejections.
3. #of Requests.
4. Mistakes? Feedback?
5. Querying Tips
6. Feelings. Process.
7. Questions & Go to’s.
8. Celebrations.

*At the end of six months, we will review what he has learned. If feedback clearly shows he needs to reevaluate his MS or Query, then he will. But what if he gets an AGENT?? Only those who journey with us will know.

Here are the rules:

1. All of the agents we query are AWESOME. We will keep them private. We will never name the agent or say negative things about them. We applaud them for their hardworking job and taking the time to look at the slush pile! *So please, no slamming agents on our site!
2. We are here to encourage & inspire & support writers! Ask us questions!
3. We will give you helpful resources for querying!
4. You can share your journey with us in the comments!

 

***Anything we need to add? Tell us in the comments!

The 1st Querying Show begins this Friday! See you then!

 

Your SP Querying Show host, Nova McBee & The Querying Show Guinea Pig, CR / Write_or_Left