The Query Hangover

It happens sometimes.  There’s no rhyme or reason but when the mood hits, you often find yourself waking up the next morning and thinking “ What the hell did I do last night ?  What was I thinking?”

I got bit by the querying bug at around 8 pm yesterday and from then on it was a fractured frenzied ride through Querytracker.com- Double hotmail windows, and copy and paste galore-  By the time I finished it was after ten and I had sent out a total of……TEN queries!  Das right.  Between the researching, the reading, and the actual formatting of the emails, it took me almost two hours to accomplish that much.  “Oh yes!” I thought to myself as I blinked computer dust out from my eye orbits.  “This is why I query so sporadically. This SUCKS!”

My query journey began…about two seconds after I finished my first draft last year.  By some bizarre coincidence, the ‘Writers and Artists Yearbook’ arrived the night I finished my last word of my first book and I thought it was a sign from God himself.  Because I live in France, targeting UK agents seemed the most logical choice.  So I went through the WAY with a fine toothed comb, honed a list of about thirty agents and started sending out PRINTED packages by groups of three.  


Weeks and weeks went by and my snail mail box received a few printed cards with form rejections.  Sometimes I was lucky enough to receive an email reject (so much faster).  I sent out a little over a dozen queries this way before my online search led me to some great agent blogs and writer’s forums.  I then realized that I didn’t have to limit myself to the UK.  American agents accepted queries by EMAIL!!!  And they actually gave you INFORMATION!!  And if you get really really lucky, some will even communicate with you DIRECTLY!!  Holy shit!  I was like a kid in a candy store.

Since then my querying has been pretty sporadic.  My ms has changed a lot.  I’ve written a second since then so now I have two projects to query.  I find that while I wait for a reply on requested material, I take a break from querying.  And then when I get a ‘BIG’ rejection- it’s another look at my ms, more critiquing and more querying.

Last night was a freak occurrence.  I don’t know what came over me.  Honestly, I looked up my lucky letters for the day (in this case it was my initials K and M) and just started querying agents whose names ended with those.  I suppose it’s good in a way.  I queried people I would have never thought to query otherwise and I guess we’ll see what comes of it.

What is your querying groove?  Do you query all at once, or in small doses?  How do you choose your agents, search engines, etc…?