... take Twilight. It's author:
From the 'Getting Published' section of the page.
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html
From the 'Getting Published' section of the page.
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html
Big-Time Authors Queried Their First Novels Too
- Thread starter Ken
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... Writer's House. Most Some agents there ask for such. And she pitched hers back in ~'05 '03 when mailing was more common than now.
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Some agents prefer mailed queries, some won't take anything else, and some, while they gladly accept e-mailed queries, seem to pay more attention to the paper ones or will allow you to send more of the MS with paper ones.
There are legit reasons for mailing, rather than e-mailing queries.
There are legit reasons for mailing, rather than e-mailing queries.
As a writer, I prefer mailed queries, too. Too many writers out there find e-queries so easy they flood agent and editor's inboxes. The easiest thing about an e-query is deleting it unread, or rejecting it unread.
But, yes, of course Big Name Writers queried their first novel. And, amazingly, almost none of them had contacts, connections, or anything else going for them, except a good query and a good novel.
But, yes, of course Big Name Writers queried their first novel. And, amazingly, almost none of them had contacts, connections, or anything else going for them, except a good query and a good novel.
... mailed?
A fair number of agents do not accept e-mail queries, even now. Check Agentquery and see.
Of course, in my case, most agents prefer that I don't query by either method.
Yeah, me too. My rate of rejection notifications are higher with mailed queiries.
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Blacbird, it's time I call you on this. You often say stuff like this, and it sounds like you are really hard on yourself. Everybody who queries gets rejections, some more than others. Hold your chin up and keep those query letters in circulation. When you've run out of agents, start querying publishers.
You have a lot of support her at AW. This group is about as nice as it gets.
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Ken,
I saw a website once with query letters by now well-known authors, only I can't remember where it was!. It helps me to know that I am not alone in the writing and query process.
I saw a website once with query letters by now well-known authors, only I can't remember where it was!
. It helps me to know that I am not alone in the writing and query process.
Honestly, I applaud the person who asked for more and dropped it. Good taste.
I wonder how Gene Wolfe started out with his queries.
I wonder how Gene Wolfe started out with his queries.
Ken,
I saw a website once with query letters by now well-known authors, only I can't remember where it was!
... nudges Susan to find the link. That'd be awesome to see
I find it encouraging too that all writers start out at square one. It's rather obvious when you stop to think of it, of course, but sometimes it seems as if books just sort of appear on the shelves magically and that the authors stand apart from ordinary folk. What also struck me about reading the Twilight link is how down to earth its author is. I might have been reading an account that someone here had posted.
... close to 10% in my estimation and those include some really awesome agents like Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House and Jennifer Lyons who started out there.
http://www.jenniferlyonsliteraryagency.com/submissions.html
As a whole, W.H. still seems to prefer mailed subs going by their guidelines. In any event, they seem perfectly comfortable with them. The line at the bottom seems to coincide some with what James said.
http://writershouse.com/content/submissions.asp
Great agency in any event going by their list of clients
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Okay, for once, I'm standing by JAR on this. I think he was trying to say that those big-time authors didn't have connections. Or celebrity status. It was the strength of their query and the first five pp. or whatever."Big-Time Authors Queried Their First Novels Too"
Did you think they didn't?
'Tis a serious question, though. I know there's a prevailing impression that Famous Authors sprang fully-formed from their editors' foreheads, and I just want to grok the subtext here.
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What I tend to find amusing is how awed non-writers are when hearing that even people like JK Rowling and Stephen King got rejections. Every time I've shared even a tidbit of the submissions process with relatives, they said something like, "Well, did you know, NINE agents rejected so-and-so! Cheer up! You'll get there!"
I mean -- nine? That's just adorable. :')
I'm actually surprised by the low number of queries Stephenie Meyer has had to send out. (Not being snarky here -- I haven't read the books -- it's just... really not that many. As we all know.)
I mean -- nine? That's just adorable. :')
I'm actually surprised by the low number of queries Stephenie Meyer has had to send out. (Not being snarky here -- I haven't read the books -- it's just... really not that many. As we all know.)
I talked to a multiple best selling fiction author and he told me he send out 250 query letters before he got an agent.
That is both terrifying and comforting. Comforting because it makes my 19 queries so far seem piddly, but terrifying because the thought of sending 250 queries makes me wanna cry big salt tears of frustration.
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I've said this before, and I'll say it again.
When I was a full-time editor, most of the submissions I received were just not suitable for our lists and so got rejected regardless of the quality of their writing. We were a non-fiction packager, and yet people sent in novels and children's books, which we just didn't publish.
So when you read that best-seller writers got rejected a lot, consider that they might have been rejected because they sent their work to the wrong places (we all do it at least once in our lives, but usually more), and not because Those Silly Editors Didn't Recognise The Quality Of Their Work.
When I was a full-time editor, most of the submissions I received were just not suitable for our lists and so got rejected regardless of the quality of their writing. We were a non-fiction packager, and yet people sent in novels and children's books, which we just didn't publish.
So when you read that best-seller writers got rejected a lot, consider that they might have been rejected because they sent their work to the wrong places (we all do it at least once in our lives, but usually more), and not because Those Silly Editors Didn't Recognise The Quality Of Their Work.
Ack, that's a *bad* day. I got three in one day and was whimpering under the couch wiht a bottle of wine and a chocolate cake. I think there was a cat involved also trying to either cheer me up or snitch some cake.
I don't know others, but I've never thought of editors in those terms. I do believe the system is perverse though. And mind you, I have no proposition on how I would go about fixing it. BUT, you gotta admit, it's damn hard to put your novel into a query, in the first place. So factor that in. Then factor the fact that you have interns who plow through fast-accumulating slush until their eyes go blind. Then factor in the occasional headache, frustration, etc. I've had books I hated one day and then picked a few days later and loved them. So, yes, quality of the writing counts of course. But it is a lottery, even for the gifted ones.