I think the title says it all.
Here's the thing; I have absolutely no issue at all letting people read my books, taking critique and redrafting to improve the piece, etc. etc. All of that I'm absolutely fine with.
But from all the research I've done, it seems like the querying process is a piranha-filled nightmare with traps at every turn. It feels like my pages can be written and rewritten over and over again, honed to perfection... and still not get any eyes on it whatsoever unless I also master an entirely separate writing discipline within a limited number of attempts.
The thing is, at this point, I'm not actually sure how much of that is realistic assessment, and how much of it is just irrational terror.
Can anyone shed any light on this? How much is my irrational fear on the money, and how much of it is just me reading too much into the testimony of people who never bothered to do the necessary legwork at all?
Here's the thing; I have absolutely no issue at all letting people read my books, taking critique and redrafting to improve the piece, etc. etc. All of that I'm absolutely fine with.
But from all the research I've done, it seems like the querying process is a piranha-filled nightmare with traps at every turn. It feels like my pages can be written and rewritten over and over again, honed to perfection... and still not get any eyes on it whatsoever unless I also master an entirely separate writing discipline within a limited number of attempts.
The thing is, at this point, I'm not actually sure how much of that is realistic assessment, and how much of it is just irrational terror.
Can anyone shed any light on this? How much is my irrational fear on the money, and how much of it is just me reading too much into the testimony of people who never bothered to do the necessary legwork at all?