It's so hard to have any faith in my query

efreysson

efreysson

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I do have faith in my book itself; I'm always leery of ego, but I feel confident in saying that worse stuff than my own gets published.

But opinions and advice on query letters are so diverse on anything other than basics like length. Any query I put up for display gets criticised, though generally for various different reasons. I've been trying to sell my latest trilogy for half a year now, and I've contacted about thirty agents and agencies. Looking around here I realise it's a small number, but I am never, ever confident in any query I can come up with.

When I look up a new agent I just feel a combination of resignation, dread and hopelessness because I have no faith in the letter I'll end up sending them.

Does this sound familiar?
 
ChibiUsagi

ChibiUsagi

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Yes.

I look at queries for a living and I still had a hard time with mine. Even when I was getting a high response rate, my neurosis made me tweak it constantly. “Is this representing my book right?” “Am I setting the bar too high?” “Am I ranting?” “Am I being descriptive enough?”

That’s completely normal.

Put your faith in yourself and in your book. Put your faith in the research that you do to make sure you’re targeting the right agents. Put your faith in the sure knowledge that yes, worse stuff than yours has been published. Put your faith in the odds aren’t in your favor, so a non response doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with your query, your book, or you.

If there’s an issue, as in not getting responses, then you can reevaluate.

But until then, don’t torture yourself.

Best of luck in the trenches!
 
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