Back in August, I reached my first stopping point. I’d finished the first draft of the manuscript in March, but knew I had months of edits ahead of me. I’d reread it four or five times and found the spots I knew needed to grow. By August, all of those changes were in the pages. I’d been so smothered by the 55,000 words, the plot, the sequencing, and the actions, that I had no idea what was next. How did I know if I was ready to query? Through a chain of fortuitous events, I had a discussion with an agent asking, “Where do I go from here? Am I ready to submit?” She graciously opened herself up to a conversation with me about the book, and after seeing some pages, ended up requesting the whole manuscript. After our discussion, I’d received a lot of positive feedback, as well as a new view on the weak spots. I was so glad I hadn’t submitted, and was refocused with goals to address. Add into that the feedback from the MFA class and a couple of readers, and there was a new list of things to get done before I could even think of the word “query” again.
Fast forward. It’s been more than six months, and my manuscript is wildly different. And wildly stronger. It’s up around 70,000 words now (hello, hole-filling), and I can’t imagine that it used to lack these new additions. Agent L’s concerns have been addressed, as well as the other issues that had been raised. I’ve decided which criticism to take and which to ignore, and made certain decisions that have redefined the direction of the book in some spots, and solidified my choices in others. Having finished my new prologue the other night (yes yes yes!), all I have left are the composition of one new scene, the few remaining niggly updates/short rewrites on the chapter-by-chapter list, and a little bit of restructuring, then filling whatever small holes that may create. After one final big reread, it’s going out.
I’m totally amazed that I’m actually at this point. My goal is sometime in April - April 1, if possible - to have this ready for submission. I’m back to asking the question, “How do I figure out WHO to query?,” compiling the list and talking to my industry friends for recommendations. I’m eager to get it out of my hands at this point; I wanted to submit the best thing of which I am capable, and I’m now only a few threads away from that precious place of satisfaction without crossing into nervous over-editing. I need to let it go and see how it fares on its own without my leash. I’m lucky; I already have interest from one agent, and some leads at other agencies, so I’m excited to actually be thinking about it for real. The process is near impossible, completely intimidating, and I’m still at a bit of a loss of where to start with it. Which names to pull. How to get this query letter just right. I’m hoping I can figure it all out in the next couple of months while I’m putting these last changes to bed.
And hot damn, am I proud of myself for getting this far. Now, I have a manuscript to finish, so I’ll call it a night.
M
