Number of Queries sent over a three year period: 325
Number of requests for material: 34
The query letter was revised at least fifteen times, and the manuscript was tweaked and primped about eight times, with major revisions. Some of the changes came about because of agent evaluation, while some came about from my own analysis of story structure in current novels.
There are still six partials out there. Can this novel be published? When the agents wrote to me with their comments and claimed that they were torn, or that this was a close one, were they sincere, or just blowing smoke?
If anything, I have a much better understanding of how modern novels are constructed than I did when I first began to write. My current WIP is in better shape on the first draft than any previous manuscript was after two re-writes. Even though I still don't care for most of the publishers' offerings, I force myself to read the latest, the best sellers and the small press works, all in a bid to understand and perfect my skills.
Jesus, 325 queries. Talk about persistence. Or madness.
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