Preparing For August

The first round of query letters for Manuscript #5 resulted in a request for a partial. So I figured I was hot again, and I sent out another batch. The silence from the other end was more than deafening, it was an airless vacuum. Maybe that initial query letter was not so awesome, so I revised it. The hook's the thing, and that's the first place to start.

My second attempt has met with equal disinterest. I sent off an e-query to Sarah Jane Freymann, who reps the sort of nonsense that I wrote this time around, but she never bothered to even send off the form rejection. She read the query last week, and she used to respond, but I guess the letter was so dull that she dropped off to sleep and hit the delete key before she could reply.

August is coming, that lazy, hazy hiatus time in the publishing world. I don't suppose that agents are very much interested in anything these days, what with summer vacations and a month in the Hamptons or a couple of weeks in Tuscany to occupy their minds. Clearly there is no point in querying now, in spite of the overwhelming urge to send a few letters off to see if this fifth manuscript has legs.

On the other hand, August is the start-up month for many literary journals, as they once again open up for submissions. When I am driven to query, I must force myself to print out the 3,000 word short piece and mail it off to obscure colleges around the country. Watch out, Cream City Review, I've got you in my sights and August 1st is just around the bend.