Tuesday, August 04, 2009

With The Speed Of U.S. Mail

I thought that the query re-write was more effective than the one I'd sent out two weeks before to no acclaim. Cleared up the protagonist's motive, composed a better hook, and improved things in general.

Why not try Pilar Queen, formerly at ICM and currently toiling at McCormick & Williams. She's interested in women's fiction.

Friday afternoon, I dropped the query into the mail box. The agents at McCormick & Williams are strictly snail mail and I'm always one to follow directions.

On Monday, I had my answer.

Ms. Queen must have answered the query as soon as it arrived at her desk, with the speed of the U.S.P.S. behind the snail mail. The rejection came via e-mail, a no thanks with all the usual words of encouragement that befit a boiler plate letter.

Now that is one fast response. Already, after only a few days, I'm wondering if the revised query is any good at all, or if the subject matter wasn't of interest, or my lack of publishing credentials worked against a very good query letter.

Back to waiting on the other agents who received the same letter. With the Labor Day holiday and traditional publishing vacation times coming, there's not much point in obsessing over the query until September. Might as well go work on another manuscript.

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