Friday, January 7, 2011

Signs you are Query Worthy

Well what do you think?! I worked really hard last night rearranging all my tabs, getting myself a snazzy new banner and pimping out the overall blog! Must Haves shows you the 2011 debut authors and sequels coming out! And other funness! Seriously check it out! I worked hard and think it rocks.

Now to the real deal... the blog post.

Signs you are Query Worthy.

1. You wake up and decide you want to be a writer.
2. You tell your friends.
3. You decide to write a book.
4. You realize it sucks and hit delete.
5. You blog and find friends.
6. Your friends tell you to write again.
7. You write, it sucks.
8. Your friends tell you not to give up.
9. This time, you don't hit delete.
10. You revise.
11. Your revising skills are weak so you ship to willing friends.
12. They send it back.
13. You cry. All you can see is red ink.
14. You fix mistakes.
15. You blog. Your friends encourage you to keep going.
16. You revise again.
17. You research agents.
18. You send to critique buddies again.
19. You cry. All you can see is red ink.
20. You fix mistakes.
21. You made it to level two.
22. You write your query.
23. Repeat steps 6 - 20.
24. Send out query.
25. Get request rejected.
26. Cry and send out more.
27. Recieve Partial.
28. Wait.

Querying... never easy. Are you ready? Hows the process for you?

61 comments:

Kristi said...

Love the new layout and design! SO CUTE!

And this list? Hilarious! And so true. ;-)

Katie O'Sullivan said...

Great looking blog!

Love the list - good luck with your queries in 2011!

Artemis Grey said...

OMG I love this post! SO FREAKING SPOT ON!!! I'm in the phase of 'gotten lots of requests for fulls, all ending in rejections thinking I might have to shelve this project for now' and it's killing me because I want THIS book to see daylight SO BADY...

S.A. Larsenッ said...

4 & 5 are the turning points, at least they were for me. Yup, ready. *grins* AND excited...

Shannon said...

Great list, Jen. Pretty much spot on with the crying, lol. =)

Don't forget to check out this week's anonymous critique!

Have a great weekend!

Liz P said...

The site looks great! Love the new banner too!

Laura Pauling said...

All so true been there done that! Good job on the banners! Looks great!

Diana Mieczan said...

You did do well,sweetie..I love the header!!! Btw: all so very true:)
Happy Friday, darling
Hope you will have a relaxing weekend
Muah

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Do you have to get through all the steps to be ready?

Chris Phillips said...

There's a lot more act masculine and like you don't even wanna cry in my process.

Christina Lee said...

Looking good, girl. Ahh querying...the thought still puts my stomach in knots!

Misty Waters said...

I'm still in the red ink stage, but I'm not going to cry. I'm going to continue to repeat the following words to myself:
"Be patient young Jedi."

;-)

Erinn said...

When I feel like I don't have to puke whenever I give a draft to a beta, that when I feel like I'm a writer.

Elena Solodow said...

Love the new header, Jen!

So far querying is going well. The hardest part is the WAITING. And also what's interesting is the difference between editing, editing, editing, and then having to start a NEW book and going back to the "anything goes" first-draft mode.

lisa and laura said...

I LOVE the new layout. It's eye-catching and gorgeous and user-friendly! And I think we're complete masochists, but we miss querying. It was so fun to refresh email with a purpose.

Leigh Hutchens Burch said...

Sigh, not ready. I haven't put in the work. I keep rethinking my WIP from different angles, POV's, endpoints, payoffs... makes it easy to put off the actual WRITING. I'm 10k in, and have been for months. For me, lately, just thinking about it IS progress... though I think to start a second novel that isn't so near and dear to me little heart.

Angela said...

I'm giving it a rest for a few months. Too much red ink. I need to restart my brain.

Matthew MacNish said...

I probably don't even have to say anything to you about queries. You already know how much I hate to love them.

And, considering how amazing your blog looks, I have a little post up today that covers a very tiny but fun bit of design info for your blog. Check it out if you have time!

Stina said...

I was going to change my blog design last night but only found one I love--the one I already used. But then I realized it was perfect for me. I write romance and suspense. The heart represents romance (no duh). The you're in suspense if the water will wash the heart away. :D

(Okay, I know that was pretty sad.)

Great list. I'm about to start up querying again after taking a long break to fix my first chapter (plus I was procrastinating). :D

Jillian said...

I love the banner SO YOU!!!!

What I don't love is the query process haha, but then again who does?

Have a lovely weekend!!

Meredith said...

Yep, this list pretty much sums up the last year of my life :) And I love the new look--so fun and fresh! I have to explore all the tabs now :)

Nicole Zoltack said...

Love the new layout. And your new banner is made of awesome.

Let's not talk about queries right now. Too busy working on a deadline of the end of the month. Then February I have to work on nonfiction writing to make money. March looks good, we can talk queries in March, lol

Stephanie McGee said...

Funny list.

I'm stuck at #10.

Carolyn V. said...

LOL! That's so true, especially #13 & 19. =)

Amy Jo said...

Very true! I'm only halfway through those steps. I have a long way to go, but I won't give up!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Well, after Truth Thursday you know my answer to that. I am clinging to my life preserver, adrift in query wars. But with #1 pick yet. Soon. Maybe. :-)

Heather said...

I love what you've done with the place! Great list, it make me laugh so hard!

Melissa Gill said...

I love the new look! And great list.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

The entire process looks even more challenging when you number it like that.

Unknown said...

I love the new look!

I'm not quite ready to query yet, but I hope I can get there by the end of the year.

Patricia JL said...

You forgot 'cower in fear of writing the query.' Queries scare me. I get stumped so easily trying to figure out how to write it, how to make it amazing and attention grabbing. I keep trying, writing, deleting, writing, deleting more, finding a sentence I like but writing makes it so the sentence doesn't work.
Queries are cruel, cruel things.

Golden Eagle said...

Love your list!

I'm still chugging away at #4, the writing part. :P

Maddy said...

Good job on the new blog layout...it looks fantastic! Love the hearts and skulls and crossbones :) What an emotional process it is to be a writer! But how priviliged are we to read the work of those who stick it out! Glad some of my favorite authors never gave up :)

Michelle said...

My query sucks! I worked on it for four months and it still is terrible. I sent out the first round - waiting to see if anyone likes, but so far 14 rejections. ;__; I'm so bad at queries! So, SO bad.

fakesteph said...

Fun post! I'm so impatient to be ready to query, but I know I need to revise more. I am definitely learning self-discipline doing this whole writer thing. Love the new layout!

Jennie Bailey said...

Not ready yet. Still in the rewrites. Should be query ready by the Spring, though. LOVE the new blog. I really like the new banner!

Colene Murphy said...

I'm almost ready! But even that thought makes me feel like I'm gonna puke...LOVE the new header!

Ellie Garratt said...

I love the new banner and new look blog!

When I've finished writing the book, then I'll be ready. LOL.

Kass said...

Blog looks great, but you kind of talked me out of trying to be a writer.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

hehe I love this list. I can so relate.

Amanda said...

Hi there, found you via kidlit's tweet.

I'm at step #22...very encouraging to see I get to go back up to #6 again soon. Looking forward to it.

Krispy said...

I thought your blog looked a bit different! Nice! :)

Donea Lee said...

The new design looks FABULOUS! Great idea with the tab highlighting must haves and debut authors. This year will be about editing and querying for me...my few (very few) paltry attempts before today haven't gotten me far. 2011 is it. (I hope!)

Melissa said...

I love the new page! Your background is gorgeous and I will check out your lovely tabs!

I am SO not query ready!!

Jemi Fraser said...

I love the new design - it's wonderful! :)

Miranda Hardy said...

The blog is beautiful! Love your signs. I am in one of the crying stages. lol

Shallee said...

I love the new design-- and your list. Things that are true always make me smile. I've sent out a few queries, and am doing a few more revisions before sending out more. Taking the deep breath before the plunge!

Lisa Galek said...

I love this... too bad I'm only on Step #7!

erica and christy said...

#23 should include the phrase "ad nauseum" at the end. (yes, I'm just slightly bitter)
Fun look - good job!
erica

Susan Fields said...

I'm stuck somewhere around #20 - so close, but not there yet!

Great job revamping the blog!

Clare C. Greenstreet said...

Cool new look! Wish I was ready for sending out Query letters. Long way to go let though.

Jessica Ann Hill said...

Love the new tabs! All that hard work certainly paid off. ;)

And, I'm nowhere near the querying step yet. Hopefully this year, though!

Susan Hornbach said...

The blog looks great Jen. Those 28 signs you have listed, are called, payin yer dues.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Great list, Jemi. I'm stuck at level 15 and boy am I thankful for my blog friends...

alexia said...

Cool new design!

I just started another round of querying... after editing pretty much most of 2010 and getting rejections and doing rewrites. Waiting on a partial request right now.

The Words Crafter said...

The new design rocks! And I'm nowhere near query ready....whew!!!

Vicki Rocho said...

Not query ready here....pretty sure I need to finish the book first, LMAO!

... Paige said...

don't cry it smears the ink

Eva said...

That's about how my process goes. Except at the end I lose interest in my current book and start writing a new one. Ugh.

Jennifer Hillier said...

This blog looks GREAT!

Querying is hard. But it does, dare I say, get a tiny little bit easier with each rejection, as your skin grows thicker. By my 40th rejection, I almost didn't feel it.

Almost.

Julie Musil said...

This was awesome. I'm in the "all the red ink" phase, and this gave me a good laugh.