+ the query that led me to my agent Today, I’m bringing you a pastiche of wisdom-learned-the-hard-way, resources-I-wish-I-knew-about-earlier, and the query that got the attention of a Big5 editor and that landed me with my agent (I swear, someday I’ll write a HIGMA post about that wild tale). #1 Pitch Your Friends First. Y’all, my…
Apparently, if you pick up a bullhorn and start announcing “I HAVE A LITERARY AGENT!” while parading around the neighborhood at 6 am, your fanfare will consist of excited police sirens, joyous cursing, and bouquets of shoes lovingly lobbed in your direction. But in case you missed my thrilling twilit tidings: (deep inhale, lifts bullhorn)…
Ahem. *cracks wrists, flips chest tube over shoulder* I had planned on blogging this month about something mundane, like “How Midpoints Are the Most Misunderstood Plot Point,” but then my left lung woke me up in the middle of the night, screaming (in the voice of Miette), “YOU HAVEN’T PAID ENOUGH ATTENTION TO ME, MOTHER.”…
Did you know that losses are twice as potent as their equivalent gains? This psychological concept underpins the idea of “loss aversion,” a cognitive bias that often tests a writer’s will to continue on through the query gauntlet. For some, the cumulative pain of rejections can outweigh the potential gain of snagging that offer, which…