The Quest for the Perfect Query

Who else is struggling with query letters? Come on, raise your hands. Don’t be shy.

I have written query letters for awhile now. I have even put them into the bodies of emails, clicked “send”, and whisked them into cyber space. I have stuffed them into envelopes, licked the nasty glue-like seal, put a stamp on, and slipped them into the depths of a postal box. So why the apprehension now?

I am no stranger to rejection. In fact, I have developed a pretty hard shell. The problem is not the rejections themselves. It is that with each one, I run closer to depleting the list of agents and publishers to query. Sure, I’ve had a nibble here and there. I even had a request for a full at one point. But my novels (and my memoir) still remain unagented and unpublished.

So suddenly my queries are not good enough. I write them. I rewrite them. I agonize over them. Are they too long? Too short? Too…something. Or maybe they’re not enough of something.

From the agent blogs and published books I have read, there really is no set formula on writing the perfect query letter. But now mine has to be perfect all of a sudden. It has to appeal to every agent’s whim and desire—even though that is totally impossible.

So, I ask, does anyone else struggle with this same sense of inadequacy when it comes to fashioning the ultimate query letter? And—if so—how do you work through it. (Hint: giving up is not an option).

The Business of Writing

I read my friend Pam’s blog today at www.ironyandxtc.blogspot.com (here’s a plug for you, Pam). She and I seem to be having the same hum-drum feeling. Maybe it’s the fact that few people read our blogs or post to them. Maybe it's that this is the week we’re supposed to hear if our submissions to the Austin Film Festival went anywhere or if they simply fell into someone’s waste basket.

I sent them a screenplay that I wrote way back when and The Office teleplay I wrote for the Disney Fellowship. I am used to rejection; I get it all the time. But somehow, I think I will be a little more crushed if I get the brush off this time around. I should also hear from NBC. They have a Writers on the Verge program that prepares writers to work in TV. It is an unpaid, 10-week gig in Burbank. Interviews start this week. If I make it, I am told I have to go. That sounds about right, since I have a whole file folder and email inbox filled to the brim with rejections. Writing is a tough business.