This from Keith Raffel:
Just a word of caution. As it says on my agent's
website, "Remember: any agent or editor is likely to
only read your manuscript once, so make sure that you
aren't sending out an early draft which could be
improved with more work."
6 comments:
Excellent advice. It goes for any business - any client.
I believe Pfizer is working on a drug to fight "premature query."
;)
KS
I commented on Miss Snark's blog about this. I see writers in a hurry to query (I'm a poet and don't know it!)
I too was in a hurry with my first book.
It is only over time that I have come to realize the most useful thing a new writer can do is write more than one book. That really increases competence. Additionally if you have a fabulous agent like DK from WM who does brilliant editorial letters before she starts shopping your novel - you learn even more.
I am now going back to my other novels and applying what I have learned.
That all takes time.
I think many times new writers query too fast because they want reassurance that either their premise is worth doing or their writing is good enough.
I do not think the query process is useful to answer either question.
JMHO
(by the way Michael - your comment about realizing what that meant was what got coffee on my keyboard)
Hi, Michael. I found you because you posted a comment on a friend's blog - and said something about books - and, being the literati (ahem) that I am, decided to visit your site. So far, so good.
Kell,
My plan appears to be working then !!
Part of my routine is to find an interesting blog or two every day of fellow writers and post a comment.
The idea is to widen my community of writing friends (people who can provide advice and feedback on what I write) AND to also increase traffic on my site.
Michelle Willingham does a great job of this.
My thinking is the more traffic my site generates, the better.
What say you on this topic ?
Sounds like a plan, Stan.
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