Alan R Marble

As I've mentioned before I've kind of gone back and forth between looking for an agent to represent my work and just trying to submit directly to the publishers.  I've come to the decision that I am indeed going to look for an agent; I'm just not sure that I am prepared at this stage to navigate the labyrinth that is the world of publishing.  I believe that the guidance and help an agent can provide will be worth the 15% or so of any income that I might make.  It's a fair tradeoff.

To that end I've been looking in to agents who are looking for new clients and who are accepting manuscripts in the correct genre (fantasy of course).  I have a small list now and I'm looking for more, but right now I'm kind of putting an emphasis on those who prefer electronic communication.  For one, I believe that having to print up letters, samples and manuscripts that may just wind up in the trash bin isn't the most environmentally friendly policy.  For another, working with electronic submissions shows that someone is up to date technologically speaking.  This is something I appreciate!  Not to mention the amount that it saves me in printing costs and postage ...

Yesterday I put together a query letter.  I wrote one up to the first agent I had on the list, let it sit there in the browser window for a long time.  Hours.  Overnight, even.  It was ready to go, ready to send on its way - I only had to hit the big red "SEND" button.  It's shockingly difficult, particularly the first time.  You're putting yourself out there, on the line, waiting for a perfect stranger to look at your pitch.  How those few little paragraphs can effectively determine the fate of many thousands of words of work.

I could have let it sit there forever.  I could worry about it and never let anything happen, but that'd defeat the purpose, right?

So I pushed the button.

That's right - the first query letter is out.  And a couple more to follow, too.  Nothing left to do but build up my list of prospects to send to, and prepare for the inevitable "thanks but no thanks" responses ...