Sasha Brudlo

When I finished the current draft of my novel, I decided I would make querying a positive process this time around. I found myself getting discouraged when looking at social media posts that only seemed to complain about the process (rightfully so), and I decided I (personally) would not listen to the noise or play any part in it. I decided to be ruthlessly optimistic, starting right then, and I am excited to dive in to this querying journey with a novel I am honestly proud of.

So, how does one reframe their querying journey in a positive light? These are just a handful of ideas I had that you might find helpful, too.

1. Start calling it “query journey” instead of “query trenches.” I am not at war. I am doing a hard thing, but I am having fun. It has the potential to be life-changing, but no one is dying.
2. Start saying “I get to query my book now” instead of “I have to query my book now.” Great things were accomplished! We get to move on to the next step! Why is this a bad thing?! As London Tipton says, “Yay, me!”
3. Don’t complain, and don’t let other’s complaints anywhere near my brain. Aggressively protect my peace. We are cultivating a positive space. On that note…
4. Journal away any negative thoughts. Write them down, vent to the page, leave them there. We don’t have the space to carry the weight of what could go wrong.
5. Send drafts of my novel to people who can hype me up. This is different than sending to beta readers, which is a necessary step in the editing process. During the querying process, I want my friends who are interested in reading my book just for fun or just because they love me to have that opportunity. A nice showering of love and compliments for my story and my characters doesn’t hurt, either.
6. Celebrate every chunk of queries sent. This can be one query, five queries, or more. This can be with a glass of wine, a fancy scone, a chance to sit down with a new book. We are actually doing the thing we said we’d do!!
7. Just pick people who might like my book, and tell them about my book. Literary agents are real people. Don’t overcomplicate. Yes, there’s more to it than this, but this is really what it all boils down to. Tell your story.
8. Most importantly, keep writing. Something else. Something set in a different universe. Something to keep my mind busy and give me a sense of purpose and keep the ball rolling. I like to set a goal of 1,000 words a day, five days a week (at least).

This is how I choose to think about querying, and I’m hoping it will keep me sane and grounded throughout the process. Maybe it’s not for everyone. But I’m tired of feeling discouraged, of being scared, of hating this part. I’m ready to fall in love with the journey, as messy as it is.

Good luck to everyone out there in the same boat!

(it’s a nice boat, not a sinking ship)