Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Ready to Query

My first novel, which I have titled In The Shadow of Honey Locusts, is finally finished.  It took five drafts and 19 months, many sleepless nights and countless lunch breaks, a good number of hopeful days and hundreds of others when all I wanted to do is quit.

But I did not and, for better or for worse (I hope the former!), it is now done.

I have also crafted a query letter and a synopsis, and made a list of agents.

Yes, I know, there is always that what if I go over it just one more time and change a few more words but I think I am now satisfied.  At last.

But now comes the silly question - is there a best day and time to send the query?

Do some of the unwritten rules of business apply to querying?  That is, don't really send an email / query on Monday, especially early morning, because everyone is too busy focusing on the must-get-this-done tasks, and certainly don't bother to send one on Friday because everyone is in weekend-mode and won't really pay attention.

Any thoughts or experience with this - or am I going too far?

Thank you!

19 comments:

  1. I have no experience to offer in regard to if there is a best time or day (not having reached the query stage yet). But I wanted to take a minute to post my congratulations that you are ready! That is awesome!!!

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  2. Congratulations on finishing! That's great news.

    I've never had querying success so have no advice to offer you but the avoiding Mondays and Fridays thing does sound smart to me. Best of luck with it.

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  3. Great news. I'm excited for you :o)
    Personally, I think that your query will go in the queue and be read regardless of when you send it. They must have a system for processing the submissions. After all, they do want to find people to represent. It's the quality of your writing that matters, not the day you send it.
    Great title btw.
    Good luck!

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    1. Thank you Iain - I hope you are right that there is a system!

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  4. I never really thought about timing. Good question! I probably wouldn't do Friday. :-) And I think now is a good time since it's plenty of time before the holidays.
    Good luck!

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    1. I agree - I better hurry up and send them out! Weird, now that I am done I am sort of scared to send. It almost feels like the planning stage carried more hope... and now it is time to show up.

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  5. Congratulations! I haven't finished my novel, so this comes more from my plan than my experience, but I'd say it's much more important for your query to be well constructed than well timed.

    The 2013 Writer's Market has a short article on query letters. If you don't have a copy, it's short enough you could read it in a bookstore. In my edition it's on page 16.

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    1. Thank you Larry - I will definitely read the article.

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  6. Congratulations.
    Patience and Fortitude prevailed....
    I love that line in your post...
    "It took five drafts and 19 months, many sleepless nights and countless lunch breaks, a good number of hopeful days and hundreds of others when all I wanted to do is quit."

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  7. Congrats on finishing, E.D.! And good luck querying. I've wondered the same about timing but ultimately it probably boils down to "being in the right place at the right time."

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    1. Thank you Annette - you are probably right. That it may come down to luck also scares me...

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  8. Congratulations on finishing your book! :)

    Good luck with your queries. I've never sent a query so I don't really have any advice; but avoiding Mondays and Fridays sounds sensible.

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  9. Hey, E.D. Congratulations on finishing your book & good luck finding a "home" for it!

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  10. I'm sorry I don't have any idea to contribute. But I want to give you a round of applause for a job well done! Congratulations on your book! :)

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  11. CONGRATS! A finished novel is a great feeling (and accomplishment!!!). I really don't know if there is a best time of the day to query. In fact, one time an agent contacted me via email at well past nine o'clock New York time on a Friday night. Who knows. If you find out, let me know! And good luck with your querying! :)

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  12. Congratulations Eva and I wish you great success.

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  13. Hi, E.D.

    I just stumbled across your blog. You're probably a follower of someone I follow. I'm another writer.

    Querying agents doesn't depending on timing. Just send it when you're ready. You may get an immediate answer, or it may sit in the agent's in-box for a while before he or she gets to it. Unfortunately, this is something you have no control over. Proofread it one more time, then hit send. And good luck!

    -- Barb

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  14. I can tell you September and February are hot times to query. So just hit send and get it out there. September's almost over.

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