Draft Completed...Next Steps

I've spent the last six weeks inputting line-edit changes and addressing 44 different editorial issues and suggestions from my editor. It was a time-consuming, arduous process but also very rewarding. I believe that my most recent changes have tightened and deepened the story and characters. I'm filled with confidence that this manuscript is as good as I can make it...and certainly good enough to do battle in the current publishing market.

So, next steps. This will be a busy week. I will contact my editor and summarize the changes I've made to the manuscript to see if she has any further suggestions. I will also make minor revisions to my query letter based on her suggestions in terms of positioning the book in the market. Finally, I will resume the query process, which I suspended in January to pass the manuscript through another professional edit.

Based on suggestions from the principals at Book Doctors, I will be more aggressive in my query process. For example, when I receive rejections or don't hear from an agent in more than four weeks, I will follow up with an email asking what they saw lacking in my sample. Chances are the agent never even reviewed my sample and just ignored it or rejected it to get it out of their inbox. The purpose of my follow-up email is to potentially get the recipient to actually read the damn thing! At this point, I'm so brainwashed by the quality of my book that I believe any sensible agent will find it hard to resist.

Hell, it's worth a try!

The Book Doctors also have other strategies to attract an agent's attention--I suggest you get their book if you have serious designs on publishing.

In addition to querying agents, I'm going to solicit a couple of small publishers each month who don't require agency representation.

My new motto: Leave no stone unturned.