The adventure begins. After 18 months and five rewrites, I have a finished, polished novel manuscript. Now, to sell it.
Here are the essentials according to every book on selling a novel I’ve ever read and my mentor/editor Anna Yeatts.
- The manuscript itself
- A one-page synopsis
- A query letter
I put together all three with a lot of help from Anna, an editor friend of hers, and a novelist friend.
The rest has been research to find the right agents. How to search? Look for agents who want to represent your genre. Or check #MSWL (Manuscript Wish List) on Twitter or Pinterest.
And now the fun begins. I started with a list of 13 agents (yes, I also planted 13 trees in my backyard) and started researching. Not just the literary agency website, but also all social media, including podcasts. And found a wealth of helpful information.
What worked for me was to send one query three days a week. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I narrow my sights on a single agent and end by hitting SEND on the email or SUBMIT on the query submission manager. Different agents want different items. A query letter only. A query letter, a synopsis, and the first—five pages, ten pages, three chapters—of the novel.
So far, I’ve received four rejections that say my submission—a paranormal romance—does not line up with the agent’s MSWL
I’m waiting for the email that says, “Please send the entire manuscript.”
Wish me luck. Stay tuned.