Musings Of A New Southern Man

I started off this blog several months ago with questions about how to write the proper query letter. Things haven't changed. I am still facing the same question: Is my query letter the proper way to pitch my first book? My latest crisis of faith came from an agent's reply. I have avoided agents who take only snail-mail queries, but I decided to try one: John Ware in New York City. I knew of his reputation, but an interview with him I found persuaded me that he would be a good agent to present my work to. So I bundled up my snail-mail request and sent it off to Central Park West, relying on Ware's pledge that he tended to reply to queries within two weeks (which is like light speed for most agents). Well, Mr. Ware replied within two weeks ... with a rejection. But he simply took my query letter, circled three words in it and said, "Alas, not for me. But thanks and good luck." Those three little words taught me a lesson about my query approach. Now I will look ...

My session on the dreadmill helped a lot. I feel like the obese fellow in the Old Spice commercial, the one in which chunks of his body suddenly start falling off to reveal a hunk of a guy underneath. I'm not to hunk stage yet, but a couple of pieces of that exhaustion have fallen by the wayside. Oh happy day!!

I have learned the value of AIC ... ass in chair ... as a guideline for authors. I try to follow it as closely as possible. I take time from almost every day I have to work my "day job" and spend some time on my latest novel. Sometimes that pledge gets kicked in the teeth. The past week has been one of those times. Part of the problem is the weight of that day job. I am a copy editor in sports at The Denver Post, and fall is our busiest time. It used to be that one day of my work week was a "light day" in comparison to the others. Not anymore. The weight of copy stays the same, but the number of people to do it has dwindled. We have had people leave the department for other opportunities or take a buyout (The Post just had 19 people with more than 400 years' experience walk out the newsroom door that way), but there have been no replacements. That same amount of work is now being carried by fewer workers. There have been a few nights lately when we will push...