Over the past week and a half, I submitted my novel to several literary agents. It's a particularly confounding experience because the submission process differs for every agent/agency. For the half dozen I submitted today, each one was as different as a snowflake. Their requirements all differed: expected query-letter length; whether they wanted a bio and what details they requested; whether they wanted five pages or up to three chapters of the manuscript; or whether they wanted a pitch letter. Every submission has to be diamond-perfect, or it will quickly end up in the rejection bin.
Next, how do they want your query submission? Submit everything in the body of an email for this agent, or submit over the web for that agent. Be wary of formatting, spelling, syntax, and grammar—again, all must be diamond perfect.
It's enough to gnaw at your guts while giving you the thrill of riding the most notorious of rollercoasters without ever leaving your seat.
Now we enter the waiting game, from three to eight weeks. In the meantime, I will be working on the sequel.
