Queries Again? (I must be a masochist)

Alright then, I've realized that in my absolute need to write about how incredibly expensive even writing a query has become, I left out a few important details.  Before I delve into said details, let me point out one small, rather pertinent fact:

I have never been accepted for publication by any major agents and/or publishing houses.  

As much as it may pain me to admit, that fact is true.  I have had a few queries garner a second look, but then nothing.  NOTHING.  Sad emptiness that makes me want to curl up in a small ball and feel absolutely worthless.  I am here today to try and make certain that anyone who stumbles upon this blog realizes that we are not worthless, not even a little bit.

Having said that, I now want to offer a tiny ray of hope in the query process as well.  After the first round of mindless "seminars" that you can pay to attend and receive pointers, there are still the tried and true basics of querying.  I'll be sharing the main points, and if I ever (fingers crossed) have a query accepted and then the manuscript accepted (a key caveat), I will share every painstaking detail for those who are interested.

Here are the bare bones (as far as I can tell).  My theory is that every little bit helps.

1. Start with a hook (the ideas for hooks are wide ranging, but a similar theme does seem to be something that strikes the reader's imagination and also give a tiny trace of the character to come - there were dozens of options, but other sites said "you must introduce the character here" - that seems to me to be code for do both)  

2. Introduce the dreaded synopsis (It is brutal, beyond words, to take a 50,000+ word piece of our souls and condense it to usually 250 words, but we have to at least try.  My best advice is to write everything you want to say, and would say if someone would but listen, then go back and rewrite the whole bloody thing, taking out superlative adjectives and any overabundance of plot points.  Stick to the basics, but make it interesting - I did read that it was important to show true plot, not just emotional baggage, and I liked that point - a lot) 

3. The less that is said, the better (this is particularly true in light of the word constraint, but also about yourself.  If you haven't been a well published or over-educated person in a minute field that over qualifies you - sorry, personal baggage decided to drop by - then don't point out that you have little to no experience - instead, give what audience the book might appeal to instead) 

4. Revise, revise, revise (Those 250 words - or 500, you might get lucky - will come a lot sooner than you think.  When in doubt, edit it until you are crying from the emotional toil.  Chances are that if you're like me, you'll have finally cut back on the superfluous words by that point) 

 5. And finally, edit (This might seem a bit obvious, but I am sure I'm not the only one out there who has sent an email and then realized - too late!- that the type font was different at the top or that a name was spelled wrong. Unfortunately, we can never get back what we've sent, so make absolutely certain it is as good as it can get - CAREFUL! though, don't overthink it, that will no doubt nix any chance of you ever sending it.  I personally would rather send something and have a small typo than never send it.  After all, if you never ask, the answer is always no)

And so we conclude my thoughts on the dreaded query.  I truly hope some day soon I'll be coming back to this page and editing it to give my personal experience in acceptance not rejection, but until then:

Down a Rabbit Hole Part 1

Oh my.  If I were being less than politically correct, there would probably be a few inappropriate adjectives as well.  Why, one might ask?  Well, let me share today's newest journey down the Rabbit Hole.  (I foresee this being an ongoing theme in the weeks and months to come, so it will be serialized.)

So, to begin:  I have mentioned that I am working with the new website Pronoun for an online only platform for my book, Death's End.  I went to that site today to update a few things, and down one hole I went.

Who knew that newsletters were a thing? I certainly didn't.  But having emerged on the other side, no doubt now in Wonderland, I have officially signed up for an account to now write newsletters to send to my readers (who I'm still trying to figure out who, what, where, when, even why they are).  Anyway, in case anyone is interested, here is a link. https://tinyletter.com/legibler.  For those wondering about newsletter's as I was, may I recommend the following website: https://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/the-how-and-why-of-author-newsletters/.  As for the rest of us, shall we see how far this rabbit hole goes?

After I emerged from that particular hole (and I'm not entirely certain I actually have), I went down another: my personal website and Facebook page.  I don't know about the majority of the population, but I am not a fan of Facebook.  I don't like sharing my "relationship status", and the amount of oversharing is truly staggering. That being said, I am well aware that there is a benefit to it form a business standpoint.  Having updated that as well as my author page courtesy of Wix.com, well...

Somewhere in the middle of my day, I stumbled upon Medium.  This does, for all intents and purposes, appear to be a website just for writing and reading.  On the surface, it sounds like a lovely idea.  (But let me not forget the very best such site, Writers Carnival).  As I do need to wrap up in order to complete my weekend without stressing over upcoming exams, I did not take the time to start down yet another rabbit hole and create from scratch works.  Instead, I thought it best to share a friend of the feline variety. (Secret Agent Cat Volume 1)

Now, having updated my personal website, my author's Facebook page, created a new account on Medium and a newsletter on TinyLetter, what is left?  Well, I think that would be for me to return to the mundane world and finish up my homework. Anything more, and there's no telling where this Alice might end up.

Queries, the horror, the horror

Well, let's just start this off by saying query letters will be the making or breaking of me. I'm fairly certain I am not alone in this belief. 

Having said that, and having also gone on record as saying that I publish for my own purposes, not to make money, I think I might need to clarify why, if self publishing is what I do, queries should even matter.

Anyone who has ever written a story and believes it to be worth publishing knows the agony that follows. First there is the challenge of sifting through the mountains of rather erroneous information on the web for anyone willing to accept un-published authors. Honestly, publishing industry, how is anyone supposed to start if you won't even let us submit without an agent, most of whom are unwilling to accept unpublished authors? Does this seem like a Catch-22/ Kobayashi Maru situation to anyone besides me? 

I digress. 

Why, then, the renewed interest in that horrid exercise of query letters? I blame NaNoWriMo. Yes, November is that wonderfully awful month where writers churn out tens of thousands of words and I was no exception. I managed to "wins", and wrapped up another just as the month began. But then comes the "Now What" phase.  It just so happens that this year, the "Now What" is Pitchapalooza, where we silly writers have to cram down our pride and joy into a measly 250 words and, really, hope for the best. 

About a decade ago, I worked long and hard to get my book, First Bite, out into the publishing world. I was rejected by several agents and most simply never responded.  I'm not sure which is worse, but it left a bitter taste in my psyche that made me never want to go that route again. I opted instead to publish my own works, because, really, that was all I really wanted. I've been relatively content with CreateSpace and I'm trying out Pronoun (eBooks only). I do promise to post updates as I get the hang of it all. 
And here we are, circling back to the point at hand. Ten years ago, there were dozens of sites about how to write the "perfect pitch". Now, there are dozens of sites about paying money to be told how to write the perfect pitch. No offense, but I highly doubt shelling out hundreds of dollars is going to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. Regardless, for those who, like me, have tried in vain to find a site that just helps us WRITE the pitch, might I suggest the following?http://thewritepractice.com/dreaded-query/ (This link is not done with any sort of benefit in mind, or endorsement, or whatever leagal paraphrasing should be here. This is just me, a struggling writer, directing fellow struggling writers to a site that actually gave some information about the query itself, not about how to pay to be told to write a query.)

And so concludes my foray into the world of writing queries. It's brutal work for an author. It truly terrifies me to have to condense my entire written work into such a tiny word constraint. I feel as if my characters and I will slowly suffocate, but there you have it. When Pitchapalooza goes live, I'll share my pitch here, and maybe some kind souls will vote for me, give feedback, or just say hello. I'm not picky.

Good luck to all struggling artists out there. Know that tonight especially, I feel your pain.

L.E. Gibler

One Quick Thought

This is literally just a few seconds to clarify a simple thought:

My blog is titled "Ramblings" for a reason.  Rather like a stream of consciousness blog, this is here to help unwind.  I do try to add in helpful and humorous bits about the life of being an author who doesn't really get paid, but there are dozens, if not hundreds, of blogs out there that will go far more into depth about such topics than I ever will.  However, if you are a struggling artist out there in the world and you do happen to stumble across my blog, know that I will always try to add a touch of wry humor to the writing process in my, well, random way.


Good luck to all writers out there.  We are all just a little bit crazy, but that's a good thing.  (Also, please note, as my mother will point out, I tend to take twice as long to say something as was absolutely necessary.  I think that's half the fun.)

Nothing Ventured...

One of these days, I am going to sit down and write a long blog about how much I hate statistics class, but this is not that day.

(The mistake being the fault in taking statistics to begin with)

No, this day is all about trying new things.  Those new things today refer to the self publishing platform Pronoun.  

In previous self publishing endeavors, I have gone through CreateSpace.  Anyone who has wanted to see their words in print has probably at least considered this particular avenue, but having reached a point where the old is growing stale, I decided to branch out.

For those of you who were successful with NaNoWriMo this year, Pronoun was one of the offers.  I decided, what the hell, and signed up.  Now, it has, admittedly, taken me two months to finish, but then, well, that's life.  

Still, with a new platform, I decided to try a new everything.  Rather than the young adult fiction I have been working with on CreateSpace, I decided to throw into the world one of my more unique endeavors.  Death's End (link to come) is about Persephone, a reaper who collects souls for Death.  And I fell away from all the previous constraints about where a plot should start and end, and I'm sure I'll someday be reviewed mercilessly for my endeavor, but it felt so right for this story.  And what better story to share on this new platform than one that is a bit of a non sequitur?

So far, I have nothing but positive things to say about Pronoun.  They very helpfully had guidance for formatting, the process itself was painless, and I love the final product as it stands.  Going forward, who knows, but then:

I've decided to add on a quick note to this particular post.  While it will take me a week to have further updates on how well Pronoun works for me, and realistically even more time than that, I just want to say, again, to anyone out there who is interested, that if all you truly want is to hold your written work in your hands, then I can offer no greater option than Createspace.  I had some issues with cover and formatting when I worked with Lulu when I first started out.  They are set up almost identically, but I tried to shift my Lulu work from hardcover to soft and the images never made the cross.  So, if anyone out there is like me and just wants to hold their "precious", then I suggest going cheap.  Worst case scenario, you can always start from scratch later (which I hope to start in on later in the year as well - updates to follow).  For what it's worth, there is my two cents on the weekend.  Now, off to "creatively write" my research paper.  Ah, school.

*** Spelling corrections courtesy of my mother (who has finally read my blog)

Writing for the Sake of the Writer

Last weekend, I made a point of just writing.  I carved out a part of my Sunday and dedicated it to simply letting a few of my characters breathe.  Unfortunately, as Sherlock would say:

And so for the next three days, I had to battle through my own characters desperate for life and the constant responsibility that most of us are faced with.  Once, long ago, I suffocated a character.  He still hasn't forgiven me, and when I find myself in such a desperate place, I can feel him back there, tantalizingly close, but never to be fully realized.  If ever a character haunted me, it would be him.

However, having learned my lesson, I know better this weekend.  I won't be trying to let a few characters out with an exam on Monday and another on Thursday.  But it isn't like the soul of a writer can stay so repressed.  Something has to give, and rather than have it be my sanity, I found a way to feel at one with a touch of myself again.  And so we come to the point of this week's title.

When I first branched out in self publishing, it was because I had won my first NaNoWriMo, and it seemed such a waste of the opportunity to continue to let my stories sit in my bookshelf as binders and 8.5"x11" editions.  So I took the plunge.  There was never any real great drive to self publish and somehow, miraculously, become wealthy through it.  All that mattered was that I had shifted from being simply a writer into being an author, and that was enough for me.

I won't lie.  I still dream about being a well paid author, but I have to just hope that day will come when I can give a little more time to the endeavor.  For now, and just for me, I will continue to write as the stories come and the time allows.  But for the sake of my sanity, I found an outlet that should last me until the exams are over.  I've been writing and completing full stories for nearly a decade.  One memorable year, I wrote four novels.  I have a pletheora and for now, with not thought to any profit in the future, I will turn a few stories into books.  The only purpose is for me, and me alone.  And that, fellow writers and readers, is what should be our driving force.  If we cannot love what we write, why write at all?