Staying Motivated While Querying
I think it’s really important to talk about how querying can be a very demoralizing process. It takes time, effort, and a lot of rejections even for authors who get an agent “yes”.
You could spend a whole year querying dozens of agents for your manuscript, and not get an offer. You might decide that your manuscript needs to be shelved and you need to move on.
So how do you stay motivated during a demoralizing process?
Tip 1: Find your query crew
Through pitch contests on twitter and other opportunities to find writing partners (like #cpmatch), I found a lovely group of other writers who were also querying. We had a group DM on Twitter, and we were able to commiserate when we got rejections, celebrate when we got requests, and share our frustrations and anxieties about the querying process.
It helps to have other people who know what it’s like to be querying, and luckily the internet and social media makes it very easy to find your query crew! It’s a great way to get support, and also keep yourself from posting things publicly that you probably shouldn’t.
Tip 2: For every rejection, do...something
For me, this was sending out another query. Every time I got a rejection, I picked an agent from my next query batch to send a query to. It was replacing a bit of demoralization with a bit of hope.
I know writers who put a dollar in a jar every time they got a rejection, and then used the money in there at the end of the month to get themselves a little treat. I know writers who put on a facemask and a funny show each time they got a rejection. Or they pet their cat, or they took a yoga class, or…
You get the point. Find something that will perk you up, and commit to doing it when you get a rejection, whether it be querying-related or simple self-care.
Tip 3: Keep writing
Don’t stop writing while you’re querying. Getting excited about a new project is a great antidote to querying rejection, but also a great way to keep progressing as a writer.
Your first manuscript (or second, or tenth) might not be the one to get you an agent. So keep going, because you never know when you’re going to write the book that captures an agent’s heart.
Tip 4: Keep it in perspective
I loved reading “how I got my agent” posts on writer’s blogs when I was querying, to see how many rejections they got and remind myself that even after all those rejections, they still got an agent. Just because you were rejected, it doesn't mean you won’t ever get representation, even if it feels like that. A no is just a no, and nothing more - it’s not a referendum on your talent as a writer, even if it feels that way in the moment.