For when all you hear is "no" (the reality of query life)

It's tough out here. I think every author knows that. We essentially have two options once a manuscript is complete. 1) Make the query package and hope that an agent, editor, publisher, and readership fall in love with your story as much as you do. 2) Self-publish--meaning pay for covers, editors, proofing, ARCs, pre-order deals, etc. up front and hope it lands in the right hands.

Both roads are challenging. At least with the second, you're in charge of the momentum. You are the one controlling every step and when it happens (to a degree). But it's also a very steep hill in an uphill battle.

Traditional publishing takes that load off, but you're then subject to the whims of industry professionals. This is harder than ever when the economy sucks and very few are willing to take big risks on a no-name author.

There's a lot of rejection. Sometimes it's hard to know if it's because of your query, your opening pages, or your whole book. Sometimes agents already represent a project too similar to what you're pitching. (I've been subject to this on occasion and it hurts. If only I'd gotten in sooner.) And sometimes it's just not where the market is at the time.

So much waiting with so few answers.

It makes self-publishing look really enticing.

Authorship is a tough career even with notoriety. Paychecks are few and far between, you're often at the will of your publisher, and there are no guarantees that you sell any books at all.

It's incredibly frustrating, too. To read and see books that seem mediocre getting huge deals and film adaptations. All the while writing and revising and beta reading and posting on socials just trying to get someone to notice your story. A story that's probably better than a lot of the ones already published.

As a writer who is connected to a lot of self-proclaimed aspiring authors, it really sucks to read amazing books and know they may never see the light of day. It seems so unfair to know how many great stories never make it past an email inbox. And yet I think it says something that so many choose to pursue this avenue.

Those who haven't chosen this profession often look at the odds and ask, "So why get into it then?" It's a valid question (when I'm not in a sassy mood). The chances of making a living wage of any kind as a writer are often quite small.

But it is possible.

I think for a lot of writers, it's just in our blood. There are words deep in our soul that need to be shared. It's how we connect and process the world around us. So other careers might be viable, but regardless the stories need to be told. To be given room to breathe and grow and develop on their own.

And that's really what it comes down to, isn't it? Despite the odds, we write because we love it. Because we have to.

We face the query trenches and the endless rejection because we have no other choice.

If you're there now, I'm right there with you. I'm frustrated all I hear are generic passes. I'm annoyed I can't know if it's my query letter or my first pages or my book idea or my writing style that turned someone away. I'm tired of hearing an agent pass because they already rep something too similar.

But I believe in your stories. I believe they have an audience--they just need to land in the right inbox, in the right hands, at the right time.

We'll get there.

It's in these times we need our writing tribe most. They're the ones who will convince you to keep going when the world tells you no--or even just not right now. I'm super grateful to the writers in my life who champion my words with me. (They know when to tell me I'm too in my head about my stories being trash.)

I often forget I know what I'm doing. And I often forget how far I've come.

So I really hope this post in particular will be something I can look at in the future and say, "Yeah, that wasn't your time, but look how far you've come."

Best of luck chasing your dreams. I know that we'll end up on the shelves together one day. But until then:

Don't give up. You have something important to share. I want to read your words, and until they're out there, the world will be lesser for it.

Here's to rejections that lead to clearer paths,

Erin