Queries

Man, when I'm on a roll, I don't stop, and when I stop, it's cold turkey, isn't it? I've thought of lots of post topics over the past few weeks, but the time to write them down always eludes me. That's always a problem for me: finding the time. I know you make time for what's important, and that should indicate that this blog isn't that important. I like to write on it and chronicle what I'm up to, but in the end, there are more important things that I have to do, but at the same time, I enjoy writing on it, and I wish I had more time to do it, and isn't this a ridiculously long run-on sentence? If I were proof-reading and revising, I'd probably fix it, but that would only be worth it if I knew someone read it.

Anyway,my thoughts of the moment revolve around a staple of the writing industry: the query letter. I hate these things, but you know, there really isn't a better way to do it. If you have to review hundreds and hundreds of properties every day and pick something that you think will further your livelihood, you've got to have an efficient way to weed through the options. An easy way is via a quick one page letter that tells about the story to see if you feel it or not. If you do, you ask for more. If you don't, you pass on it. They all seem to acknowledge that they just might be passing on the net big thing, but again, there's not time to know, really. You have to pick the best queries and hope for the best.

However, as the person on the other side of that letter, I am faced with endless rejections. I know it's because I have a weakness when it comes to selling anything. I understand that a query letter is you trying to sell yourself to someone, and while some people can sell ice to an eskimo, I couldn't sell water to dehydrated guy in the desert. I can be persuasive in my own way, but when it comes to outright selling something, I'm absolutely terrible. Hence, all my queries are rejected.

Now, I can tell about my story in my letters. I give all the basic, pertinent information. I can give a succinct synopsis. I can make it all very well-written and have it make perfect sense to the reader. But I fail on buzzwording someone into buying. I know that's what my queries lack, but I feel incapable of figuring out what that hump is that I can't jump over.