Queries happen in times that I set aside my busy work week. Well, all that has changed. It takes me hours to send a query. I don’t blanket query agents. While I may query multiple agents in a querying session, I only send to the ones that seem a good fit for my current manuscript I’m shopping. Research takes time, and then crafting an excellent personalized query takes more time. It’s a fun process everyone who hopes to be a traditionally published author endures. The current circumstances of this time have me wondering. Should queries in quarantine go out? Are agents being bombarded with the now millions of unemployed hopefuls? Do agents want the manuscripts sent there way?
I say they go out and now daily, that is until I found that magical unicorn called a literary agent. Sometimes, I feel like Darkness, and all I need is the horn of the last mythical creature to rule the world, so I persist in chasing after it. This is the time I have to do this as a focus, no day job, no distractions. The queries will be coming, and I hope that it will be fruitful.
One thing I noticed, some agents are closed to submissions, so I won’t send to them. But the rest are still seeking novels. So while the volume of emails may be up, I know that agents will respond if they like it. I know that they will still take on clients and represent something that excites them.
My hope is one day I will talk about how I found my agent during the unimaginable Coronavirus Quarantine of 2020. That this odd historic age will be behind us, and it will have born the greatest boon of my life, a published manuscript. I can envision that. So here they come, my queries from quarantine.