- If you ever feel discouraged during the querying process, keep these agent query stats in mind here, here, here, and here, to make you feel a little less alone. Also when an agent takes the time to write you a personalized rejection, PAY attention to those! Click here and here for helpful guides on decoding query rejections.
- The querying process can suck. Waiting sucks. And publishing in general, is an industry where things can go notoriously slow where literally nothing happens for months and then everything happens all at once. So, even if it feels neigh impossible not to be refreshing your inbox every five seconds after sending out a batch of queries, work on other manuscripts to keep your mind off of things, otherwise you’ll just succeed in driving yourself batty, waiting in anticipation.
- As much as rejection can hurt, keep in mind that publishing is a VERY subjunctive, so one thing that an agent passes on, might be exactly what another agent is looking for!
- Don’t be afraid to take breaks and cut yourself a little slack. Related, if you find yourself having writer’s block, remember that taking a breather and stepping away from a work-in-progress completely is an option you have, and sometimes the best option at the moment. One of the best decisions I made for novel #1 was to set it aside completely for six months, which then allowed me to finally got past my writer’s block, because I was able to look at it with a fresh set of eyes.
- Take a minute to acknowledge professional jealousy, but ultimately don’t it let consume you. It’s so easy to compare yourself to other writers and be jealous of where they are in terms of the stages of their careers (I myself am guilty of this). Instead, look inward and learn to appreciate your own strengths and accomplishments.
- Try to kind mind the ‘little’ milestones in your writing journey that shine a brighter light in warding off professional jealousy- i.e. getting a partial or full request.
- You don’t necessarily need to have a HUGE writing community, but it definitely helps to have at least one or two critique partners or beta readers that will generally uplift you with positivity, and stick with you during all the ups and downs. I feel like the quickest way in figuring out on whether you do have a supportive writing community is that they’ll commiserate with your failures, but absolutely celebrate your triumphs.
- Lastly, you do NOT have to write everyday to be considered a ‘real’ writer (which I definitely don’t do). Likewise, applying the pressure or the ultimate ‘goal’ to be a full-time writer early on in your writing journey can also quite frankly, kill your art or writing motivation totally.
Writer, Reader, Dreamer
Eunice Kim 