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I was digging around in my computer and just found a very old folder that I must have exported from an old Dropbox account I cancelled years ago, and guess what& #39;s in it? All the queries I sent for CREEP... along with all the rejections.
This was the bio I used in my query:
CREEP is my first novel. I will soon have a short story published in xx, and I& #39;m an associate member of ITW. I attended ThrillerFest last summer, where I participated in nine different workshops. I& #39;m currently writing my second novel.
CREEP is my first novel. I will soon have a short story published in xx, and I& #39;m an associate member of ITW. I attended ThrillerFest last summer, where I participated in nine different workshops. I& #39;m currently writing my second novel.
"nine different workshops" HA. Who did I think this would impress? I was scraping... I had one tiny publishing credit, no contacts, and only a few writer pals in the same boat as me. What I remember most about that time is how lonely it felt.
Also I wasn& #39;t really writing that second novel, because querying the first was so damn stressful. But the official line is YOU ARE ALWAYS WRITING THE NEXT BOOK. Nobody wants to sign a one-book wonder. The first question my agent asked me was, "Do you have another book in you?"
I had three versions of my query, all... meh. To this day, pitching is a skill I never did develop. But one did end with this line:
Complete at 106,000 words, CREEP is a psychological thriller that explores what happens when you cheat on your fiancé with Hannibal Lecter.
Complete at 106,000 words, CREEP is a psychological thriller that explores what happens when you cheat on your fiancé with Hannibal Lecter.
