Thread by @JenniferHillier, I was digging around in my computer and just found a very [...]

Jennifer Hillier

JenniferHillier

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'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'm an associate member of ITW. I attended ThrillerFest last summer, where I participated in nine different workshops. I'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'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.

106k words! Agent: "It's a hard sell over 100k. Cut it." Got it down to 99k. She took off another 4k. It sold at 95k and eventually published around 94k words.

The random shit I remember. I couldn't tell you what I had for breakfast yesterday, but THIS is what sticks in my head.

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