Wednesday, August 15, 2012

8/11 Chum Bucket results


One of my favorite replies of all time:
I like you too but you scare the shit out of me. (name withheld)



I got 50 queries in the hour window.  Here's a rundown on what best described the responses:

Queries for a category I don't take on: 21
Query needs work/some words of advice: 10

Not right for me: 5
Not a clue about what's happening in the novel/some words of advice: 3


Can't sell this: 4

Get to QueryShark please: 2



Not big enough: 2
Tried a book like this and it flopped/learned my lesson: 2

No second editions: 1
Not enough platform: 1
too scary: 2


Questions?

12 comments:

Loralie Hall said...

*suppresses statistic hoarding internal geek*
*raises hand*

Is 'not big enough' a comment about word count, or is it similar to 'I can't sell this' (as in, there's not a big enough market for it)?

Sara said...

No question but a comment. In deciding that I'd like an actual reaction from an agent, I sat down to read over my first 5 pages before submitting to Chum Bucket. Only to discover Chapter 1 sucked! I'd edited it so much it was a skeleton but I got busy working on other stuff, like the query and the proposal, and assumed Ch. 1 was done. Thanks to your Chum Bucket challenge, I just saved myself a lot of disappointment (hopefully).
Also proves how essential it is to go away from the writing for a long period of time, in order to have fresh - and honest - eyes for it.

Janet Reid said...

Loralie, the second one. It means the book doesn't have enough story for a book or the story that's there doesn't have enough depth for the width.

Janet Reid said...

NSCG--it's always nice to have real world results that mirror all the yammering I do about fallow time.

Writer Chick said...

What differentiates "can't sell this" from a form rejection for other reasons?

I am making an assumption here that the CST query is well-written enough to make you think that the novel might be publishable, and that the author has a platform which can be of use, but ...

Janet, what's the "but" consist of?

Dee said...

I really wish you represented my genre. I have to force myself to avoid falling into that first category of subs each go around! :)

Keya said...

If something is "too scary" for the shark, then I am maybe worried about what people are submitting.

Kate said...

"Not enough platform?" Was this one non-fiction?

Scribble Orca said...

That doesn't add up to 50, so there was a double up.

Which two (or more) categories had a query overlap, please?

By the way, your new name is Query Saint.

Unknown said...

As one of the rejected—I’m not sure which category I fell into—I was crushed to find, even after all the hours of polishing both the query and the first pages, that the rejection hinged on the 24th word in the query.

Janet was kind enough, however, to enter into an email discourse with me that gave me a better understanding of my failure and how to overcome it in the future.

Thanks, Janet. I agree with GN F, you're a Query Saint.

Tara Tyler said...

so it looks like the odds of getting representation are greater than 1 in 50 =)

do you know your stats? just curious

appreciate you taking the time to personalize! this is educational!

Janet Reid said...

Tara, the odds of being offered representation are somewhere close to 1:7,000 right now.

The stats for a requested full are close to 1:100.

I read a lot of fulls that I don't offer on.


But, it's not a numbers game. It's a word game. Writing well is still the best way to get where you want to go.