Chum Bucket tonight. 12/15/14. (If it's NOT 12/15/14 do not send a chum bucket query!)
7pm
Remember: do not link to this post from elsewhere (your blog or Facebook page), or post/tweet about it.
Chum Bucket works because everyone who participates has invested some time in learning how it works. I LOVE doing Chum Bucket so I really want to keep it to those people who buy in to the premise.
The premise is that if you query me between 7pm and 8pm tonight, I will reply to you personally, not with a form letter.
The response can range from "this isn't for me" to "send full" but you'll know I'm sitting there typing it out when I get your query.
Of course, I often do reply with more than "not for me" because I think it's helpful to say why it's not for me. Sometimes it's because I'm not much on eyeball removal (eww!) and sometimes it's cause you
think a 240,000 memoir is publishable.
If I think I can help you, I'll try to do so.
Chum Bucket is NOT a critique.
And your part of the bargain is you will not email me back telling me I'm a cretin of the first order for failing to appreciate your masterpiece. (While that may be true, we will observe the social niceties of not stating the obvious.)
The reason I ask you to NOT tweet or link is that people who aren't regular blog readers, or twitter followers, who only see the announcement, may not know about the social contract not to reply with venom. I really want to keep doing Chum Bucket so the longer we can keep it to invested readers, the more likely it is to continue.
Questions?
The comment column awaits.
Here's the rundown on queries from the previous Chum Bucket:
| 01. Not for me/some comments on why: | 7 |
| 05. Not my category: | 6 |
| 02. Not for me/some comments on correct category or comps | 1 |
| 03. Suggestions to improve red hot mess queries: | 1 |
| 07. Request full: | 1 |
| 08. Writing needs a lot of work | 1 |
| 14. Not for me/some comments on improving query | 1 |
| 15. Failed to send pages on a good query | 1 |
That last one is really shortsighted. If pages aren't included in a regular query, even if I like it, I'm much more likely to just respond with a form letter passing on the project.
Although my genre is not your genre (drat the luck), I think it's way cool what you're doing.
ReplyDeleteWith this post, the nervous hand wringing and sweating begins for those who know they will participate. I bet they will fret ALL DAY long about their query. I bet some (most?) will have a copy on their work computer and tweak it constantly until the deadline. I bet some (most?) will not be able to eat. And, I bet some (most?) will waffle between "my story's the best it can be," or, "it's as tasty to the Shark as tepid, stagnant water running through a sewer drain, on a hot summer day."
ReplyDeleteWiffle. Waffle.
And there YOU will sit. Poised in anticipation. Your desk pristine and orderly, awaiting those queries as they come dinging into your inbox. Your laptop may even sense the senders "I'm about to vomit from sheer nerves," and will quiver in empathy.
Chum Bucket'ers - you're in good hands - as you well know.
Good luck!
I would just like to wish all chum bucket folks well this evening. My story (::sob::) is not for the QOTKU--wrong flavor (aka "genre"). My loss.
ReplyDeleteBut this is such a phenomenal service to writers! Good luck to you all tonight!
I cannot wait, and I mean I/cannot/wait, until the day the full you request from chum bucket makes it all the way to publication. It’s Janet Reid’s Shark Tank reality show for authors. What a story, what a promo for the talented and lucky author who gets to go all the way, (in the literary sense of course), with the QOTKU.
ReplyDeleteI’d watch that show, I’d buy that book even if it was about Elves on a shelf protecting the world from the likes of Hum-buggers.
Good luck, Chum Bucketers!
ReplyDeleteCarolynn, I encountered the idea of an "Elf on a Shelf" for this first time this weekend. (I've obviously been away for too long.) Am I right in thinking this is Santa's spy, feeding naughty/nice reports to the Big Man? I think I'll pass.
On a brighter note, what do my kids want to do today? Go to the library. Yesssss!!!!
Amy, elf/spy, kind of creepy huh.
ReplyDeleteThen there's always baby sloths. They're not creepy just very, very slooooow.
It's so great that you do this. I just wish fantasy was your genre so I could query you. Oh well. I love your blog anyway. Good luck to tonight's participants.
ReplyDeleteMiss Sharkiness,
ReplyDeleteI love when you do these. Though I won't be submitting for a couple of reasons, it reminds me not to just dash off to change my query letter when I get a form rejection.
Of course, that still leaves me wondering when I get no response on a query letter and pages.
So many things to worry about, so little time.
Now, do I close the query with "Thank you for your time and consideration" or "Sincerely"?
'Twas a joke, I always use the first.