Procrastination is just research without an excuse.

It's now past 4:00, and I've accomplished nothing beyond getting more-or-less current with the f-lists (and I was pretty close to current anyway). I take this as a clear sign that I really don't want to do the top-priority thing that I should be doing, which is working on my query letter.

I've been doing a lot of research on the subject of query letters, and it seems that all the guidelines and tips can be boiled down to two essential points:

1. Be professional, don't be a jerk.

2. Be psychic.

Point 1 is pretty easy; I wasn't actually planning on writing my query in crayon on pink glitter-paper, thanks. Nor was I contemplating bribing a prospective agent with random gifts, condescending to let them read my MS if they begged extra-hard, or threatening their dog. It's worrisome that query-coaches feel the need to specify these things, because that means someone somewhere has been thick enough to try them, but I suspect it's also because it makes for more entertaining query-advice essays.

Point 2 is more challenging. Every agent has their preferences. This is fine; people in every line of work have preferences. Some agents are even fairly clear about them (though most could stand to be clearer). But it really is frustrating to try to craft the ideal query when one agent insists that personalization is vital, and another says that if you really must include some crap about why you're contacting them (and they'd rather you filed that along with the crayon) you should at least put it at the end of the letter where it doesn't get in the way of anything worthwhile. One agent's clear, concise plot summary is another's boring "why should I care" told-instead-of-showed. Etc. Etc.

It doesn't help that being able to summarize an entire novel, both accurately and engagingly, in a couple hundred words max is a very different skill from being able to write said novel. I frankly suck at summaries, as anyone who's asked me what the first novel is about can testify. I can't even summarize other people's books very well, which is why book reviews are such a rare thing on this journal. Add in the urgent need to catch the attention of one idiosyncratic individual of whom I have no direct personal knowledge, who is wading knee-deep in queries already, and is it any wonder that I'm sitting here thinking, "I'll just reload the reading page one more time..."?


Ah. I am informed that it's time to feed the cats. Past time, in fact. Some things, the query work really does take second place to. ;-)

And I was just shopping there last week....

Kristine Kathryn Rusch on e-readers, the impending demise of Borders, and what all this means for publishers and booksellers

I particularly appreciate her analysis of how Borders' financial woes are likely to impact small and medium-sized publishers -- "appreciate" in the way that some people appreciate horror movies, I suspect, but she lays it out well. I also really, really hope she's right about independent bookstores stepping up if, as seems likely, Borders does go down. As one of those 80% of readers who prefer paper books, the loss of Borders won't impact me directly; our nearest Borders is forty minutes away in the wrong direction, whereas we've got two B&Ns and a very good 3-store independent here in town. But I'm all in favor of small booksellers taking the opportunity to make a comeback, and I'm really in favor of publishers getting a wake-up call about putting all their eggs in the big chains' baskets.

And I swear, WinAmp picked this musical accompaniment all on its own.