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Wastelander is almost ready to go. I'm going to write query letters to literary agents during study breaks and send them to those agents that accept email proposals.

so, to anyone who has read my work, comments about wastelander would be much appreciated. What does it read like? is it good? does it suck? does it read like another author's work?

thank you all for your faithful faith.

guess I should re-read it so I can see what similarities in pacing, mood, action, detail (I liked your level of detail), etc there are so I can write a review you can send along

let me send you the current version

it's mostly deletions, I'm going to expand on it over break, but I don't need a complete manuscript within the next month, simply because it takes that long to get an answer from a query letter

send me a copy too.

well, I've sent my first query letter, so in a few weeks I hope to get my first rejection letter. Now that I've gotten that out of my system I can look to write a better query letter and maybe get more rejection letters! Hooray for the process!

how do querry letters work?

they usually don't. What you do is find out what the agent thinks a query letter is, do that, and send it. Each agent usually has a lengthy diatribe on his website about what a proper query letter is, and it usually directly contradicts things that other agents say. Basically, you introduce yourself, your qualifications, and your work, and for some agents you send chapters and a synopsis.

The best thing that can come from a query letter is an invitation to send a complete manuscript, which is nice but not a contract. After that, then they can offer to represent you and terms of the representation can be sorted out, then a contract is made.

then the agent tries to get your work published because they get a cut of the sales and nothing else, so now someone well connected in the industry represents your work and tries to get paid from it.

Course, once you have an agent and he/she have published your first book, you can get your second published with a phone call. yeah, the process is gay and stupid and largely useless. It's like hollywood without whores.

Dear Gideon,

Thank you for your recent letter and for reading my blog, I appreciate
it. I regret to say that I don't feel that I'm the most appropriate
agent for your work.

However, opinions vary considerably in this business, and I wish you the
best of luck in your search for representation.

Best wishes,
Nathan

Well, that was fast. I already feel better. now that I've submitted and been rejected, I can now add that qualification to my CV. And write a better query letter next time.

I'm very strongly considering removing any direct reference to Dane's age from the book. It has occurred to me that in making him quite specifically 15 I am bringing up the highly controversial topic of child soldiers, which is completely tangential to the plotline and likely entirely too hot of a topic for an agent to quite literally risk his career on.

Well Lost Knights, your thoughts?

well I remember you mentioning his age but you could always just add a few years... I mean yeah he did join the official military at an early age but it was very appropriate early in the book... remember Red Dawn... bunch of high school kids that were regular hunters with dad started a resistance so they could get free of the controlled territory... which is what I thought of when Dane was still on earth.... I envisioned him as an older person later in the book based on his maturity and really did not think of him being so young... but make him 18-19 or pass a few years before he heads to space so he is older for those portions (matching his maturity) if you want to keep in details but make them less controversial or as you said take it out and let people make up their own minds...

I'm going to remove direct numerical references to his age. I don't think it changes who dane is, but allows for more lattitude in the reader's interpretation of the events, which is something I like.

i agree w/that. i always had a problem w/it. if you want it to be important, you could just reveal it in your blog or your convention visits to your rabid fans as an easter egg that gives more insight into the depth of your vision.

anyone else need a copy?

you know most of these people don't read that much, right?