I have some exciting book news!

Thoughts on the querying process, edits, and if you should hire a developmental editor

A few months ago I entered a contest to win a critique by a literary agent.

Truth be told, I’ve been feeling kind of down since my querying efforts went nowhere last Fall. I, like I imagine many other debut authors, had this idea that my book was *ready*. I’d edited so many times I could practically recite my novel by heart, and I’d done extensive research on the best query letters and tried to emulate them. I was sure that there was a formula and if only I found that formula, I could be successful.

Fast forward a few months and my inbox had gone from a place of hope to one of pure anxiety as rejection after rejection flooded in. Even the one partial request (which ended in eventual rejection) did little to cheer me up.

I felt hopeless.

After a lot of crying and rolling around on the floor like this:

or maybe

Anyway, I decided to enlist the help of a developmental editor. After a lot of research, I went with Michele at Cornerstone (not to be confused with the literary agency). I started by using their free query letter + first 10 pages review services which I HIGHLY recommend. That alone was incredibly useful, and again, FREE! You can check it out here.

I talk a little about that here but, let me know if you think a a full post on the process. I could share about the before, during and after hiring a developmental editor if that would be helpful?

The short version is if you’re getting rejections or just not sure what your manuscript needs, I highly recommend a developmental editor and Cornerstone specifically. It was a complete game changer for me and I can honestly say after working with them it became so blatantly obvious what my MS was missing and how I could get it agent ready.

It’s been 6 months since they sent me my report and Michele still answers my emails and is there for advice and questions. I can’t say enough good things about them.

So, the exciting news!

Anyway, fast forward another few months and I’ve been working on a full revamp of my manuscript which is at times the most thrilling thing in the world and at others, the most devastating. The highs are high, the lows are low…you know the drill.

However, I can honestly say I’m the most confident in my MS that I’ve ever been. So when the opportunity to submit the first 500 words of my novel for a shot at winning a critique BY A LITERARY AGENT on the first TEN PAGES of my novel came up, I jumped at the chance.

And I won!!

The absolute best part was some of the incredibly encouraging feedback I received from the agent who looked it over.

Some of my favorite excerpts:

—

"The prose is very concise and witty without a lot of extra fat in the writing, almost as if it’s dialogue on a streaming show”

"This certainly has ALMOST FAMOUS vibes and made nostalgic for the world of music journalism.”

"The voice definitely sucked me in. I loved the focus on nepotism at the beginning – the dry humor compelled me.”

"I was all in on this witty and exhilarating journey”

"the author has created a very earnest and relatable MC.”

"I definitely think this could fit well into the romcom landscape that has been popular in recent years." (←—this one was especially interesting to me because I actually hadn’t considered it a romcom until reading this and then I thought — I guess it sort of is!)

“this feels very much on par or superior quality-wise to other submissions that I’ve seen.”

—

And I think, as unnatural as it is, I just had to brag a little bit. Because what are we doing if not celebrating these moments in the long and often tedious process that is pouring our heart onto the page and hoping someone cares?

(I know, so dramatic but what can I say? I’m excited!)

So thank you for allowing me to share this and thank you for celebrating with me.

A few questions for you before you go:

• Would it be helpful if I did that post on what it was like working with a developmental editor and how I made that decision?

• If you’re working on your own novel, where are you at in the journey? What are you focused on right now?

xo

Angela