I’ve begun to notice a trend. It’s the sort of pattern that takes a while to see because the data points are so far apart. Bear with me for a little history, please.
- Just over two years ago, in May of 2009, I sucked in a deep breath and started to send out queries for TSC (we’ll just let it go by its initials for now. This is the one I’m probably going to pull apart and start rewriting next month.) I was disappointed at the time, but thank goodness no one showed any interest in it. It really wasn’t good enough, I just didn’t know enough at the time to realize that.
- Meanwhile, of course, I kept writing, and in January 2010 I tabled TSC and started querying BLOOD WILL TELL. BWT got two requests for partial, but never got farther than that.
- And I kept writing. In 2010, along with work on a couple of other novels that are going nowhere for the moment, I wrote MAGE STORM.
- At the beginning of this year, with MAGE STORM ready to start querying, I re-read BWT and decided I could make it better. I got some new readers on it, got some ideas, and I’m about half-way through a major revision. After that, I’ll have to make some hard choices on just what to do with it. I like the story and I have ideas for two sequels. I’m just not sure a werewolf story, even a slightly quirky werewolf story, has much chance in traditional publishing right now.
- So, in January 2011, I started querying MAGE STORM. So far, I’ve had one request for partial and one request for the full manuscript. Neither, unfortunately, went any farther than that, but the response to the full included some comments that have me thinking about a couple of revisions that might make it better.
Okay, I see two trends in that, actually. One is encouraging–I’m getting better responses from one novel to the next. That’s good. I’m improving.
The other is a little less obvious. When I’ve let a story sit for a longer time–six months or so–I’m finding things that could be improved. This is probably due to a combination of factors. One, hopefully, is my growth as a writer. The other may be that it just takes that long for me to be able to really take a clear look at what I’ve written.
So, I’m going to try something new this time around. SEVEN STARS is complete (through second draft) much earlier in the year than either BLOOD WILL TELL or MAGE STORM. I’ll have the opportunity to let it rest for five or six months before I start to query it. It’ll be interesting to see what I find in around January or February of next year.
Meredith Mansfield, Author 
Good for you! It can be so hard to patiently wait to forget what we meant to say so we can read what we really said–and see if it’s what we thought it was.
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Yes, this will be a little different for me. Of course, you guys still get to tell me what you think of SEVEN STARS next month. But, after that, I’m going to try to let it alone for a longer time than I’ve done in the past.
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I think this is a great idea! I’ve heard suggestions like this from others before. It’s like you are seeing it through new eyes. Good luck, I hope it works!
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Sometime early next year, I’ll let you know how it worked.
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It looks like you’re getting closer but one thing you didn’t say was how many queries you sent out with both novels. If it was a hundred than those requests for more may not mean much but if it was five I would say you could very well have something there. But one local writer spent over two years sending out queries, I don’t recall how many but it sounded like it could be a record number. That novel was finally picked up and not only did his second novel only take a few queries to be picked up but the first one won an award.
I kinda of hate to say this because I know the feeling very well but a handful of rejections doesn’t mean much. And I recall a couple of new ‘wolf novels out lately. So even if the number of new ones are down they still are being published.
But it’s good you’re still working on them and new ones.
Good success to you.
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@Louis, check for my quarterly submission update in a couple of weeks in the NSG thread on Hatrack. You’ll get all the numbers. I don’t send mass queries, but I do send out a fair number. Probably could be higher, but I only send to agents I think I’d actually want to work with and it takes time to do the research.
I would bet that the new werewolf stories (or most of them) are by established authors and in established worlds. Patricia Briggs had one out earlier this year (the sixth in the Mercy Thompson series) . The fourth of Gail Carriger’s is due out this month or next. And Sherilyn Kenyon will always be able to get hers published, since they pretty much all hit the NYT best seller list.
Could be I’m misreading the response to BLOOD WILL TELL, but publishers have to look two to three years ahead and agents have to look about another year beyond that. And from what I’ve read on some agents’ websites, they’re over werewolves and vampires, even if readers aren’t.
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