Countdown to Querying

A TDB Update

Hello lovely writers and readers,

I’ve finally figured out my plan, so I thought I’d let you in on what I’ve got in the works.

As many of you know, I started writing The Door Between two years ago. It’s been a wild ride full of ups, downs, spilling coffee on my notebooks, acting out character dialogue scenes while restocking shelves, arguing with my printer, and spending more than a few late nights huddled around my computer like a sleep-deprived goblin. I’ve gone through two notebooks, a whole stack of notecards, and four drafts to date.

Late last fall, I formatted TDB and printed it out in all its 400 page paperback glory. My goal was to do a comprehensive read-through by the end of December, which I accomplished three hours before midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Armed with multiple pages of notes and a greater understanding of all the issues in my book, I then did… absolutely nothing for over a month. While the break was unplanned and stemmed fully from a lack of tolerance for all the problems that felt too overwhelming to address, it turned out to be the best possible choice I could have made. Taking a break from my manuscript allowed me to recharge and reframe my mindset. Now, I am ready for what comes next.

Early this month, I began devising a scheme. Understanding the added load my studies provide, along with the realization that said load will grow exponentially this fall, I decided it was time to pull out the now or never approach.

And so the countdown to querying plan was born, and it goes as follows:

1. I have exactly eight weeks to do full, comprehensive edits. After the eight weeks are up, it doesn’t matter how much I would like to continue revising it; I’m done.

2. I will send my manuscript to several local beta readers for outside perspectives and general feedback. They have a month to read through it and send in their feedback via the form I will include with the book.

3. From there, I will have four weeks to edit according to their feedback and touch up any rough sections.

4. Depending on agent openings, I will then begin the querying process either in June or August. July (based on my research) seems to be a no-go month for querying, so how quickly I finish getting my manuscript ready will determine when I query.

5. I will then set TDB aside completely until I begin to receive feedback from the first round of agents. Depending on the first round or two, I will either continue with querying or take some time to revise based on feedback.

6. During the process of querying, it will be time to pick up another project full-time. This could go one of two ways. Either I will continue straight into working on the second book in the series, or I will return to my previous WIP and assess its potential.

Through this entire process, I plan to continue writing short stories on the side. As I am sure many have noticed, the frequency of my posts has decreased in the last few months due to my focusing more on my manuscript. This will likely remain the case until I am through with this round of editing.

I hope all of you will continue to have patience with me as I take this next exciting step in my writing journey. I am thrilled to be part of such a wonderful community, and as I have time, I look forward to catching up on all I have missed.

Thank you for being here. Your support means the world to me and makes this dream possible. One day, I hope to hold a finished book in my hands, and when I do, I will have you to thank for your encouragement and the role you played in getting me there.

Until next time,

- Kate Carl