Boy, talk about a gamble. I admit to being more than a little tired of rewriting query letters and reworking a synopsis to suit the needs of various agents I am submitting my Civil War novel to. But I have to say they’re in perhaps the toughest racket I’ve encountered.
Not only do they have to make a time judgment (whether to spend six hours reading 240-plus pages) based on a query letter, a synopsis and the first five pages, they then have to risk their reputation on whether their judgment will make a sale.
Not just to the editors of the publisher they represent, but, once the book is edited, covered, printed, etc., to the reviewers. Who may ignore it. They ignore most books. Then, on to the booksellers. Who may or may not take any copies. They’re not required to. And even if they do, there’s no guarantee anyone out there in digital and bricks-n-mortar bookstores will buy it. Ever. That is stress. All I have to do is rewrite the query letter.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 