Writing Update: Dipping My Toes In Again (Querying)
Aside from one small batch of queries earlier this year to test my SU query package, I haven’t queried in 2025. But it’s time to dip my toes in again… maybe I’ll even go for a swim. Just not with SU, after all!
While SU was with my editor for a manuscript critique, I brainstormed and outlined a new novel I’m calling ECHO. I absolutely LOVE this premise, and the first several chapters flew out of my fingers. I’m super excited to explore that world and those characters since it’s got some suspense/horror elements, and that’s something new I’m experimenting with. However, with my grandma’s death, WSD also started calling to me again—loudly. I hadn’t touched that manuscript in about a year, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I returned to it. To say I fell in love again would be an understatement. It felt so good to re-read and outline a plan, and the actual revision process felt like slipping into a well-loved pair of sweatpants. Coming to it with fresh eyes and a different mindset has been wonderful. It’s a very different manuscript than the one that I took into the query trenches in early 2024, and I have really high hopes for it now.
Changes To WSD
I made some structural changes last year when an agent offered an R&R, but if I’m being totally honest, I rushed the revision process in my excitement over all the positive feedback I was getting on this manuscript at the time. I do still think it was in better shape following that R&R, but it’s amazing what some time and distance can do. Coming back to it now, I was able to see far more clearly what needed to change, and how to make those changes happen. The story starts in a different place now, and the entire climax and ending are different. They do a much better job of fulfilling thematic promises I’d previously neglected or just not developed enough.
Plus, my grandma died in April. Since this story is threaded from top to bottom with the main character’s relationship with her grandmother, and the dementia that took her memories in the end, my connection with the story has always been there. I’ve lost several loved ones, but now that I’ve been navigating this particular kind of grief, I feel like I was able to really understand Bea in ways I couldn’t before.
Querying Time… Again
I sent out a handful of queries this week, and participated in #DVpit on bluesky. So far, I haven’t heard back from the queries I sent out, but I did get two agent likes on my #DVpit post—and one of them is an absolute dream. I’ve had their profile saved on my list, and had planned to query them after testing this query package with other agents first (when they opened back up to unsolicited queries). If I’m being totally honest, the thought of querying them scares me a little bit! It would be an absolute gift to work with that agency as a whole, and this agent in particular is someone I already respect, just from what I’ve seen online. We seem to have some shared qualities and interests, and as a writer, their MSWL looks fully aligned not only with WSD but literally all of my other projects. I did send that query package out today, so fingers crossed!
I’ve got a list of about fifty agents, total, that I’d like to query for WSD at this point. When combined with its previous time in the trenches, that’ll put the total queries at around 90 (if I query every single person on my list). Last time around, I had something like a 10-15% request rate. That’s not too bad for my first time trying! This time, I’m focused on remembering that it only takes one yes. I feel good about the story, and about my abilities as a writer to incorporate any feedback for improving it, so now it’s about finding a home for me and my work.
While I Wait…
Querying isn’t typically a quick thing, so I’m prioritizing my other projects while I wait to hear back. I closed to writing critiques over the summer, but I’m considering opening back up for a few clients. I love working with other writers on their projects. But as far as my own work goes, there are two (maybe three) manuscripts I’m actively focused on.
SU
I got back notes from my editor on SU over the summer, so I’m brainstorming and working on my revision plan for that one. I’m still nervous about trying to sell a dystopian fantasy while we’re literally living in a dystopia, but that’s a problem for Future Me. I actually think it’s solid as-is, but I want to rework one of the POV’s to help clarify that character’s goal. I think it’ll make the resolution feel more satisfying. I’m not sure how to determine the length of time it’ll take to make those adjustments since it’s not just one scene here or there, but I know it’ll be worth it for the payoff.
ECHO
I can’t stop thinking about this story. Since the moment of inception, these characters and this world have been on my mind. For me, that’s always a good sign for whether or not it’s going to stick. ECHO is a bit of a departure from my other work, given the horror elements intrinsic to the story. It’s not gory or gruesome in any way, but the suspense! I’m a little intimidated by the social commentary necessary to really explore everything I want to explore with it, so it’s definitely a more ambitious one. I’ve outlined the entire thing, and I’ve writted the first few chapters, but the research process isn’t something I want to rush. I need to make sure I’m doing it all justice.
NLTO
I drafted this one last year and haven’t gone back to it since. It’s a very rough draft, and I already know there are some major things I want to change about the story itself, but I’m still including this one for consideration as I’m determining where to direct my focus right now. It’s a different take on vampires, and that feels like it’s a fun concept to really dive into.
Back To Work
I’ll be popping in here to journal and share thoughts, as usual, but I learned last year while querying that I do best if I’m immersed in one of my worlds while I’m waiting on responses. So, once I pick the project, I’ll be diving in head first.
Hopefully I’ll be back with some fun updates, but either way, I’ll check in again soon.
With love,
Kyleen
