I've now taken one of the biggest steps of my life; I've sent off my first query to a literary agent. For those that aren't familiar with the term, querying is when you submit a proposal to an agent for representation. To do this, I had to put together a query letter and a synopsis, and research literary agents and what they're looking for. I've put together a list for my first round of submissions that I'll be making throughout the next week, but the first one has already been sent off.
Just before I hit that "send" button, I became so nervous that I almost wasn't able to do it. I've gone over my manuscript so many times that I wasn't adding anything useful or taking out anything that wasn't, I was merely flipping a few words around. That's how I knew that I was finished, but the thought running through my mind was: "Is it truly ready? Is it good enough?"
I guess we'll find out soon enough. I've gone into this fully expecting to be rejected at every turn, but yet I'm surprisingly hopeful. I have to be, I have to put those kind of vibes out into the universe. My readers have told me that I've written a wonderful book that's worthy of being published, and I hope that I can find an agent that loves it as much as they did.
To help keep me from stressing myself into a catatonic wreck, I've already begun working on the sequel. I have a general outline of book 2 (well, I've had one for the whole series since the beginning, but this one is more specific), and I'll likely begin writing it shortly.
In the meantime, here's hoping for some good news...