Day: January 27, 2007

Situation Unknown

Writer guy

I was chatting with a friend who’s totally fed up with the dating scene. Below is a transcript. Screennames changed to protect the innocent.

[22:18] crazybuddy: im thinking of taking myself out for a date

[22:18] crazybuddy: the question is do i try and get myself drunk?

[22:18] sam: that depends, do you need to? will you take no for an answer?

[22:19] crazybuddy: maybe. will i respect myself in the morning?

[22:20] sam: probably not, I’m betting.

[22:20] crazybuddy: should i splurge? go all out? get the apple martini?

[22:20] sam: oh yeah, spare no expense. nice bottle of Merlot. at least 5 bucks.

[22:21] crazybuddy: do i pick myself up? or meet me there?

[22:21] crazybuddy: where do i go afterwards?

[22:22] sam: somewhere private. like your closet.

[22:24] crazybuddy: damn. i hate dating

[22:25] crazybuddy: already i don’t see much hope for a second date

[22:25] crazybuddy: i’m afraid i only want one thing

[22:25] crazybuddy: do i even want to get to know the real me?

[22:25] sam: I don’t know the real you, so…

[22:27] crazybuddy: should i reply to my text messages?

[22:27] crazybuddy: or wait for 24 hours play hard to get….

[23:06] crazybuddy: all right

[23:06] crazybuddy: i go bed now

[23:06] crazybuddy: and think about where i’m going to take me

Western Fronts

Writer guy

Quiet lately as I tend to housekeeping necessary for pitching the Last Track to agents. Updated the synopsis on Friday. The previous version–revised last in May–could not account for the new middle half; that content did not exist until September. Right now, the synopsis is just over 800 words. It might need a little cutting, still, so I’ll revisit the two page 30,000 foot view of the story once more. Probably Sunday.

This evening I finalized a list of 50 agents to target. Even though the official resolution was for 46, keeping a few on reserve in case one leaves the business or changes agencies made sense to me. A bit of math drove the selection criteria; I’ll detail it later.

The next step: verify the contact information in hand. For that I will consult both reputable print and Internet sources. I predict that task will require a few nights of tedium, but it’s necessary, though not because of the prohibitive cost of a query reaching the wrong location. Between paper, return envelopes and round trip postage, each solicitation costs about a dollar. Relatively cheap business, lobbing notes over the transom, especially in bulk. The right address matters because I want each toss to have an equal shot reaching its destination. What happens once it lands in the blue collection box is out of my hands. I can at least make a concerted attempt to get the address right.

It was fun putting the list together, though, because it revealed the musical chair nature of literary representation. Some names I almost tried with The Ridge Runner two plus years ago. Several I tried and never received responses from work at different agencies. Quite a few are no longer in the business. I’m not pitching anyone who formally declined The Ridge Runner, for two reasons. One I consider a proper rejection–even a form letter–a fair shake. I pitched; they passed. Good enough. Second, there’s a lot more agents who never heard of these characters in any form, than those who have. Better scouting for virgin ears, than those with a history. If it’s necessary to bark up a familiar tree in the future, I’ll do so without hesitation. Or shame.
Next up, a final polish of the query letter…