Sinking In The Mud At The Bottom Of The Hill

It's certainly a struggle to succeed as a writer. I do believe it's one of the biggest challenges to face and it requires grim determination to continue seeking the elusive goal of getting published.

I've been chronicling my comparisons of the writing struggle to Sisyphus's seemingly endless attempts to push the boulder to the top of the hill. Every time he comes close, the boulder rolls back down.

My boulder is currently at the bottom of the hill. But worse yet, it's actually sinking in the mud at the bottom of the slope. Oh yeah, there doesn't appear to be any glimmer of hope at this time. That's how I've been feeling for the last couple weeks.

After being ditched by my former agent it's been a real ordeal to even get a prospective agent to read some sample chapters of my young adult dark fantasy novel Piercing Through. But like Sisyphus I continue to toil and by toil I'm referring to sending out endless amounts of query letters in an attempt to hook another agent.

I started out by sending 25 queries out to different literary agencies, confident I'd get some positive responses. Sadly, only one asked to see sample chapters of PIERCING THROUGH. Yep. It felt as if I was going nowhere fast. My boulder was definitely not inching back up the hill towards the illustrious summit of the publishing world. Rather, it was quickly sinking further into the mire at the bottom.

After days of reflection, I started to wonder if something could be wrong with my query letter. On a whim, I posted a thread on AgentQuery.com and asked for a critique of my query letter. It seems my hunch was right.

I owe big props to my friends on AgentQuery.com for helping me realize the major flaws in my query. After revising it per their suggestions, I sent it out to five agents and immediately received two request to read sample chapters of PIERCING THROUGH.

YES! The boulder is moving once again, not very quickly mind you. But at least it's working itself free from the deadly clutches of the mud at the bottom of the slope. Who knows. I can only hope one of the agents likes what he reads and requests to see more.

So goes the endless optimism one must nurture to make dreams a reality. I'm not too fond of the theory behind The Secret which everyone is into these days. I'm a little skeptical that the universe can be shaped to our liking by the power of positive thinking. But I do know this. The optimist is always putting his best foot forward, at least giving himself the chance for success. The pessimist never bothers to make the effort and so he always loses out.

My optimistic streak has me with my shoulder to the boulder once more, always hoping for the big payoff, knowing I'll get it to stick to the summit someday.

AgentQuery.com is an excellent resource for writers to meet other writers as well as possible agents and publishers. Check out my profile at the end of this post and join me there.