D-Day

Zero hour. Today I go to the post office to pick up a Priority Mail envelope to send off the first three chapters of my new manuscript.

Once upon a time, whether to send your pages Priority or not was a question. The latest changes in postal rates and requirements have eliminated that concern--Priority is now the only practical way to send anything you don't want to fold into a #10 envelope. Given that a part of my job requires mailing things for a living, I find it hard to believe I have no envelopes at home, but that's the way it always seems to work. Because I have a big show next weekend, in the past week my glass saw has needed a new belt, then a new blade, and now my oxygen generator needs new holding tanks. (At least the hives are under control--Zyrtec and Benadryl may be a sleep-inducing cocktail, but they do work.)

I've edited these three chapters within an inch of their lives. The first few pages went to my writing class members for critique and subsequently underwent major revisions. I hacked and chopped and supplemented. I polished. I put a fresh cartridge of ink into my printer. And now there is nothing left to do but print. (20# bond or 24? Times or Times New Roman? Decisions, decisions.)

Now, every piece of advice you see tells you that you should submit to multiple agents/editors at the same time. There are several reasons for this. First, you have a better chance of getting an offer. Second, you might even get two (or more!) offers and be able to choose between them.

Multiple submissions is a concept I have always had trouble with, however. First, I hate submitting/querying blind. I much prefer to send off my work to people I've met at conferences or in other situations, which limits the number of potential recipients. Second, I am never certain that the agent or editor will not make some kind of comment about the work that would improve it so much that it would have a much better chance of being accepted by someone else should I make a recommended change.

So today, the pages go to only one agent. Maybe next week I will have the energy to come up with a second cover letter and be able to send it off to someone else. (Cover letters are always personalized, which also makes multiple submissions harder--if you're blind querying, you can at least have a basic form with which to work.)

Wish me luck. I'll get back to you in three or four months when I hear something.