Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Query Update

To start, the monthly smorgasbord of statistics:

Total queries: 33 (still)
Pending queries: 5

Total query responses received between 9:00 a.m. and 4:59 p.m.: 20
Total query responses received between 5:00 p.m. and 12:59 a.m.: 6 (2 of these were sent within a few minutes of midnight)
Total query responses received between 1:00 a.m. and 8:59 a.m.: 2

That’s local time for the agent, by the way, insofar as I can tell. A lot of agents say they read their queries before and after hours, but the vast majority of my responses have come within what would be considered the agent’s normal working day. (In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t look at the day of the week as I was compiling these numbers, so a few of these responses were probably sent on a weekend.) This really has nothing to do with anything, of course, but I found it interesting.

As for the stagnancy in the total queries count, I blame it on the holidays and my enthusiasm for Bob’s revision. I’ll admit, I was a little uncertain about these edits at first, but the more I’ve worked on them, the more excited I’ve become. I was just afraid of losing more than I gained, I think, but now that I'm nearing the finish line, I can see how these edits have improved the manuscript. As I mentioned in my last post, I plan to finish this revision by the first week in February, but probably a little sooner. I cannot wait to send the new and improved Bob out into the world.

In other exciting news, I received two more partial-turned-full requests in the last month, which brings my total partial-turned-full requests count to three. Three! That’s so exciting! (Help! Someone give me a thesaurus!) But lest you think too well of me, I racked up a few rejections, too:) Sometimes it really is a matter of taste.

That’s it from me. What’s up with you?

P.S. If you’d like to win a copy of Stephanie Perkins’s ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS (plus a few other prizes), check out Bookduck's contest. Honey Bear was under strict orders to get me ANNA for Christmas, and he didn’t disappoint, but this is the kind of book you need multiple copies of, because you’ll wear the first one out:)

29 comments:

Jenilyn Collings said...

Congratulations on the requests! That is exciting! :)

I've been wanting to read ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS for a while. So you liked it then?

Matthew MacNish said...

That is really interesting.

Congrats!

Myrna Foster said...

Yay for full requests and exciting revisions! And thanks for spreading the word about Sarah's contest. I love this post.

Christine Fonseca said...

So exciting. I see good things are in store for you in 2011~

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Jeni, I really liked ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS. I decided not to recommend it just because I don't want someone to say, "I picked up this book because you said it was okay, and then those teenagers got drunk and kissed a lot!" So, yeah, the teenagers get drunk at one point (apparently, the legal drinking age in France is sixteen - big shocker:) ), and there is some kissing. But the characters are engaging, and the tension escalated well (which is something I'm still not quite sure how to do without a few explosions).

Thanks, Matthew. And I'm glad you liked my statistical opus for the month:) (It took me, like, half an hour to go through and tally all my responses.)

Myrna, you're welcome. Do you know Sarah personally?

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Christine, I alternate between realism and euphoria:) I'm really trying not to get my hopes up, but these requests are so exciting. (Still looking for that thesaurus...)

Carol Riggs said...

Interesting stats, and that agents work after hours (some of 'em). Way big congrats on getting your partials turned into fulls--that means you're coming along, and doing well. Revising will help even more, rah! You go, girl!

I'm plowing along on my WiP, and still have one full out (2 rejections of fulls before that).

Connie Keller said...

Hurray on the partials turned fulls!!

The worst partial rejection I got was sent at 2:30am and in the rejection the agent had my characters/plot/etc. totally mixed up. I always wondered if she'd read two partials at once.

Pam Harris said...

Congrats on your full requests! I have my fingers crossed for you! :)

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Thank you, Carol. I'm so impressed that you've been able to plow ahead on your WIP. I've been intending to start one for months now, but Bob just keeps distracting me!

Connie, how aggravating! I always worry that agents are meaning to request or reject someone else's material when the request or reject mine. Probably a ridiculous fear, I know, but then you hear a story like that and wonder.

Thank you, Pam. I can use all the good vibes/fairy dust/rabbit's feet I can get:) (Hmm. Is the plural of "rabbit's foot" "rabbit's feet" or "rabbits' feet"? Or "rabbit's foots"? The possibilities are endless...)

Ben Spendlove said...

I love these query updates for some reason. Maybe I'm living vicariously? I'm not getting any closer to querying. I swore I was done rewriting chapters. I said I'd revise them and nothing more. Guess what I'm doing again. (But my book's getting so awesome!)

Shari said...

Such exciting news about the requests! Congratulations! :)

Myrna Foster said...

Have I met her in person? No. We're just blogging friends, but we've been blogging friends since I started blogging, and we did NaNoWriMo together in 2009.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Ben, if you're happy revising, then by all means, keep revising. Your book will be a lot better for it. It took me three manuscripts to figure that out:) There's really no rush to query.

Thank you, Shari!

Krista Van Dolzer said...

There's no "just" about blogging friends, Myrna:)

Kelly Bryson said...

Hey Krista- should I be commenting here or reading? Good luck- it's great that you're getting so many responses. Go you! And I love your comment that there's no such thing as "just blog friends" ;)

Liesl Shurtliff said...

Love the updates. Congrats on the requests; you certainly deserve it and I hope some good news comes soon!

Mandy P.S. said...

I'm so excited for you, Krista! I know I dropped off the face of the planet last semester and didn't finish my revisions of Bob, for which I'm really sorry! I blame school; it's taken over my life. But my huge research deadline passes next Monday (WOO!), so if you need a beta for the next round of Bob I promise I'll totally not drop off the face of the planet!

~Mandy P. :)

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Kelly, thanks for the comment - now get back to that manuscript you're critting! ;)

Liesl, I hope some good news comes soon, too. (Well, all of this is good news. I guess I hope some REALLY good news comes soon:) )

Mandy, I totally understand. No worries. I actually asked more people than usual to beta-read that round, so I ended up with a good amount of feedback, anyway. As for this round, I think I'm pretty set so far, but if I need another reader, I'll definitely shoot you an e-mail. (And feel free to shoot me one anytime you need a reader.)

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

Krista, Yay for the partial-turned-full requests! And yay for a really positive revision feeling!

(And since you're looking at time-stamps, don't pay attention to the time stamp on this comment. It will depress you for me. LOL!)

(And I'm planning on mailing chocolate tomorrow. I'm sorry I've taken so long!)

Amy

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Looking forward to those chocolates, Amy! And here's hoping you can get some sleep (which is never easy when you're in the last few weeks of pregnancy).

Unknown said...

Krista, congrats on all of your success! It's wonderful and I'm certain it will continue.

The Sisterhood said...

That's great, Krista! Good luck! I'm still waiting on my three partials (and a full with an editor.) It feels like I've been waiting F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

Lorena

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Thank you, LS, for your well wishes and your vote of confidence.

Lorena, the waiting can be grueling, can't it? Honestly, though, I feel like I've been hearing back on requested material in a pretty timely manner. Sometimes, if it turns out to be a rejection, I'd rather hold on to the dream a little longer, you know? :)

Chantele Sedgwick said...

You are doing awesome! Two more partial-turned-full requests? Seriously, you'll have an agent in no time! Congrats!! :D

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

Congratulations on the requests.... Fingers, toes and eyes crossed for you!

Happy New Year!

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Chantele, I sure hope you're right:)

Thank you, Sharon! Hope those crossed eyes don't give you a headache:)

Terri Tiffany said...

I am so impressed that you got back so many responses for queries! wow-- I sent a ton out and maybe heard from two. Congrats!

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Terri Tiffany, sorry about the lack of response. It's surprised me how many agents have gone to a no-response-means-no policy since I last queried (in the summer and fall of 2009). Wishing you better success for your next round.