Query with Confidence
Query with Confidence from Pipeline Artists - Symposium on Vimeo.
A Survival Guide for the Emotional Rollercoaster of Publishing
Writers have lots of euphemisms for the miseries of the query process. They talk about “Query Hell” and how they’re trying to “survive the query trenches.” It’s an understandable reaction, since queries are often the first time we face rejection from industry professionals.
But it doesn’t have to suck the joy out of writing.
In Query with Confidence, Isabel Sterling breaks down the query process into digestible pieces. You’ll learn how to write an effective query letter, research literary agents, and hit “send” so you can get back to doing what you really love: writing another book.
That’s only the beginning, though. The real magic is Isabel’s rejection processing system. You’ll learn WHY query rejections hurt so damn bad and what you can do to make it suck less. (Hint: it doesn’t involve growing thicker skin or burying your emotions.) Mastering these emotional skills is what separates the writers who quit from those who achieve their dreams.
Participant Will Leave the Presentation …
- Understanding the components of effective query letters*
- Knowing how to research good-fit agents and spot red flags
- Able to use tracking sites like QueryTracker or create their own spreadsheet*
- With the skills to manage all the emotional ups and downs of querying and—by extension—their entire creative career*
*includes worksheets for participants
[Recorded February 3, 2022]
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Isabel Sterling (she/her) is a writing coach, foster mom, and author of THESE WITCHES DON’T BURN, THIS COVEN WON’T BREAK, and THE COLDEST TOUCH. An alumna of Purchase College and Syracuse University, Isabel spent a decade writing alongside her careers in higher education and LGBTQ non-profits. These days (when she’s not busy writing), Isabel can be found hosting her podcast, The Author Burnout Coach, helping her clients get past the mental drama that keeps them from writing, and parenting her three cats, two dogs, and one awesome little human. She lives with her family in Central New York, where the winters are frigid, the summers are too hot, and autumn is perfect.