Young and Old Alike

I had written two novels and had become frustrated that I couldn’t find an agent who wanted to represent them. I noticed when I pitched the books at conferences, the agents were always eager to see some sample chapters. But when I queried through the mail, the response was much more tepid. The problem, I reasoned, was those letters. I felt I knew what made a good story, but I had no idea what made a good query letter.

So, I did something that was, for me, unprecedented: I hired someone to help. I’d met a woman at a conference where she was teaching a class on publishing and marketing and pitching. I sent her a copy of one of my queries and we met for coffee to talk about it. The only advice she gave me that I can still remember was that the description of the story should have conflict in it. That made sense to me.

We sat for a little while finishing our coffee and talking about publishing, about which I knew nothing except that I was not yet a part of it. She told me the publishing world was changing. They just buy books and throw them on the shelves and see what happens, she said. No support. Also, these days publishers were more interested in young men like me. I was 33, a father of two, and I did not feel young. I was supposed to have been successful years before, so, in my mind, I was too old to be waiting tables and sending out flocks of query letters.

I sipped my coffee and considered my companion. I placed her in my parents’ generation. She had told me the last book she had published was about death and dying. Maybe she was right that I was a young man. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to read, let alone write, a book about dying. Death was the end of the story. Still, if I wasn’t worrying about money, or publishing, or success, I didn’t really feel young or old. I only felt old when I heard teenagers talking about bands I didn’t know, or young when older people spoke of doing things I was still learning about. Otherwise, I felt exactly like I always had.

I thanked her, she wished me luck, and I went to my car, already rewriting my new query letter in my head, the one that would get me an agent who would sell my book so I could feel like a success, which I was absolutely sure would be different than how I had always felt.

If you like the ideas and perspectives expressed here, feel free to contact me about individual coaching and group workshops.

Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write With Confidence.
You can find William at: williamkenower.com