Not Work at All - IWSG July 2025

 

Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh. Thank you to July co-hosts:  Rebecca Douglass, Natalie Aguirre, Cathrina Constantine, and Louise Barbour. For a list and links to all contributors, click here.

Optional July question: Is there a genre you haven't tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it?

I don’t entertain significant thoughts about writing in a different genre. Occasionally I ponder taking blog posts from when I was writing regularly about life around me and combining them with my pictures to make my own little book, but pondering is as far as I get.

Speaking of the world around me, though, I’m finding it a new place post-retirement. For the past few weeks, I’ve woken up sans alarm, pondered life for a while and then popped out of bed to head to the (summer only) town pool. Adult lap swim is from 7:00 to 8:00 am. Given that my alarm used to go off at 5:30, it’s no hardship for me to yank on a suit and drive five minutes to dive in. I grew up swimming but haven’t had a chance to do so in forever. It feels like going back in time. After the laps, I head right to the beach, where I set a timer and walk for at least a half an hour. By the time I get home, there’s breakfast to eat, coffee to drink, planters to water, and as I write this post, queries to send.

Yep, the foot-dragger gave herself a deadline and finally started querying. The process is as hard as it’s always been, but now I have time to focus on the chore. In the past, I created my own query tracking sheets but this time I’m using Query Tracker. For $25 for the year, I gain full access to a database to identify agents and their preferred genres/wish lists, assess response rates, and to track submissions and replies. Before querying, I can see how active an agent is and can read comments from other writers in regard to their experiences with a particular individual. Query Tracker also offer tutorials on how to get the best out of the database, links to articles of interest, some of which have reinforced what I think I know, and others that have taught me things.

My plan is to send out a handful of queries over the next few weeks and then wait for a bit before assessing where I stand. It’s summer. Fourth of July is coming up. The world will be going on vacation. Inboxes will fill up. I get all that. But now that I have all the time, there is no excuse not to be diligent with this process. Perhaps putting that in print here will hold me accountable.

And there’s some good news. Even though querying is a challenge, I’ve rediscovered something. When you can sit down and focus on work you actually want to do, it doesn’t really feel like work at all.

Have you used Query Tracker? What has your experience been like?

And because I can... a photo. The beach at 8:15 am, on a recent walk