I have this feeling, and as far as I know it’s only me but maybe there’s others out there, that occurs after every response I receive from an agent. My phone is open, I check the reply, so far it’s all been “No thank yous,” then I put the phone down, and immediately feel a large lump in my chest.

And this lump? It’s no ordinary lump. In fact, it’s shaped like a diamond covered in porcupine quills carrying enough medieval flails to take back the stolen crown. That kind of lump.

And it whispers, speaking so softly but making its message loud and clear, saying to me as I sit there processing the notes from the agent, “YOU NEED TO GET BACK TO WORK.”

This phenomenon is what I’m henceforth calling, “The Query Lull.” It’s the feeling after you get responses back from every agent you’ve queried but don’t have anything else lined up. So, you’re stuck. Trapped. And the Lull? It tells you repeatedly you’re wasting time and your dream is slipping farther and farther away from you.

I’m in kind of a bizarre spot, right now. As of writing I’m in a Query Lull, as in I haven’t queried any other agents but am working to make changes to a book I was given critique on, but the Lull is there. It’s telling me I’m procastinating. I’m not taking full advantage of what I’ve been given. I should be working from sun up to sun down. Nonstop. You must be like the shark.

Because if you’re not swimming, you’re dead.

If you’re not querying, you’re dead. You’re wasting time. Your dream is that much farther away from becoming a reality.

Query Lull is real, it’s happening, and there’s not much I’ve figured out to appease other than getting to work. Maybe not to the insane levels that it tries to guilt me into. I still need to spend time with my boys, my wife, and have some downtime, but little chunks of work appease. Makes me feel like I’m working towards my dream and not just wasting time.

Thanks for reading,

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