Almost one year ago, I announced here that I’d written a sci-fi novel. Since then, after finishing a last round of edits and finally — for the very first time — reading the complete book myself, I’ve been querying agents to represent me to a traditional publisher.

I picked up some advice on how to parse Manuscript Wishlist, and wrote a basic query letter with a plot summary and description of my themes. Every time I set out to put something together for the next likely-seeming agent, I’d customize to that agent. It seemed like each time, I ended up creating something a little new. Biographic material. A clip of the first ten pages. A standalone plot summary. A target audience description. I’m working on my one-sentence pitch right now. (This is currently hovering around: “After a scientist accidentally discovers the ancient force behind her galaxy’s looming disaster, she fights through academia, politics, and finally space battles to save her civilization.”) I save all the material from each query to make future queries easier.

And there will be future queries — my first round have all come back with the agents declining. I’m sure they’re all form letters, though they all sound gracious. One of them actually came back in less than a week. The longest couple took about seven weeks to reply.

I still have plenty more agents on the list, and am full of hope that the novel I now call “A More Glorious Dawn” will ultimately find a publishing home. Its depiction of the heroic effort of science in pursuit of making the world a better place seems more and more timely. For now, I keep putting one foot in front of the other.