As a “serious” writer for only a few years, there’s much I still need to learn. I’m hoping to be traditionally published, which comes with its own suite of exciting and nerve-wracking challenges. Though I’ve only queried two books, I’ve learned several (painful) lessons about querying too early. Every writer’s path differs, but I’d like to share what I’ve learned in hopes it will help someone else. Below, I’m sharing...

When I set out to start querying for the first time, I had no idea what I was doing. I knew the basic idea — you find an agent, send a query letter, and hope for the best — but I hadn’t the faintest clue how to begin or what that process really looked like. After doing a bunch of research and slogging through the query trenches for the past...