And so it begins . . .

I took the plunge and sent out my first round of queries today to:

1. Kristin Nelson,
2. Jodi Reamer (via her assistant, Alec Shane),
3. Andrea Somberg,
4. Elaine Spencer,
5. Jenny Bent,
6. Suzie Townsend,
7. Josh Getzler, and
8. Louise Fury,

in addition to the 100 pages I sent to Vickie Motter for the MSFV Secret Agent Contest. *squee*

I feel like my query letter is really strong, and my sample pages are very polished. But, once the mechanics of the thing are taken care of, there's this dread fear of Oh my god, what if they hate the very basis of my story? I can't fix that, so what then?! 

Querying is nerve-wracking; you spend months and years of your life perfecting an idea that you had a vague inkling of at the beginning, and what happens if, after all that effort, time, and life spent on the creation of that idea, it turns out to be stupid and worthless? O_o

I don't think A Love to Kill For is like that, of course, but there's still this niggling in the back of my mind wondering what the agent will think. I guess the replies will tell.

Until then, I'm going to freak out, eat chocolate, and cry myself to sleep. What's your coping mechanism for querying?

UPDATE: Well, that was quick. Less than two hours after sending out a query and five pages, Suzie Townsend of Nancy Coffey Literary Agency sent back a rejection. Woohoo, my first rejection! *bites nails* *remembers she doesn't bite her nails* *goes back to her chocolate*