Query letters and ……..turning the pages.

Okay, you might be bored reading about my agent process by now.  So here’s a very short update.  If you’ve been following along, you know I had six agents to query as a result of going to the San Francisco Writers Conference.  As of last week, I had sent out 5.  They wanted varying amounts of my writing, from 10 pages to the entire manuscript.  So far I’ve gotten three rejections. 

This past Saturday, I was finished, as much I could be at this moment in time, with my full manuscript and I sent it the agent who requested the full.  I got an immediate email back, saying that she is too busy to take queries right now.  The second paragraph said that if she met you at a conference, she would still be taking those.  Whew.  On Sunday I got an email from her with two words – Got it. 

So now I’m waiting for responses from three agents.  How long that will take is a total unknown.  But as I said before, after four weeks, I’m assuming a no and moving on. 

Here’s my question for those of you who are still reading this.  Why do you keep reading?  What makes you keep turning the pages?  It’s something I’ve thought about a lot during my journey of writing.  I’ve been wondering that even more lately, since I’m hoping agents will keep turning my pages. 

There’s a series of three books by Stieg Larsson that are huge bestsellers right now.  The first one, Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, was given to me by a writing friend.  I had a hard time getting through the first pages.  I probably wouldn’t have kept on reading it but I brought it along on an airplane for a 6 hour cross-country trip.  A flight attendant walking by asked me how I liked it. 

I said, “Not much.”  She said, “Once you get past the first 200 pages, it’s great.” 

What?  I had to read 200 pages to get to the good parts?  Yes, I did.  I skimmed those first 200.  Some random thoughts while I did that:  too much back-story, he’s giving us everyone’s point of view and it’s confusing, too many characters, too many adverbs, meandering plot.  I can’t believe someone published it like this.  Where was the editor?

But on the other hand, I can’t argue with the fact that all three of the books are huge bestsellers.  There are probably many reasons why so many people are willing to keep turning the pages of these books.  I just can’t figure out what they are.  Right now I’m struggling with the second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire.  I skim through the parts that are boring to me.  I’m only reading it because I’m fascinated with what makes this a bestseller.  I’m on page 400 out of 724.  Along with my other complaints, it’s too long as well.

If I figure it out, I’ll let you know.  If you have an opinion or idea about this topic, I’d love to hear it.