Mister Hand
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misterhand1.bsky.social
Mister Hand
@misterhand1.bsky.social
760 followers 1.2K following 320 posts
Query trench lifer. Featured in McSweeneys: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/authors/david-wulatin
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misterhand1.bsky.social
Hello from Lulubelle (the calico) and Socks!
Two cats sleeping. One is a calico with her foot on the head of a grey cat.
November 23, 2025 at 3:34 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
#amquerying #writingcommunity #misterhandqueries

Stay of execution.
Image of QueryTracker with the highlighted yellow query being preceded by a sea of red frowning rejection symbols.
November 20, 2025 at 2:41 AM
misterhand1.bsky.social
Butler Field is packed and thousands more are outside in the streets.

#NoKingsOct18 #ChicagoNoKings
October 18, 2025 at 5:19 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
#amquerying #writingcommunity #misterhandqueries

Form rejection. Behold the opposite of the maybe pile: the “hell no” pile.

Queries: 118
Pending queries: 7
Pending R&R: 1
Rejections: 109 (3 rejected fulls)
Withdrawals: 1
Two rejected queries in a sea of unanswered queries on QueryTracker.
October 13, 2025 at 11:15 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
#ChicagoMarathon

First woman, Mile 23
October 12, 2025 at 2:31 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
#ChicagoMarathon

Mile 23, first place runner:
October 12, 2025 at 2:21 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
This is how I described it years ago on Twitter. Sadly, it’s aged well:
Text of a tweet from 2019: To me, querying is like being the parent of a child who struggles to socialize. Every query is another day that you send your kid to school. Every day you think, “Please let this be the day my kid makes a friend. Just one friend.” And every day your kid comes home alone.
October 3, 2025 at 7:03 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
Sorry, July for McCain:
Trump article from 2015 Trump article from 2015
September 9, 2025 at 3:26 AM
misterhand1.bsky.social
Incorrect. It didn’t happen until January 2016:
NPR Headline from 1/23/2016
September 9, 2025 at 3:21 AM
misterhand1.bsky.social
#amquerying #writingcommunity #misterhandqueries

Queries: 112
Pending queries: 12
Pending R&R: 1
Rejections: 98 (3 rejected fulls)
Withdrawals: 1

Rejection on the full request in under 48 hours. Detailed feedback, some nice comments. At least the quick no keeps the hope from festering.
Conclusion of a rejection on a full request: “I truly appreciate the chance to consider this project. You’re a great writer, and I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that this lands in the right agent’s inbox.”
September 4, 2025 at 7:15 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
This brought back fond memories of some of my favorite strips:
Peanuts strip with Linus, Lucy, and his blanket: Linus: You’re not being fair, Lucy. My blanket wants a truce. It’s willing to make up. Why don’t you shake hands? (Blanket forms a hand) Lucy: All right, anything to keep from being leaped on. I’ll forgive and forget. Shake! (Blanket tosses Lucy over the head of Linus) Lucy: AAUGH!
August 16, 2025 at 11:48 AM
misterhand1.bsky.social
#amquerying #writingcommunity #misterhandqueries

Sent a new query, and if every agent had this statement on their query form, I think it’d reduce author anxiety by about 90%

Queries: 109
Pending queries: 18
Pending R&R: 1
Rejections: 89 (I 2 rejected fulls)
Withdrawals: 1
Agent submission form listing their preferences for how the query should be formatted, followed by this paragraph: At the end of the day, though, is okay to have typos, errors, lack of personalization, synopses that are slightly over the encouraged limit, or query letters formatted differently/paragraphs in a different order.
August 11, 2025 at 8:23 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
Appreciate you sharing your thoughts on a sensitive topic. I posted this on Twitter two years ago. The original poster I quote tweeted deleted their account and moved here, but the gist of it was an agent wondering why querying authors thought agents who were authors had an edge in the trenches:
Screenshot of beginning of Twitter thread from 2023: No one is saying that being an agent means you’ll always find representation as an author. But it’s a potential advantage in many ways. Here are some hypothetical but plausible scenarios. The biggest difference between a querying author who is also an agent (call them QAA) and a query from, for example, a talking hand is that a QAA could be of professional assistance to the agent at some point in the future. Maybe they’d like to work at that agency someday. Conclusion of thread from previous image: Or maybe the QAA is a known friend of another agent at a different agency and could put in a good word for them at some point. Agents are often posting about what a small world the publishing industry is. Or maybe the agent is thinking about querying their own work soon. So it’s plausible that an agent in this position might request a full from a QAA where a typical author might languish in the maybe pile. Or if the agent does reject the QAA, it’s more likely to be personalized - maybe some nice feedback, maybe a referral to another agent. I’m not saying every agent does this, though a lack of impropriety can still have the appearance of impropriety. I am saying that in any industry, what looks like preferential treatment to an outsider is often written off by those in the industry as professional courtesy.
August 5, 2025 at 7:35 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
7. I created this meme years ago, and imo it still holds up. I’ll never understand how authors who hit those coveted milestones can acknowledge the large part that luck plays and still frame their success as a “meant to be” narrative.
Meme from Titanic of Rose lying on the floating door and talking to Jack as he clings to the edge of it while mostly submerged in the water. The text reads “Published author Rose to Querying Author Jack: Don’t compare your journey to anyone else’s.”
July 30, 2025 at 1:59 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
#amquerying #writingcommunity #misterhandqueries

2 rejections today: 1 form, 1 CNR. Meanwhile, it looks like my pending full is up next in the agent’s submissions pile.

Queries: 106
Pending queries: 17
Pending fulls: 1
Pending R&R: 1
Rejections: 86 (1 rejected full)
Withdrawals: 1
Screenshot of QueryTracker full requests by agent. Mine is apparently next in line to be evaluated.
July 23, 2025 at 7:10 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
This is America.
A pole at an athletic field that says “Emergency” with a button and a speaker. A sign taped above the speaker says “Out of Service.”
July 5, 2025 at 2:54 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
Ah, but you’re no longer a querier. And congratulations on that! It’s a great milestone!

It’s just that I’ve heard words similar to yours many times. Enough times that about three years ago, I started this thread back on Twitter:
Image of the first two posts of a Twitter thread of mine from August 2022: A #writingcommunity thread: In my experiences, I’ve noticed that when someone talks about many paths, different journeys, or “eyes on your own paper,” it’s a near certainty that they’ve already passed milestones, already received a passing grade on their paper. They mean well. They talk about their own struggles on their journey, assuring us they know what we’re going through. But they don’t. They can’t. Not anymore. Because once you hit a milestone, you have no idea what it’s like to live your entire life without doing so.
June 22, 2025 at 5:57 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
I sure hope that’s not the reason my steps went down…
Screenshot of IPhone steps feature saying: “You averaged fewer steps over the past 5 weeks. Changes to step count are expected during pregnancy.”
January 16, 2025 at 2:18 AM
misterhand1.bsky.social
So cute! We have a Lulu too
Calico cat Lulu in a Christmas tree amidst the lights.
December 21, 2024 at 1:50 AM
misterhand1.bsky.social
Reminds me of an exchange from Sports Night:
Dan: You're not afraid they're going to spend it on booze? Isaac: I'm hoping their going to spend it on booze. Look, Danny, for these people, most of them, it's not like they're one hot meal from turning it around. For most of them, the clock's pretty much run out. You'll be home soon enough. What's wrong with giving them a little novocaine to get them through the night? Excerpt from Sports Night
December 16, 2024 at 9:38 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
Very sorry for your loss.
Image of a mourning pet owner with the shadow of a cat next to their shadow saying “Psst, I’m part of your shadow now!”
December 3, 2024 at 5:51 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
Can’t DM as we’re not mutuals. Please donate the critique to the LGBTQ+ author of your choice. Thank you!
Screenshot of donation to Lavender Library.
December 3, 2024 at 2:19 AM
misterhand1.bsky.social
#writingcommunity

Revisions take a long time, especially when you can only use one hand.
Gray shorthair cat with white feet curled up in the crook of the arm resting his head on the left hand.
November 24, 2024 at 7:54 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
First snow of the season!
Brown and white dog living his best life rolling in the first snow of the season.
November 21, 2024 at 5:57 PM
misterhand1.bsky.social
A cat who has passed on tells their two legs “Psst, I’m part of your shadow now!”
November 20, 2024 at 10:55 PM