The query trenches are a lonely place.
Form rejections. Ghostings. Discovering and querying your dream agent only to receive a “no” back the very next day.
I thought I was immune to rejection from the many, many rejections I’ve received submitting short stories over the years. Turns out it hits different when it’s the novel you’ve spent four years and ten drafts (yes, TEN, yikes) and one hundred thousand words on.
All of that to say any bit of good news in this process feels like a life raft. I woke up the other morning to discover A Postcard from Alaska has been selected for the long list for Write Mentor’s 2026 Novel Award. Out of 1300 submissions, only 40 made the long list.
Congratulations to everyone who made the long list. I’m incredibly grateful to be considered and for a small bit of encouragement to cling to as I continue to send my manuscript out into the slush pile abyss.
And to anyone else out there in the query trenches, bon courage.
Sierra Bibi 