scarf

The top 40%? Now, if only I were currently writing something for the children's or YA market! ;)

Seriously, I don't doubt your ranting is warranted. Recent conversation via Facebook messaging:
"I'm getting ready to query So-and-so. I follow her blog and she's really nice."
"But she doesn't rep your genre, does she?"
"Does that matter? I'll bet she'd be a dream to work with."
Ackkk!

The opening two sentences drew me right in, but all the backstory about his name cut me off from any potential action. At first I was interested in why he was running at midnight, but then noted the insomnia bit and didn't see it as a source of much conflict. I know 250 words don't give us much to go on but I'd like to get a hint that something significant is going to happen. The voice is good, though, and the dialogue snappy. I'd read more.

Excellent advice, thank you. I researched a lot of blogs before I began mine. So many are personal spaces rather than professional ones, and I think that may have been the intent when they were conceived. They were meant to be places to share, learn and develop online friendships... niches where rants and opinions had limited exposure. It's possible those bloggers didn't consider how public their writing might become by the time they reached the stage of querying. Your post is a great reminder that cyberspace is an open window.