I would like to hear some of your querying stories, be theyagent or publisher based. How many did you send? What were the results? How long did they take? etc. etc.
Your querying stories
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I've sent out probably 200 queries over the last six or seven years. I got maybe, a half dozen hits. A few request for partials. I did actually land an agent once. He was a very nice guy, and loved my book, but he was in the wrong side of the business and it never went anywhere. Finally let him go. That was hard. Nothing on that one since.
However, I have since discovered that my queries a) sucked, and b) were rarely sent to the right people. And c) my books were too long. I've spent a lot of time over in the Query section of SYW and am now trying to figure out how to identify potential agents/editors. I'm also working on making my books more marketable.
I have found it helps if you are a) fabulously wealthy or b) famous. Honestly, what does Miley Cyrus have to say? Apparently if you are famous you don't even have to know how to spell your own name if there is a market for your brand.
Honestly, querying is the least efficient of all methods, unfortunately it is the only one open to most of us. It tends to take a long, long time, and often you will never get a reply at all. And when you do, 99% of the time (statistically calculated) it will be "I'm not sufficiently interested in your work to be the person to market it. This is not a reflection on yada, yada, yada..." Basically you have to find an agent who 'likes' what you've written. It can even be complete crap as long as they 'like' what you've written. Then they'll send it to an editor who 'likes' what they 'like.' Aristotle had something to say about this. Good luck.
-MM
However, I have since discovered that my queries a) sucked, and b) were rarely sent to the right people. And c) my books were too long. I've spent a lot of time over in the Query section of SYW and am now trying to figure out how to identify potential agents/editors. I'm also working on making my books more marketable.
I have found it helps if you are a) fabulously wealthy or b) famous. Honestly, what does Miley Cyrus have to say? Apparently if you are famous you don't even have to know how to spell your own name if there is a market for your brand.
Honestly, querying is the least efficient of all methods, unfortunately it is the only one open to most of us. It tends to take a long, long time, and often you will never get a reply at all. And when you do, 99% of the time (statistically calculated) it will be "I'm not sufficiently interested in your work to be the person to market it. This is not a reflection on yada, yada, yada..." Basically you have to find an agent who 'likes' what you've written. It can even be complete crap as long as they 'like' what you've written. Then they'll send it to an editor who 'likes' what they 'like.' Aristotle had something to say about this. Good luck.
-MM
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We've been discussing exactly this in the Coffee House of Pain!
If you click on the thread title, the discussion starts at post #3555 on that page.
If you click on the thread title, the discussion starts at post #3555 on that page.
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Honest and true, Melancholy Man, I'm a middle-class nobody, and I have an agent who has my two books being read at a total of 9 houses. It does happen.
I am currently querying my YA historical-ish novel. I started querying 8 February 2008, and as of this Monday 23 June, I've sent 26 queries. Of those, I've had two partial requests, two full requests, one very nice and personalized rejection letter (WOW since I just sent a query with a few sample pages). And I've gotten 15 un-personalized rejections. That leaves about six pending, no response yet.
What I've learned: send A LOT of queries. I'm not done yet (I've 60 on my list and the list hasn't stopped growing). Also no one person will have the same opinion about your book. One agent loved the writing but not the story, another loved the story but not the writing. Hence the many queries - somewhere out there, one agent will love everything enough to offer representation.
Until that day, good luck
What I've learned: send A LOT of queries. I'm not done yet (I've 60 on my list and the list hasn't stopped growing). Also no one person will have the same opinion about your book. One agent loved the writing but not the story, another loved the story but not the writing. Hence the many queries - somewhere out there, one agent will love everything enough to offer representation.
Until that day, good luck
There was also another recent, similar discussion here: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106624
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