Use direct people Contacts in query letter?

[A.REX]

Forgive me if this is one of those been 'done to death' threads. I didn't see anything related in a search engine of the threads.

I'm wondering if its wise to use the recommended contacts given in such books as Writer's Market or Writer's Handbook, when querying agents (novel/fiction) or if it's better to just use the address and let it land where it does.

I have this recurring nightmare that my queries are being opened by a harried secretary buried under a mountain of work and my un-personally-addressed letter gets tossed to the can only seconds before she slips a 1/4 page deny-reply in my SASE.

Yet... does personally addressing mail to specific agents upset them if they don't know you from a writers' conference, etc?


Please forgive my lack of knowledge.... -newbie.

[laurenbarnholdt]

Your nightmare is right on target :)

You should ALWAYS address correspondence to agents to a specific person. And the letter should start Dear Mr./Ms. Jones or whatever. NEVER address it to WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. Some agents will disqualify you right off the bat for that.

Good luck!

[A.REX]

Thank you Lauren for your reply!
I'm feeling foolish now about all the letters I already sent- oops!
Should I just send them again? or will they remember me? Oh, while we're on the subject, is there any other advice you might have about agents & how to avoid ending up in their garbage can?
Thank you kindly!

[write4details]

They aren't going to remember you and hold it against you...especially if your first letters made no impression.

I always try to have names for mail. Sometimes you can get this from books, or from websites.

If I can't find a name, or if it's so important I don't want it going to slush or somebody's ex-desk I call up and find out. People who answer phones essentially just want to get rid of you. If they can fob you off with a name and get rid of you while also being helpful they jump at it.

If you are flying completely blind, what you're asking on the phone is on the order of Who should I send this to? Is there somebody with a special interest in sports fiction? etc.

[laurenbarnholdt]

I would go ahead and send them again. If they weren't addressed to a specific person, they may have gotten lost along the way. I mean, what's the worst that can happen?

And it's funny, because of all the writing questions people ask me, the one I get most often is "How do you get an agent?" Really, the best advice is simply to write a killer query letter. If you write a good query letter, agents are going to ask to see your work. Then, when you send it, you can mark the envelope "requested material" which will get you out of the slush pile. After that, it's all up to your writing.

Oh, another thing I've found to be really helpful is the "deals" section of publisher's marketplace. If you subscribe, on their website it lists all the deals made in the past few years. It's a searchable database, so you can search the files for books that are simliar to yours. You'll get the name of the agent that made the deal, and that way, you know not only is this agent representing projects that are similar to yours, but he/she is actually selling them as well. It's updated daily.

Hope this helps! If you have any more questions, let me know..