The most frightening thing about "horror" is trying to get it published!

your query could simply suck, you might be hitting the wrong agents, etc. etc. etc.....

horror is a small market, but at the same time I believe Rowling received over 40 rejections herself; did she have a weak story or market?

if you thought this was easy, think again.

That said, I don't know that I've seen you in query letter hell, have you tried it? Horror may be a softer market, but there's dozens and dozens of agents who take it; it certainly isn't an "impossible" market. Maybe you just need a query tune-up, especially if you haven't even gotten a partial request.

Good luck,
Quick

First, welcome to AW.

Do take a few minutes to read the Newbie Giude, and pop into Hounding After Hours for the BBQ... do you prefer to be marinated in drink white or red wine?

I'm sorry you're getting a sea of Rs. We've all been there. Has your book been read by a couple of writing betas? How about your query?

The Share Your Work forum (password: vista) Is a great place to see successful queries. You'll need 50 posts to post your own work there, but please do read and offer critiques of others' work. AW is a great community... just step over the severed heads in the cellars, and ignore the howling from the sub-basement.

Publishing is hard work. Certain genres go through cycles of popularity, but that doesn't automatically mean you, as a horror writer, have less chance than anyone else. As has been suggested, have a look in SYW, post your query (after you get to 50 posts) and work on any suggestions you get for it.

And have a (blood-stained) hug.

Keep trying, Koi. It's a long road when it comes to the publishing industry, especially if you're aiming for print. Big name authors, before they were big names, recieved quite a few rejections before (and after) their first published book. Just keep trying, keep reworking the query letter(s), and going for it. Good luck.

And, Seun, can I have a hug too? I think blood stain hugs, as long as it's not my blood, are pretty nifty.

Aud said:

And, Seun, can I have a hug too? I think blood stain hugs, as long as it's not my blood, are pretty nifty.

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Yeah, why not? With extra brain juice.

Mmmm. Brain juice.

koi14 said:

After 50 queries without one request for more yet....I think it is time to write a sappy, romantic, Gothic YA...so I can get published.

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Sappy, romantic, Gothic YA is no easier to sell than horror. If you've sent out fifty queries without getting requests for more, your query flat sucks in some serious way. Find out what's wrong with it and start over.

Your novel hasn't yet had a single rejection. Only your queries are being rejected. You have been sending the first three to five pages long with the query, haven't you? This will at least tell you whether the writing itself is also a problem.

James makes an excellent point, even though he could have been a little less blunt in making it. Your book hasn't been judged at all, just your query. I'm with those that recommend taking a trip over to Query Hell and learning the ropes over there.

I'm inclined to side with JAR on this one. If you've sent out 50 queries without one request, there may be something wrong with your query. Unless, of course, you're targeting the wrong agents. Agents see hundreds of queries every day. Yours has to stand out.

I also agree with JAR on including the first few pages below your query. I've read on more than one agent blog that if a query is meh, but the pages are good, they'll request to see more.

Recipe for Brain Juice

First, assure that your victim is in an upright, vertical or standing, position. Next, using a step ladder, remove the top of the skull and extract the brain matter. Set this aside for the moment. Do so carefully as this is part of the recipe.

Using a siphon hose with catheter inserted in one end, insert the catheter into the spinal cord at the base of the brain stem. You may have to apply a small amount of force to properly and securely seat the catheter.

Attach the opposite end of the siphon hose to a medium pressure suction pump. As you have already removed the brain, the main ingredients of the spinal fluid will be beginning to settle post mortem (if you're performing this procedure pre-mortem, well, you must be a shoggoth or A Fungi from Yuggoth and you don't need this recipe).

Begin the extraction procedure using low pressure, steadily increasing until the siphon hose begins to fill and trace fluids begin to drip or flow into the collection vat. Continue increasing pressure until a steady flow is achieved. When air or chunks begin to appear in the hose you have completed the first step. Shut down your vacuum pump and disconnect your catheter from the spinal column. Your victim should be dead well before this time (if the victim continues to twitch, move, moan, or gnash teeth you may have bigger problems).

Take brain, brain stem, and fluid and tissue in your collection vat and place in a standard household blender or food processor. If you dislike pulp, you may use either a standard household fruit or vegetable juicer in place of the blender or food processor or a strainer to remove it.

Blend on low for 2 minutes. Blend on medium for 3 minutes. Blend on high or maximum for an additional minute.

Pour contents into glass or over ice and drink up. Adding celery salt, lime, liquid crystal hot sauce, Louisiana Hot, or even a little tomato juice is said to "spice" the drink up by some, but most prefer it straight up. A few might even add a raw egg, but this is recommended only during the blending process.

Never, ever, EVER, add or allow the addition of sparkles or glitter to this recipe.

Enjoy!

@OP: Welcome!

And I agree with James, too.

I feel inclined to ask: What all are you including in your "query?" Is it just the letter itself? Are you including sample pages? A synopsis? Is this a novel, or a short story? Are you checking the submission guidelines to make sure you're sending all the right stuff to the right people?

Sometimes the basis for a rejection is as simple as not following instructions--or so I've heard. All these are things to consider, none of which have any bearing whatsoever on the quality of your writing.

I think I may need to submit that recipe to some twisted editor somewheres...



Effie?

Koi14, despite my attempts at humor above, the crafting of a query letter is as much a mystery and craft as learning to write is.

You may think it's the best query since Gorbachev queried Bush visa the status of The Presidio, but chances are you're too close to it in the first place (much like Gorbie and the Presidio).

Put it up on Query SYW and let the chips fall where they may.

FOTSGreg said:

I think I may need to submit that recipe to some twisted editor somewheres...



Effie?

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Hahaha... I sent you a couple links, Greg. I think they may be veeeery useful to you.

Good job on the new kid, be gentle bit there, James.

Effie, got 'em and have read the websites. I may just have to send that quaint little recipe their way.

See? Contacts do work.

Have you tried submitting directly to horror publishers? They are snall press but they will look at your manuscript directly.

seun said:

Good job on the new kid, be gentle bit there, James.

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Yeah, you're right. I didn't mean to be rough, just truthful. Too many new writers think a rejection on a query is teh same as a rejection on a partial or a full, and he's already burned through fifty agents without having forty-nine of them actually read his fiction.

You've got to cut an run, find out what's wrong with your query long before this. You usually only get one shot with each agent, so it's important not to burn through too many before writing a new, better query.

But I didn't mean to be rough. As I said, this may be a very good novel, and it's just such a shame to see a good novel go unnoticed because of a bad query.

Jamesaritchie said:

Yeah, you're right. I didn't mean to be rough, just truthful. Too many new writers think a rejection on a query is teh same as a rejection on a partial or a full, and he's already burned through fifty agents without having forty-nine of them actually read his fiction.

You've got to cut an run, find out what's wrong with your query long before this. You usually only get one shot with each agent, so it's important not to burn through too many before writing a new, better query.

But I didn't mean to be rough. As I said, this may be a very good novel, and it's just such a shame to see a good novel go unnoticed because of a bad query.

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I got to say, James, that's probably the nicest thing I've ever read posted by you.

To the OP: I'll just echo the advice given here - luckily you've only burned through fifty agents. That is a lot to go through before you start looking at your query - but you're new to all this and most of us burn through a lot more before we even seek out advice our first time. Go over to SYW... read through the FAQ and sticky threads in the forum "Query Letter Hell". Read through some of the query letters others have posted for critique - and read the critiques people gave on those letters - and do all of this before you post your own query (Which I think you'd have to wait for fifty posts before you post yours up for critique). That way, you'll know what kind of responses to expect - the critiquers in QLH are excellent, but they don't mince words or pad with comfort - and you may be able to spot problems areas in your old query and edit it before you post. It's amazing what one can learn by just reading in SYW. Good luck!

Jamesaritchie said:

Yeah, you're right. I didn't mean to be rough, just truthful. Too many new writers think a rejection on a query is teh same as a rejection on a partial or a full, and he's already burned through fifty agents without having forty-nine of them actually read his fiction.

You've got to cut an run, find out what's wrong with your query long before this. You usually only get one shot with each agent, so it's important not to burn through too many before writing a new, better query.

But I didn't mean to be rough. As I said, this may be a very good novel, and it's just such a shame to see a good novel go unnoticed because of a bad query.

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All fair points.
Coming up with a decent query can be a nightmare (I think it took me seven books and about a million rewrites to get a vaguely decent one) so I'd love to see the OP post in SYW.

As people have already pointed out here, it could be the query, but since it's horror, there could be another possibility. How horrible is your horror?
I've been querying agents with a horror novel, knowing that it could be a difficult sell as it's a very dark book and potentially controversial in some ways.

After receiving a few form rejections, I began to wonder if my query and/or sample pages were the problem. When I finally received a more specific rejection, my worries about the query and writing style were partially put to rest as the agent sent me a very nice note complimenting my writing style and concepts and telling me that it was an "almost" but the subject matter was a little too risky, especially for a first novel.

Being perfectly aware that my book might be "risky" for agents, I expect more rejections than I might see with a less risky book, and I'm fine with it. I'd rather have more rejections but not compromise the work and wait until the right agent sees the query.

I suppose this might be an added wrinkle when it comes to trying to get a horror novel published, as horror can be such a wide range of things from very commercial to something that really pushes the envelope.

I'm not saying that the problem is not in the query and/or the writing, koi14, but maybe you're in the same boat I am. I don't know what your book is about, but that's just a thought.

In my case, I'll keep querying agents about the book because I really do feel that it's a good novel and would appeal to horror readers. If it doesn't work out, I do have other books both finished and in progress, but I'm still determined to give this one its fair chance to find a home.

As many others have stated, there are a whole wack of possibilties as to why this particular query may not be resonating.

In no order of importance:

1 - The query could suck. I've had novels go from universally rejected to garnering positive feedback from agents and publishers by rehauling the query alone. If the query isn't any good, the agent isn't going to waste time trying to figure out if the novel is going to be worth it.

2 - The story could have been done. As SlushPile Hell so adequately states, "Publishers don't respond to putting out repeats of the same novel.. Unless your name is Nicholas Sparks."

3 - The story could suck. I don't mean this to be mean, cold, or callous - but is it really your best work?

4 - The genre is, indeed, down. Horror experiences a cyclical sales model, where it'll be hot for a few years before simmering down again. It is a hard, hard genre to sell. But, so are a lot of others.

5 - The whole industry is down. Less funny-money in the hands of consumers means they're being more shrewd with their dollar. Publishers of high-print-run fiction aren't going to bother with anything if they can't easily forsee selling a few hundred thousand copies. Can you blame them?

6 - The agents you query may just not be into horror. I've found (through trial and error) that a hell of a lot of agents listed to be interested in horror / sf are quite the opposite. Just cause querytracker or PM says they are, doesn't always mean it's correct.

At the end of the day, it's all about grinding in the horror arena. Query, query, query. Take rejection after rejection. Submit to small, electronic-only, and medium publishers alike.

When it all falls down, a grinder doesn't cut through steel with one fell swoop. It rubs away until eventually, through hard work (on the part of the machine, in this case) the steel gives way. Getting published in horror is often the same way.

No matter what, CHIN UP! Eventually, if you stick to it, IT WILL HAPPEN!

Best of luck, and I'm rooting for all of us!

IDGS

I write bloody,visceral,and violent horror. About vampires.

Yep,it's hard out for a horror pimp. Everyone wants nice vamps that are vegetarians. That isn't my style and never will be. I stick to disturbing evil because I love to write it. I agree about agents not being 100. Some say they want horror when what they really want is dark suspense. Or Goth forbid,horror with romance. In the words of Diddy,this is bitchassedness. But I keep pushing and writing the way that suits me best.

It isn't easy getting published in any genre. But horror goes through cycles whereas others remain steady. It takes a dedicated writer to stick with this genre. Stop querying for now and take a good look at your query. As others have said,post it in QLH. Go to the SYW forum and post samples. The posters there will not hold your hand but neither are they cruel. They often give much need input and help. Rejection is the name of the game and you have to keep going. Maybe a return of horror is just around the corner and we'll be in demand!

koi14 said:

After 50 queries without one request for more yet....I think it is time to write a sappy, romantic, Gothic YA...so I can get published.

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Well, at the moment, horror is operating largely on small presses which actually take unagented manuscripts. You should just send it directly to the publisher.

Send it to Samhain. Don D'auria just sent out a call that they're looking to build up its horror line.