Querying your favorite author’s agent?

Jack_Roberts · Mar 9, 2007

I read somewhere that when you mention other author’s books in your query letter it turns agents off.

I also read that if you’re querying the agent of one of your favorite authors, you should mention their client and how your work is like theirs.
Which is it? How would you mention the client’s works, without pushing away the agent?

Help is appreciated.

CaroGirl · Mar 9, 2007

Jack_Roberts said:
I read somewhere that when you mention other author’s books in your query letter it turns agents off.

I've never heard that one. I think the key is to research the agent well, including their list of authors and their books. If your book is similar in style, genre or theme to any of those on the list, I can't see any harm in saying so. It shows you researched the agent and are targeting your query intelligently.

Jack_Roberts said:
I also read that if you’re querying the agent of one of your favorite authors, you should mention their client and how your work is like theirs.

Jack_Roberts said:
Which is it? How would you mention the client’s works, without pushing away the agent?

Perhaps there's simply a fine line between intelligent targetting and sycophancy. No doubt agents get tired of having their arses kissed.

stormie · Mar 9, 2007

Yup. What Caro said. (Geez, you'd think I could add more to this post, but I haven't had my coffee yet.)

PeeDee · Mar 9, 2007

I bet if you're getting queried all day long, the line between intelligent targetting and sycophancy gets pretty hazy. I think I'd just leave out the comparison altogether. *I* know why I'm querying my favorite author's agent, and I can contentedly leave it at that.

maestrowork · Mar 9, 2007

I am sure John Grisham's agent gets queries saying "I am a big Grisham fan and my book is very much like his" a lot. If I were him, I'd say, "You know what? I already have a Grisham."

PeeDee · Mar 9, 2007

What would really make an impact is "If you want to see your client, John Grisham, alive again, please accept this manuscript for publication."

allenparker · Mar 9, 2007

a different thought

It seems to me that each client of an agent needs to be different. If I were an agent, I would wnat a diverse collection of clients so that when one area slows down, I have other material and wares to sell.

Maybe comparing ourselves to other authors is a challenge more than a benefit.

Shadow_Ferret · Mar 9, 2007

CaroGirl said:
sycophancy

Thanks for making me run to my dictionary. Couldn't you have just said "fawning" or "ass-kissing?" But now I have a new word I have to try to use in a sentence.

But as far as the subject, I'm not sure why you'd want to mention other authors you might be similar to. Wouldn't that just be putting pre-conceptions into the agents head and then if you don't live up to that particular author, he's just going to reject you out of hand? However, if you don't plant a name in his head, he'll read it with an open mind and come to his own conclusions. "Hey, this writer reminds me of John Grisham. Cool."

I certainly never would even think to write "I'm submitting this novel to you because I've been told I sound a lot like Nelson DeMille" (even though I have) because I don't want that kind of burden placed on my writing before he's even taken a look at it.

jodiodi · Mar 9, 2007

If any of you looked at my query letter dilemma thread, you know I had that same issue: mentioning a client. I have a friendship with one of the authors represented by the agent I'm querying, but we aren't best friends, or such, so I don't want to use her name (even though she told me I could if I wanted). I don't want to imply an endorsement, since I never impose upon her to read what I've written. Hence, I wound up taking out any reference to knowing his client from the letter.

I did, however, mention the kinds of books mine are similar to in identifying my target audience. Some, I know, were books sold by him.

I just hope it works.

CaroGirl · Mar 9, 2007

Shadow_Ferret said:
Thanks for making me run to my dictionary.

My pleasure.

Shadow_Ferret said:
But as far as the subject, I'm not sure why you'd want to mention other authors you might be similar to.

In my as-yet-unused query, I state, "My novel would appeal to readers of blah, blah book, by your client blah blah." IMO, that's a fair statement, without saying it's in any way 'the same'.

maestrowork · Mar 9, 2007

jodiodi said:
I have a friendship with one of the authors represented by the agent I'm querying, but we aren't best friends, or such, so I don't want to use her name (even though she told me I could if I wanted).

Name dropping is generally considered poor form unless you do have the endorsement or recommendation from that author. Even then, a lot of authors are instructed not ever reading other writers' unpublished manuscripts for legal reason.

CaroGirl said:
In my as-yet-unused query, I state, "My novel would appeal to readers of blah, blah book, by your client blah blah." IMO, that's a fair statement, without saying it's in any way 'the same'.

That's a better approach. Talk about your target market without saying, "I'm like so-and-so."

Shadow_Ferret · Mar 9, 2007

CaroGirl said:
In my as-yet-unused query, I state, "My novel would appeal to readers of blah, blah book, by your client blah blah." IMO, that's a fair statement, without saying it's in any way 'the same'.

I just said something like, "I am seeking representation for my urban fantasy novel..." I assumed giving the genre would be enough clue, along with the rest of the info in the query.

jodiodi · Mar 9, 2007

maestrowork said:
Name dropping is generally considered poor form unless you do have the endorsement or recommendation from that author. Even then, a lot of authors are instructed not ever reading other writers' unpublished manuscripts for legal reason.

Exactly my point and my reasoning. That's why I declined to use her name though it was recommended that I use it by several who critiqued the letter. In the end, I just took the entire reference to knowing any of his clients, out.

CaroGirl · Mar 9, 2007

Shadow_Ferret said:
I just said something like, "I am seeking representation for my urban fantasy novel..." I assumed giving the genre would be enough clue, along with the rest of the info in the query.

Yabbut "urban fantasy" is very specific. What if your genre is as broad as "literary" or "mainstream/contemporary", or even "romance"? Indicating to whom such a work might appeal (for example, women readers of Margaret Atwood; male readers of John Updike) allows the agent to see where your work might fit into their list.

maestrowork · Mar 9, 2007

It's a quick way to let the agent know where your work fit, but the downside is if you don't live up to the expectations ("This is nothing like Margaret Atwood or John Updike!"), you have a problem.

maddythemad · Mar 9, 2007

When I'm querying, I don't say, "Oh my work is so much like your client's novel Such-in-Such!" But I do say, "Oh, and I loved your client's novel Such-in-Such." To me that seems less pushy, but maybe I'm wrong. :Shrug:

CaroGirl · Mar 9, 2007

maestrowork said:
It's a quick way to let the agent know where your work fit, but the downside is if you don't live up to the expectations ("This is nothing like Margaret Atwood or John Updike!"), you have a problem.

True. One must be realistic.

Higgins · Mar 9, 2007

Hmmmmmmmmm

CaroGirl said:
My pleasure.

In my as-yet-unused query, I state, "My novel would appeal to readers of blah, blah book, by your client blah blah." IMO, that's a fair statement, without saying it's in any way 'the same'.

If I see that an agent has represented a writer that I think is great, I just mention that as in "you repesented so-and-so and I like so-and-so so I thought I'd drop you a line"...

PS: that did not work out so maybe its not a good idea.

maestrowork · Mar 9, 2007

maddythemad said:
When I'm querying, I don't say, "Oh my work is so much like your client's novel Such-in-Such!" But I do say, "Oh, and I loved your client's novel Such-in-Such." To me that seems less pushy, but maybe I'm wrong.

In a way, it seems a bit "ass-kissing." Unless there's a point to it, why should they care if you love their clients' work? Let's stick to business.

MidnightMuse · Mar 9, 2007

I've always found this issue a bit tricky. If you think your work is like so-and-so's, and you say as much, and the agent thinks nothing could be further from the truth - you're an idiot in her/his eyes. If you say nothing, he/she might think you haven't read or researched.

Then there's the "if my work is like so-and-so, why would they want it if they already have so-and-so?" I was months away from querying a favorite writer's agent when, inexplicably, that agent dropped that writer from her list of represented books.

(sorry, no answers here, only commiserate doubts!)

maddythemad · Mar 9, 2007

maestrowork said:
In a way, it seems a bit "ass-kissing." Unless there's a point to it, why should they care if you love their clients' work? Let's stick to business.

You've got a point. *Buries query letters* I dunno, though, I read on Kristin Nelson's blog that she thought it was nice when people mentioned that they'd read/enjoyed her clients' novels. But this might vary from agent to agent.

Toothpaste · Mar 9, 2007

I dunno, I put in my query: "It is aimed at the 8 to 12-year-old market, but, like the Lemony Snicket novels, is also marketable to adults who enjoy children’s literature." Didn't seem to do my book any harm, and I feel gave a nice sense of what sort of book it was. And in fact my agent then came up with the line when sending off to editors: "Lemony Snicket meets Alice in Wonderland" which then my editor grabbed onto and you can now see plastered all over the internet.

Higgins · Mar 9, 2007

Good Plan

maddythemad said:
When I'm querying, I don't say, "Oh my work is so much like your client's novel Such-in-Such!" But I do say, "Oh, and I loved your client's novel Such-in-Such." To me that seems less pushy, but maybe I'm wrong.

That's what I do. Hasn't worked yet. But I've only done it on one query so far.

Shadow_Ferret · Mar 9, 2007

MidnightMuse said:
I've always found this issue a bit tricky. If you think your work is like so-and-so's, and you say as much, and the agent thinks nothing could be further from the truth - you're an idiot in her/his eyes. If you say nothing, he/she might think you haven't read or researched.

I've used this analogy before, but it reminds me of the singers on American Idol during the tryouts. They come up and say they sound like Mariah Carey and they come off sounding like Drew Carey.

I'd rather let the rest of the query help them place it then take the chance of sinking things by naming an author and not resembling their works at all. If they've finished my query and still have no idea what genre it fits, then I guess I've got a problem.

maestrowork · Mar 9, 2007

maddythemad said:
But this might vary from agent to agent.

It does. I think it's generally harmless especially if you're sincere and if it is your chosen genre (if you write legal thrillers, there's no reason why you can't say you like John Grisham). But there is a risk that the agent might think sycophancy. Basically, we need to ask, "Does it help my query at all, or would it hurt?"

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